When I started dreaming up this list, I quickly realized that Middle Eastern food exists in the Bay Area in numerous guises under euphemisms, like "Mediterranean," that obscure its origins. Politically, it's a broad geographic category, encompassing a huge amount of diversity — in cultures, religions and beloved dishes — that tends to get glossed over in this country. I learned so much about the nuances of Middle Eastern food while sampling kebabs at family-run halal markets, swiping fresh pita through hot and cold hummus plates, and asking Arab friends for recommendations for shawarma places that really do it right. Even something as seemingly simple as hummus looks vastly different from place to place. At the three Yafa Hummus restaurants in the East Bay, the chickpea dip, based on the founders’ grandfather’s recipe, comes plain or amped up with piquant spices and pesto. Elsewhere, at the Israeli Hummus Bodega, it’s made without garlic and lemon and served warm with hard-boiled eggs and garlic confit. This list is an attempt to capture a slice of our vibrant Middle Eastern food scene, which ranges from fine dining to the most casual of environs.
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Abu Salim Middle Eastern Grill
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A home for heaping plates of creamy hummus, shawarma and cheese-stuffed falafels.
The sister restaurant to the Mission District's Old Jerusalem, Abu Salim is a counter-service restaurant with a sense of casualness befitting its location on Haight Street. Murals on the walls depict desert landscapes, camels and members of the Nasser family carving shawarma from vertical spits. It's a family project through and through. While the kitchen doles out shawarma plates, vegetarian combinations and salads in generous portions, everything is made with care. The hummus is always soft-serve creamy, and the Ramallah-style falafels shatter elegantly in the mouth.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
415-522-0122 • www.facebook.com/AbusalimmegSF/
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"Arabic comfort food" is the apt tagline for this burgeoning restaurant group.
The scion of the family behind the popular Burgermeister chain, career chef Samir Mogannam set out to bring the Bay Area a taste of the Arab food he grew up eating. The maximalist interior includes huge pink roses painted on the walls, vintage floral plates and a Turkish coffee set attached to the ceiling. Mogannam's Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian menu of small plates is built so that each meal will have you trying a little bit of this and that: squares of baked halloumi ($12) cheese spiked with jalapeño and Meyer lemon; spiced and hash-like cubes of batata harra ($8); and snatches of nigella-scented flatbread ($5). There are currently three locations: in Daly City, the Castro, and Cole Valley.
Credit cards accepted • Beer and wine
415-703-0270 • beitrimasf.com • Order online
2301 Stevens Creek Blvd., San Jose
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Crisp falafels, corn dogs and thick banana shakes bring crowds to this retro spot.
It looks like your typical 1960s-era burger spot, complete with a custom neon sign, but Falafel's Drive-In is one of the premier lunchtime attractions of San Jose. In 1966, Zahie and Anton Nijmeh took over what was then the Snow White Drive-In. They (and now their children) kept the hamburgers and corn dogs on the menu but slowly introduced Middle Eastern specialties like tabbouleh and baklava to the community. And this was at a time when hummus was definitely not as ubiquitous as it is now. Crowds flock here for the $10 special, which includes a vegetable-packed and saucy falafel pita and a heavenly banana shake. The falafels are crisp and moist and slathered with tahini sauce and a sweet hot sauce. Seating is available at open-air picnic tables.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
408-294-7886 • www.falafelsdrivein.com
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Here, you'll find Tel Aviv-style street food like pitas stuffed with latkes, fried eggplant and hummus by the pint.
In a partnership with popular Israeli bakery Frena, Matan Schejter and partner Din Leib have created a classic hummus cafe in the Richmond District, where you can dig into abundant platters of warm hummus at sidewalk tables. Schejter, an Israeli immigrant, produces a subtler hummus than most: It lacks garlic and lemon, making it a ready carrier for a variety of toppings like turmeric-marinated mushrooms, grilled eggplants and fried cauliflower. Here, hummus is the main course rather than a small plate or appetizer. Try the composed hummus bowls, like the substantial hummus Tel Aviv ($14.99) with crispy eggplant chips and a hard-boiled egg. Or just grab hummus by the pound ($11.99) along with a bunch of toppings and Frena's supremely fluffy pita (five for $7.99) so you can do it yourself at home.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
415-874-1148 • https://hummusbodega.com • Order online
120 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo
Since 1996, Insalata's has been serving farm-to-table Mediterranean cuisine in San Anselmo.
Married team Heidi and Mark Krahling created a fine dining destination with Insalata's, which combines the flavors of the Middle East with the produce-centric mindset of California cuisine. In this comfortable, white-tablecloth setting, the crowd favorite lamb burgers ($20) are made from house-made lamb merguez sausage and topped with a frilly herb salad and Manchego cheese. A selection of mezze includes an unforgettable carrot and almond muhammara spread ($9) and fresh focaccia ($6) with tangy whipped feta dusted with za'atar. The restaurant also has a brilliant takeaway counter packed with condiments, family meals, desserts and pasta salads.
Credit cards accepted • Full bar
415-457-7700 • http://insalatas.com • Order online
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Persian kebabs and rice dishes are all served here with the eponymous flatbread.
After a devastating kitchen fire in 2018, the Talai family slowly rebuilt Lavash, San Francisco's premier Persion restaurant, from the ground up, finally reopening in January 2020. Open in the Sunset District since 2008, the restaurant is one of the few homes for Iranian cuisine in the Bay Area. Fortunately, it's a wonderful representation of Iran's diverse offerings. Tahdig ($12), Iran's famous crisp-bottomed rice dish, is fabulously crunchy, and comes with a dollop of stew (your choice) that softens it up just right. Lavash's jeweled rice dishes include the sour and savory zereshk polo ($19), studded with dried fruits and imbued throughout with a mouth-watering chicken aroma. Don't miss the kebabs, a collection of showstopper dishes of grilled items piled with rice atop humongous sheets of lavash bread. Currently open for in-person dining, the restaurant offers tables in its cute, roofed parklet and a dining room decked out with gorgeous floral arrangements.
