Kitchen 18 is strictly Kosher and this means it starts out with limitations:\n1)  It cannot be open Friday evening or Saturday.\n2)  It can use meat products or milk products, but not both (Kitchen 18 uses meat).\n3)  It cannot use pork or shellfish or a number of other foods which are not kosher.\n4)  Even for permitted foods, like beef, it must use only certified Kosher versions, which can be more expensive and sometimes hard to get.\n\nThe 4-star rating reflects these limitations.\n\nFurthermore, Kitchen 18 is not your usual Kosher deli.  Rather it features Middle Eastern cuisine and thus should be judged as a neighborhood ethnic restaurant.\n\nThat said, the dining experience here is pretty good.  The food is always properly prepared, attractively presented, and tasty.  The menu is limited but has enough variety so that you will surely find something. Many people think the chicken shnitzel is the best dish but also consider the Bowtie pasta bolognese which is very meat. The ambiance is casual but comfortable.  And, for a kosher restaurant, it's very reasonably priced.\n\nIf you only eat kosher, this is probably the best choice in the Phoenix area.  If you are not kosher but like Middle Eastern food, it's worth a try because of the friendly, casual atmosphere and the reasonable price.\n\nHINTS:  The hummous needs lemon!  If you order it ask for a couple of lemon wedges and mix the juice in.  Surprising - since the chef seems to be very talented.\nThe pita bread served with many items is the best I have ever found.  You can also buy it packaged at the adjacent store.