Café Méditerranée

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Location
113 D Street
Hours
Mon - Thu, 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Fri - Sat, 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Phone
(530) 759-7007
(530) 759-1080 (Fax)
Payment Methods
Cash, credit for orders $5.00+
(Which is prohibited by contract)
Students NOT welcome to study here

Café Méditerranée, owned by Ashot Manukyan, is a pleasant Middle-Eastern eatery with more of a "restaurant" feel than Sam's Mediterranean or Ali Baba and with only slightly higher prices. But for those higher prices, they throw in a couple of sides, which makes this actually a decent value. They specialize in Armenian and Greek casual dining including kababs, shawermas, falafel, and pastries. Sides include muhummarah (a mix of pomegranate and walnut), hummus (ground chickpeas), a smokey eggplant-based appetizer called babaganoush, a sweet potato salad that has bits of apple or pear, and with a side of tzatziki.

The dessert selection is quite broad, and includes an abundance of delicate treats you can't buy elsewhere in Davis.

No matter how busy (or not busy) it is, students are not welcome to study here. The owner kicks out students if they linger for longer than 30 minutes, or if they pull out books and laptops. Regardless of whether students buy food and drinks, they will not be allowed to study in the cafe. See comments below.

Comments:

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2008-01-07 16:00:22   I have eaten here about 5 times and it is always really good food the chicken shawarma is my favorite. My only complaint has been when I get it to go and they forget to put in the cucumber dip in the bag last time I double checked the bag and they forgot it again but when I complained the wanted to give me 2 orders of the dip for free. I will keep eating there as these things happen plus I love the chicken shawarma. —LongtimeDavisite

2008-01-12 21:40:47   I really love their food—I have eaten there many times—I cannot count it. I love the chicken shawerma with 2 sides (yogurt dip and ikra) and the lamb chops was really good, too with some wine. I really like a waitress who works there (I guess she is a Philipino), she was always nice, friendly and very helpful. The owner also was so nice—he always said the same sentence every time I went there "hi guys, nice to see you" OR "How are you doing today" :) —Lorna

2008-01-26 21:50:09   So tonight was Cafe Med. Good times. My dinner-buddy ordered the veggie plate and I got the beef kabob dinner. Both were delicious and surprisingly satisfying (and I have big appetite). The hummus was good tonight, but I've had better (and thicker). Not a fan of the runny stuff. I recommend the lentil soup. If you like pepper, do what I do: Add a ton of pepper and it becomes even tastier! —CurlyGirl26

2008-01-29 14:07:58   I went there to have dinner 2 nights ago with my family who was visiting me, I took them to this place and my family just hated it. We ordered some fallafels and they were BURNT and the tahini sauce was watery and sour—horrible taste!!!. The potato salad was the worst (watery), and chicken kebob wasn't really tasty at all. I was so dissapointed and I am not coming back.... —randiv

2008-01-29 14:13:46   add one more opinion..... I prefer and recomend Sam's Restaurant —randiv

2008-03-01 14:36:56   The owner quite rudely told a group (of six) of us to not come back after a year of meeting there on a weekly basis. He said that "STUDENTS AREN'T WELCOME HERE". He stated that ordering coffee and side dishes were not substantial enough to justify our presence and that we should go elsewhere. Could be understandable were this cafe EVER BUSY when we met. Week after week we were quite literally the only people there. All of us were confused because we thought that this place was a for profit business. The owner is unnecessarily unpleasant. The perennial "Help Wanted" sign in the window makes sense now. —egoideal

2008-03-01 18:06:22   i've eaten here before with co-workers and friends...and i'm a very picky eater (meat and potatoes only, please) LOL............anyway, I *always* get the chicken schwarma and french fries. I've always enjoyed it too. I'm not sure about anything else on the menu as i've only had the chicken. The only comment/(not really a complaint) i would have is whenever we order fries...they *ALWAYS* have one or two drops of ketchup left in the bottles (all of them)...it's surprising. LOL maybe it's just bad timing on my part....anwyay, thumbs up for this place from me. —michaelG

2008-03-27 09:33:01   Do Not Tip on Credit Card. The owner keeps those tips for himself. The last time an employee complained, there were suddenly not enough hours for them. If you want the staff to receive the tip it has to be in cash. —Cecil

Thanks for your information. We'll not coming back amymore....

2008-04-02 20:57:31   Tonight was awesome! The food was great and the service was spectacular. I'll tell you why. I wanted to pick and choose a few items. Not only did they accomodate me, but at a reasonable price. And they were so nice about it, too. I highly recommend this place. Oh and order the Greek salad. It's tasty. —CurlyGirl26

2008-04-18 22:19:03   One of the gentlemen who works there (co-owner?) looks like [wikipedia]Luca_Brasi. —DukeMcAdow

2008-04-18 23:27:46   Café Méditerranée is one of the best available Middle-Eastern restaurant. kababs are just awesome, i have become a reular vistor over the year. —clubJWP

2008-04-20 18:41:37   awesome, quiet place to eat and relax. Food is great, and the service is pretty good. If you like Mediterranean food then this place is a definite must! —ASQWIK

2008-06-01 00:33:28   YUMMY. I had the lamb and the chicken. The sides were awesome and the pita was fantastic. It was all so tasty! —Esther

2008-06-03 19:10:07   its true that the credit card tips do NOT go to the cashiers, but they DO go to the cook- who is not a co-owner and probably doesnt make as much as he deserves without the tips. —HannahYang

2008-06-06 08:59:27   Love the chicken caeser salad. Very different because the chicken is roasted and still warm. The croutons are not good though and they should just skip serving them. The schwarma is good as well and it is great to have choices for sides. All have been good. —LokiAbbi

