Argana Cafe, located at 7 E 7th Street in downtown Lawrence, has brought some Moroccan representation to the community. The restaurant has a Mediterranian-inspired design, and with sea blue walls, gold detailing and beautiful Middle Eastern wall hangings, it looks as if it provides a very enjoyable atmosphere for your dining experience. The restaurant provides separate rooms available for reservation as well as the main dining area and outdoor seating. I used the carry out service, so unfortunately I was not able to go into the restaurant myself. Fortunately, pictures of the space can be found on Argana Cafe’s Facebook page.

The restaurant specializes in Mediterranean cuisine with flavors from Morocco, the Middle East and more. They also offer gluten free, vegetarian and vegan dishes. I ordered the Chicken Shawarma which came with sides of hummus, pita, Argana salad and soup and was served on top of spiced rice. I must say it was quite good, although I wish the chicken had included some more spices to amp up the flavor. The hummus and pita were good, and I would eat them again. The Argana salad was also tasty. The soup, on the other hand, was slightly underwhelming and bland. For dessert I ordered the Argana baklava, which was filled with peanuts. Personally I am not the biggest fan of peanuts, but overall this dessert was really good.

The carry-out process was easy to use, and the worker who brought out my food was very nice. My only complaint is that the online menu does not provide very detailed descriptions of the dishes, so it was slightly difficult to see from the picture what I was really ordering. Other than that, Argana Cafe was definitely a win, and I am glad some Morrocan representation has been brought to Lawrence’s downtown restaurant scene.