415-664 - 5555 • www.lavashsf.com
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This cozy cafe in Petaluma's warehouse district is a brunch destination.
Situated on Petaluma's breezy waterfront is Pearl, a daytime cafe that offers impeccable, Middle Eastern-tinged breakfast and lunch items that change regularly with the seasons. Owners Annette Yang and Brian Letiner have decorated the space with sweet vintage touches: The ceiling is lined with hammered metal tiles, and custom wooden shelves behind the bar are filled with cookbooks and knickknacks. Chewy, Jerusalem-style bagels ($21 for the plate) are made in-house, their long loops reminiscent of hoop earrings, and they're paired with silky, soft scrambled eggs and seasonal fish and vegetables. Try it while sipping on freshly made (and STRONG) Turkish coffees ($6) perked up with cinnamon and cardamom. The restaurant is tip-free, with gratuity already priced into the menu.
Credit cards accepted • Beer and wine
707-559-5187 • www.pearlpetaluma.com
3770 Piedmont Ave., Unit B, Oakland
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A bright and casual California take on Israeli food, by the chef behind Oakland's beloved Ba-Bite.
Mica Talmor, a co-founder of the now-closed Ba-Bite, opened its spiritual successor in Piedmont after a successful Kickstarter campaign. The fast-casual Israeli restaurant opened in March 2020 with a brand-new hummus machine, a pita oven and a menu of multicultural mezze. Order a lot of things to compose your own buffet spread. Blood-red beet salad ($5.50) is tossed with red onion and fatty walnuts, while a dusting of ras el hanout spice lends it a floral aroma. Simple hot mezze, like sauteed sustainable salmon ($8) and pomegranate-glazed eggplant ($6), will round out your meal. Whatever you get, be sure to grab a side of Talmor's schug ($2), a prickly-hot jalapeño condiment that you'll want to put on everything.
Credit cards accepted • Beer and wine
510-250-9215 • www.pomellaoakland.com • Order online
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Reem Assil's bakery and community-focused commissary kitchen, known for man’oushe dusted with za'atar.
Reem's has had a tumultuous year, from the challenges of the pandemic to losing its Mission outpost's oven, but the Arab bakery is back in action. its brightly colored San Francisco location serves a vast array of wholesome Arab pastries, mezze dishes and flatbreads via takeout and delivery. $10 pay-it-forward meals allow diners to help subsidize the business' work feeding neighbors in need. Hearty pastries, like the triangular, spinach-filled fatayer sabanikh, make an ideal breakfast with a cup of mint tea. But it's the mana'eesh, cooked on a dome-shape grill called a saj, that are the highlight of the menu. Thin, crisp and snackable, they're topped with ingredients like za'atar spices, creamy labneh and chicken marinated in tart sumac berry.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
415-780-1953 • www.reemscalifornia.com • Order online
A halal meat market and grocer that also offers exceptional Yemeni dishes.
In addition to having everything you need to cook a Middle Eastern feast at home, this halal market in West Oakland is a fantastic source of pita sandwiches stuffed with grilled meats and falafel, as well as a vast selection of rotating Yemeni specialties. Try the saltah, a classic Yemeni lamb and fenugreek soup heated in a stone bowl akin to Korean jigae. Chunks of tender lamb swim in a savory tomato and pepper broth that practically demands some flatbread for dipping. More typical dishes include chicken and kebab mixed grill plates ($16.99) heaped with spiced rice pilaf, salad and tangy tzatziki. You can eat inside the dining room out back or take your food to go.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
510-835-2044 • www.salamhalalmarket.com
From a pop-up to a new brick-and-mortar, a Jordanian chef is bringing his nostalgic take on shawarma to Oakland.
Mohammad Abutaha first began lugging his vertical meat grill to parties and pop-ups around the Bay Area in 2019, impressing friends and colleagues with his shawarma: tender and toasty grilled meat wrapped in flour tortillas with a swipe of nose-clearing, garlicky toum. Shawarmaji’s restaurant has reset and recalibrated Oakland diners' expectations of what good shawarma should be. The interior of the casual, counter-service restaurant is dark and industrial, and vertical spits stacked with peppery, marinated meats loom behind the counter. There are a few sidewalk tables available, though most customers take their wraps to go. Look out for nontraditional specials like the savory and very snackable bacon, chicken and jalapeño wrap.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
510-397-9817 • www.theshawarmaji.com
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Two brothers produce hummus and falafels faithful to their grandfather's tried-and-true recipes at three Bay Area locations.
The story of Afeef Awad, the grandfather of Yafa Hummus' founders, has been integral to the business since it opened in 2017. The restaurant minichain's "1951 menu" features recipes for hummus and falafel that Awad served at a restaurant that he opened in Jordan in 1951, with some notable updates, like falafel sliders (six for $9.99) sandwiched with King's Hawaiian rolls. The three spaces in Dublin, Livermore and Tracy are cheerful and quirky, with slogans like "We have a great sense of hummus" on the walls. Juicy chicken shawarma ($9.99) is served with a pungent, garlicky toum sauce and comes either as a whole wrap, in a build-your-own bowl or wrapped and cut into bite-size pieces that you can casually pop into your mouth. Finish your meal with a baklava soft-serve ($3.79) garnished with flaky phyllo dough and luscious drizzles of honey.
Credit cards accepted • Soft drinks
925-361-5375 • www.yafahummus.com
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