Gaby's Mediterranean Restaurant Cafe

by Jim T.

Found this place thanks to my Magellan GPS. My wife and I were stuck between a 12 noon wedding and a 6pm reception.  This place is unpretentious and the cool feature is their garden patio they built in their parking lot. It is cool and breezy and food is delicious. We tried the "feast" for $22.00 for two. My wife loved the Bhabbah Ghahnoosh (sic) and I loved the hummus and unlimited pita bread. This is very good Lebanese food, and the patio is perfect for a summer afternoon. Everything is in the shade, and the wood lattice patio lets the cool wind through. You have to weigh down your paper napkins from blowing away, but its worth it when it is a hot, sticky Los Angeles day.

by Patrick K.

Gaby's offers good food at a reasonable price. I suggest their pita wrapped sandwich; your choice of meat and side dish makes a filling meal for roughly $10. Wonderful sides of hummus, too! Gabby's has mostly casual outdoor seating, which is perfect on a warm summer night. On the downside, the service was mediocre. I think they were simply understaffed at dinner time. It must have taken 30 minutes or more for the food to arrive, and quite a while for the check. Nevertheless, I would certainly revisit.

by Tuan D.

BALLS BALLS BALLS!!!Falafel balls that is.  Ok...survival kit update: water, compass, bottle of rum, Gaby's falafels.  Seriously...how can you survive without these mouthwatering goblets of heaven?  First...the texture is suitable for a perfect falafel - golden brown and crispy on the outside, moist and steamy inside.  Take a bite and your mouth would be exploded with an eclectic potpourri of flavors.  The harmonical mix of these flavors gives that distinctive taste of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food.  Have you ever tasted something so good that triggers a nostalgic memory of your favorite childhood food?  At Gaby's...it's like that for me all the time...albeit the minor detail that I didn't really eat these food when I was a child.  Yeah...it's awesome like that.  I had the vegetarian plate which was tabouleh, babaghanouj, hummus, tomato/onion/tahini mix, falafels, and dolma.  Everything was an enjoyable experience in itself.  My friend had the special of the day....the grilled trout.  For enhancement, sprinkle some lemon on these bad boys together with a little bit of toom (garlic paste) and roaste almond.  Again, words cannot describe how good this was.  You just have to try it yourself.Gaby's....give me some more of your balls!  no pun intended...

by Larissa B.

I should start this review by 'fessing up that I get takeout from Gaby's at least every other week. That said, if I could find a Greek restaurant that was closer, as tasty and had that garlic condiment stuff that comes with the chicken kabob, I would never set foot in Gaby's again. The good: their chicken kabob is delicious. Specifically, the garlic sauce that comes with it, is one of the best things I have ever tasted and the rice pilaf is pretty yummy too. The salad and baba ganoush are both above average and my boyfriend like their hummus (I don't care for it much). The bad: THE SERVICE. I don't know what it is about this place, but whenever we get takeout here, it is a giant fiasco. We have been told to come in 15 minutes and our food has taken almost an hour (in fact this happens pretty much every time we order from Gaby's). We have been told to come in 30 minutes and gotten freezing cold food. I have also seen the takeout person only put my order in to the kitchen when I arrive to pick it up (having called 20 mins before). They are hardly ever polite and generally ignore you and act annoyed if you ask them for anything. We stayed and ate in at Gaby's once (maybe a year ago) and I think we saw the waiter three times throughout the whole meal. So basically, the chicken kabob is really delicious, but if I could make myself stop fantasizing about that frickin' garlic sauce, I would stop going here in a heartbeat.

by Felicia T.Pamela C.Sim City Slicker S.A M.Stacy I.

