Safa International Market

Safa Int'l Market popped up when I was searching for halal meats, so we checked it out because it's 5 minutes from our gym on Carmel Mountain Road. Initial impression was that it has a great layout with restaurant and bakery immediately to the right, butcher/meat counter in the back and fruits and vegetables to the left. They also have a great selection of spices, dry nuts and dry goods from many different countries. The meat and bread were the main reasons for our visit, but we ended up getting a little bit of everything. It's a very clean store, the employees are helpful and polite, but the meat is really fresh and priced well for Halal selections. We will stop by again to try the restaurant and I'll update the review after that visit. Try it out. I recommend it

Prices are decent and options are enough to make middle eastern food or fish. Store atmosphere was not bad either. The only reason I gave them 3 stars is because their customer service is poor. They don't put customers first or acknowledge you or make you feel welcome at all. The young guy at the register didn't say a word as I was getting my groceries checked out , not one word. I feel like they need training on how to be nice and friendly and caring with their customers!

I'm really concerned about the hygiene practices at this meat market. The butchers use the same cutting boards for both chicken and red meat without cleaning or switching between them, which seems unsafe and unsanitary. It is is a violation of basic food safety and hygiene codes. If reported, a health inspector could cite this as a critical violation because it can lead to foodborne illness.

I was really looking forward to trying out the restaurant here, as it's nearby and wanted to try some food from different regions, but was very disappointed after waiting a long time for our order to see that not only were the lamb chops extremely small, burnt, and look like they have may been partially eaten, but the hummus they gave us was moldy. It looks like it has also been partially eaten but it could have been due to the settling. Regardless, this is unacceptable and disgusting, I do not often leave negative reviews but somebody is going to get sick here.