Sitti Authentic Lebanese Restaurant
Rating
Family of 4
Roughly $70 to $110 before tip, and the published prices let you check the math yourself.
Duration
About 70 to 100 minutes. Mezze dining runs longer than a single-entree meal because food arrives in waves, which is actually a feature with kids: something lands on the table every few minutes instead of one long empty stretch. A lunch built around a wrap and a couple of dips can be done in under an hour.
Best Ages
Strong from toddler age all the way up, and one of the easier downtown Raleigh sit-down restaurants to bring little kids to. The reason is concrete: Sitti publishes an actual kids menu with four options priced at $8.95 to $9.95, including a cheese pizzette and chicken, beef and salmon kabobs served with basmati rice and garlic whip. Mezze-style dips and small plates also give picky eaters a low-stakes way to graze while adults eat a real meal. Tweens and teens do well with the shawarma and kabob side of the menu.
About
Sitti is an authentic Lebanese restaurant at 137 S Wilmington St, a block off the Fayetteville Street corridor in downtown Raleigh, and it is one of the few downtown sit-down restaurants that has genuinely thought about kids. That is not a soft claim. Sitti publishes a real children's menu: chicken kabob, beef kabob and salmon at $9.
95 each, all served with basmati rice and garlic whip, and a cheese pizzette at $8. 95 marked vegetarian. For a downtown restaurant with 3,232 Google reviews and a 4.
4 rating, that is a meaningful advantage over the places nearby that expect kids to eat off the adult menu or not eat.
The format helps too. Lebanese mezze dining means food arrives in waves rather than in one plated block, which happens to be exactly what works with young children. Hummus at $7.
95, baba ghanouj at $9. 95, labneh at $8. 95 and tabouleh at $8.
95 all reach the table quickly, and the make-it-a-trio dip option at $16 is the single best order for a family, because three dips and bread will occupy a four year old for the entire time your kabobs are cooking. Warak anab is $9. 95, and hot mezze like fried cauliflower at $14.
95 and kibbee mikli at $15. 95 give adults something more substantial to share.
On the entree side, lunch is where the value sits. Chicken shawarma is $14.95 and a falafel wrap is $13.95, while dinner-scale plates like the beef kabob run $22.95. Chicken artichoke is $16.95. Baklava at $8.95 is the dessert that will get shared four ways whether you planned it or not.
One detail worth flagging for families who need it: Sitti states on its own menu that it serves halal beef, chicken and lamb. That is stated by the restaurant rather than inferred from a directory, which makes Sitti one of the more dependable downtown Raleigh options for halal-observant families. There is also a broad set of vegetarian and vegan options across the mezze menu, so a mixed-diet table is easy to feed here.
Practical notes. Sitti takes reservations through OpenTable, and you should use them for any dinner or weekend visit, since downtown fills up around events and walk-in waits of 20 to 45 minutes are normal on a Friday or Saturday. Hours are not posted on the menus page, so call (919) 239-4070 or check sitti-raleigh.
com before you drive in. Changing tables and highchair availability are unconfirmed, so bring a kit you can use in the car and mention ages when you book. Downtown parking is metered and garage-based, so check current City of Raleigh rates.
Gipson Play Plaza at Dorothea Dix Park is the nearest playground in our directory and makes a natural after-lunch stop.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Limited
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Available
Setting
Indoor & Outdoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Weekday lunch is the easiest family window at this address. Sitti sits at 137 S Wilmington St in the heart of downtown Raleigh, a block off the Fayetteville Street corridor, so weekday evenings and weekend dinner service pull a busy downtown crowd. Hours are not posted on the menus page, so check sitti-raleigh.com or call (919) 239-4070 before you go, particularly if you are timing a meal around a downtown event.
Wait Times
No admission line. Table waits typically run 20 to 45 minutes on Friday and Saturday evenings and around downtown event nights, and are usually minimal at weekday lunch. Sitti takes reservations through OpenTable, which is the move for any dinner visit with kids in tow.
Nearby Food
You are eating here, so the useful version is the backup. Morgan Street Food Hall is the nearest option in our directory and the standard fallback when a kid rejects everything Lebanese on the table, since each person picks a different counter. Sitti's Wilmington Street address also sits inside the densest cluster of downtown Raleigh restaurants, cafes and dessert spots, all within a few blocks on foot, so an after-dinner ice cream is an easy add rather than another drive.
Why Kids Love It
Dips are a dipping game, and a table full of hummus, labneh and baba ghanouj with bread is the rare appetizer that keeps a four year old genuinely occupied. The kids menu is built around food on a stick, since chicken and beef kabobs are exactly the format children accept without argument, and the cheese pizzette gives the most cautious eater at the table a guaranteed win. Food arrives in waves rather than all at once, so there is always something new landing to look at.
Pro Tips from Parents
- Ask for the kids menu by name. Sitti publishes one with chicken kabob, beef kabob and salmon at $9.95 each and a cheese pizzette at $8.95, all with basmati rice and garlic whip.
- Order the $16 dip trio first. It reaches the table fast, feeds everyone, and rescues the picky eater before the entrees arrive.
- Book on OpenTable for any dinner visit. Downtown Raleigh gets busy around events and a walk-in family of four can wait 20 to 45 minutes on a Friday or Saturday.
- Sitti serves halal beef, chicken and lamb, which is stated on the restaurant's own menu. That makes this one of the more reliable downtown options for halal-observant families.
- Go at lunch if you can. Chicken shawarma at $14.95 and the falafel wrap at $13.95 sit well below the dinner kabob prices.
- There are solid vegetarian and vegan options across the mezze menu, so mention dietary needs when you book and the kitchen can point you at them.
What to Bring
- An OpenTable reservation for any dinner or weekend visit
- A card or app for downtown meter and garage parking
- A diaper changing kit you can use in the car, since changing tables are unconfirmed
- A stroller you can fold, since downtown dining room aisles are narrow
- An appetite for sharing, because mezze is designed to be passed around
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Roughly $70 to $110 before tip, and the published prices let you check the math yourself.
Two kids meals at $9.
95 each is $19.
90.
Two adult lunch plates, say a $14.
95 chicken shawarma and a $16.
95 chicken artichoke, adds $31.
90, which puts a lunch for four near $52 before drinks and tax.
Move the adults to dinner-scale plates like the $22.
95 beef kabob and add a $7.
95 hummus and a $8.
95 baklava to share and you land closer to $95 to $110.
Tips to Save
- The kids menu is the saving.
- Four options at $8.
- 95 to $9.
- 95, all served with basmati rice and garlic whip, undercut what you would pay splitting an adult entree.
- Go at lunch rather than dinner: chicken shawarma is $14.
- 95 and a falafel wrap is $13.
- 95 on the lunch menu, well below the $22.
- 95 beef kabob.
- The dip trio at $16 is the value play for the table, since three dips with bread feeds four people as a starter and doubles as a kid plate for a child who will only eat hummus that night.
- Skip separate appetizers per person and order mezze to share, which is how the menu is designed to work anyway.
- Downtown parking is a real line item, so check current meter and garage rates before you budget.