2008-06-26 21:52:54   I really wanted to like this place, especially because of all the good reviews, but I wasn't crazy about the food here. Sitting on that patio staring at the funeral chapel every time I glanced up might've subconsciously had something to do with it, but primarily it was because my chicken wrap had a very dry pita and wayy too much tahini pouring out the bottom everytime I took a bite. The desserts did look promising, but I probably won't be going back to try one anytime soon. —SRB

2008-07-01 11:30:34   I really enjoyed the hummus, tazaki and mushama(sp?). I found the atmosphere quite nice for davis and the service was great. I'm definetly going back again. —JamesLDownie

2008-07-08 23:50:49   New to the DavisWiki community, but while i am on i must give props to the best chicken shawerma in town!!!! Thanks!!!! —Edhartke

2008-09-13 22:54:01   My family and I used to eat here on a fairly regular basis (Our shop is right next door). The lamb is wonderful. But I would stay away from the deserts, as the last few times we went, the cream filled treats (Boston cream pie, vanilla cream puff thing, and some other creamy pastry) were all spoiled. Even the replacement pastries they gave us were spoiled too on 2 occasions. Their excuse was that the pastry fridge was broken. If its broken then stop using it!!! They gave my son some cookies since they had no good cream puffs left, but when we got back to our shop, we realized that the cookies were stale. Come on!? After all of that, it makes me wonder about the rest of the food. —Aaron.Curtin

2008-10-08 22:17:30   Amazingly delicious food! I ordered the chicken lilu, and it was delicious, and a great deal. For ten dollars you get two kebobs, rice, pita, and two sides. I LOVE THIS PLACE —Heather

2008-10-15 02:10:43   Warm & cozy decor. I like that you can order small portions of many items so you can try a bit more off the menu. I also like that they have a couple bottles of chili-garlic sauce out so you can add as much spice to your food as desired! —AprilAries

2008-11-15 13:34:47   Very clean interior, friendly staff, and very reasonably priced food. This is one of my favorite eating places in Davis. —Xenophon

2008-12-03 19:10:45   Is there wireless? —IrinaChakraborty

2008-12-11 23:51:20   This place is a bit tucked away, so it's easy to overlook it — every time I go, I vow to go more often. The falafel is crisp and hearty, the baba ganoush is divine, the hummus has just the right proportion of lemon to garlic. I need to explore more of the menu (one way to do that is to order "five sides"), but so far I've not been disappointed. —CovertProfessor

2009-04-01 20:22:15   So here's an update on our overall experience with this place. MY family is never going here again. The food is good , but there's better in town, like Sam's Mediterranean or even Ali Baba. The main reason we won't return is not due to the quality of the food (though we have had issues with their spoiled food multiple times). The owner is an ASS. We got into a shouting match this morning over stupid stuff regarding our business. He's a rude, pompous, egotistical jerk who tries to talk/yell over you to get his opinion across. I'm thirty years old, I don't appreciate being talked down to like a child. I'm never going there again. My wife and kids would meet me here to eat lunch at least 3 times a week so that's quite a bit of money they're losing. Their loss, not mine. —Aaron.Curtin

2009-04-04 23:30:28   In response to Aaron.Curtin: yes, the owner is an ass and is at times rude to customers. However, the argument that the two of you got into did not occur in regards to your being a customer. While what I know of the argument sounds like the whole thing was pointless, portraying the incident to the public as an owner yelling at a customer is an outright lie! The argument dealt with two business owners being petty about a sign! So, telling people not to eat at a restaurant because of this is just as petty on your part as he was for starting the argument in the first place. Also, the food at Cafe Mediterranee is dealicious. Personally, I love it all. —nobodyspecial

2009-04-05 08:17:09   Actually, yes... the first part of the argument was over the new placement of a sign (which I moved back prior to talking to him). He accused me of breaking the law by placing my "A" frame sign on the lawn bordering my driveway pointing toward my business. No such law was broken on my part, as the area in question is city property (past the sidewalk toward the street)and can be used by anyone. What's funny, is that he is doing the exact same thing with his "A" frame sign on the other side of his property border that is shard with some UCD offices. He also accused me of having my customers park their bikes in "his" bike racks while conducting business with me. This is absurd on 2 parts, as the racks in question are city property and for the use of the general public. That, in addition to the fact that I have to see the bike in person in order to repair it just makes no sense for me to have my customers park their bike on the street, especially when I have plenty of racks in and outside of my shop.

But the second and main part (When we started yelling) of the argument was from a customer's standpoint, the argument escalated over comments he made regarding my wife and children. He felt that my family's DAILY purchases did not warrant my children using his restroom while waiting for their food to be prepared or packaged. Also, he did not like my wife parking in front of his restaurant in the morning (Before he is ever open, she leaves around 11am or so to pick up our youngest from Kindergarten) while I unload things to the shop. I am in general a very patient person, and hate confrontation, but when you make stupid, untrue statements about my family and try to talk over me like a child, no I will not support your business. That said, yes, the lamb is pretty good, but I'd still stay away from their custard filled pastries, and don't use the restroom while your food is being packed up. That's what the main part of the argument was about, the stupid !@#$% restroom. —Aaron.Curtin

2009-04-05 11:21:08   Again, I agree that the argument was completely ridiculous and probably escalated to a point that was unnecessary. However, these "daily purchases" mentioned are COMPLETE exaggerations! And as for being spoken to like a child, I see posting about this argument and telling people to stay away from a restaurant based solely on this is a childish act in and of itself. —nobodyspecial

2009-06-26 23:37:57   All I have to say is that the cucumber dip is awesome! The owner is very nice. He always has a big smile and even gave me a plastic cup to let my friend's dog have a drink. (Mind you, it was outside.) —deathstare

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