For someone unfamiliar with Mediterrenean  food, Gaby's is a safe bet. some items are Better than others. I love their Beef Swawrma. The entree comes with rice pilaf and salad, for $9.50. A reasonable price. the seasoning on the beef is just full of punch! the salad has nice dressing. And rice pilaf, is meh. I have had better. Not bad tasting, but i go for the beef and salad before the rice. what does that tell ya? Their "lunch" pita wraps (served all day but popular for lunch) are $6-$7. Its not very filling.. the wraps are kinda small. comes with Fries, OR rice, OR salad. The seasoned fries are yummy. Their kebobs, i am not too fond of. can get kinda dry. And something else (ground beef and/ or chicken) has an aftertaste to it. No likey.I have yet to try a lot of other menu items. Need to do that next time. Here are other tidbits:Cons: no Iced Tea, no alcohol menu, service on the slow sidePros: complimentary pita bread and some sesame/ oil pesto like spread (zatar i think, its called). Street parking is plenty.Great food. Bad service.I used to live around the corner from this place.  I would occasionally walk over to grab some lunch or dinner to-go. The food is really, really good but the service is terrible.  I tried to overlook the service because the food was that good but eventually it got old.  I waited for 40+ minutes for an order that I had called in ahead in order to avoid exactly that situation.  I couldn't believe it.  They kept saying my order was coming up.  Then they got my order wrong after all of that!  I ordered a falafel sandwich and got it with chicken!  No bueno!  Especially when it comes to people ordering vegetarian food!   That experience was the last straw for me. I've never gone back since AND I do tell people that the service lousy.  Not worth it!The falafel is mediocre,but the hummus and baba ghanoush are quite tasty and are good on the fries (yeah, I know).The schwarma is pretty tasty as well.Good deals though,  you'll spend slightly more than at McDonalds but without the guilt and self loathing in the morning.Being open late makes up for the slow service.I suggest you call it in for pickup,if they pick up the phone.Good Food. Just really unlike. I like Sofra Express wayyyy  better. Gabby's is awfully nice too. Nice TV, grill and stuff but the wait takes too long! The parking is small too. Subway is down the corner too..i see no difference between Sofra Express and Gabby's, the price is the same and stuff but Gabby's is way larger. Its nice..but I've had better experiences. Ya know?I am a long-time Gaby's customer, but the last visit was terrible.  We were there with another couple and blasting from the two large TV screens mounted from the ceiling was wrestling.  When I asked if that was a new aspect of the atmosphere of the remodel, the waitress could not have been colder.  We never got our drinks from her, nor was there any service to be had.  I am very disappointed with what happened to a great restaurant (who has catered events for me) and it will be a long-time before we head back. Certainly not the nicest of dining experience.

by Gina K.

This restaurant is mostly outdoor in a tented area.  There are heating lamps throughout the tent, so cold weather is not a problem ;)  The mahi mahi in cream sauce with rice is probably my favorite dish here.  (see photo)  The hummus with pita bread is nice to start with.  The chicken kebob dish with cilantro and lime is extremely well seasoned/ marinated! Parking is easy, in a lot shared with a liquor store.

by Danielle F.

Cheapo food at its best-- Gaby's rocks it with some yummy ass items that in today's economy makes you want to scream "Oh Hell Yeah!". You can bring your own booze which is nice if you want some wine with your dinner and the location is right by the beach if you want to sit outside. I mean come on! It doesn't get much better-- affordable savory food that can be enjoyed with your own wine by the beach. I dig it. Don't expect excellent service or anything over the top. Come here to eat and get out. It is an eatery not an experience.

by Sandy M.

I've had better.  The outdoor seating is nice, but I went on a hot, humid day and the flies were abundant, so they were landing on my food, my straw, my cup, etc.  You get the idea.  So, the food was medicre.  I had the chicken schwarma.  The rice pilaf was blah, the salad was ok.  The seasoning on the chicken was above average.  I dont think I would go back....

by Alicia A.

For years I have been putting up with the worst service in all of Los  Angeles because I like the food here. Last Saturday was the last time I will visit this Gaby's location. The waitress picked up the bill and our debit card, walked away and lost it! She was not paying attention to anything she was doing. For over 45 minutes we looked all over the restaurant. At first she would not stop waiting other tables and would come back to us saying "omg i don't know where I put it...etc." Her manager was no help what-so-ever. Instead they start asking my husband if he has another card to pay with. Are you kidding me! You lost our debit card and you are asking us to pay with another card! Telling us we should call our bank to cancel the card. After telling her repeatedly that she had menus in her hand the waitress goes to check that area and finds our card. After all that hassle, the ridiculous manager only took off 10% which is already the "neighborhood" discount.  This was the most frustrating and disappointing dining experience ever. They lost longtime customers that would recommend this place. Not anymore!

by L C.

Not the best I've ever had but I have to say it's not bad.  They have delivery after 5:30PM.  The price is also decent but not fabulous.  I had the Beef Shawarma which is one of my favorites and it didn't have as much flavor as Zankou or Al Wazir on the east side but it wasn't bad.  Basically a decent place to go to if you are looking for lebanese food on the west side.