P. I.

Beloved Berkeley old-school Mediterranean spot serving classic Mediterranean dishes, shawarma, falafel, hummus, Levant sandwiches, and a good wine list. This place is proof that I still have yet to really appreciate Greek/ Mediterranean cuisine, because while the lamb shawarma I ordered today was super tender, I just didn't taste a lot of flavor in anything on the plate, where I expected to taste garlic, onion, salt, and other spices. Other spices. The entire plate was kind of mild for me, which might just be how that kind of food is. That said, it was still tender, clean, and good food, and one of the nicest eating environments in the East Bay, with overhead fans. A wide open space and a well lit environment. Great service, and a great location. Great location makes for a place worth eating if you like this kind of food, I just didn't find it flavorful enough for my pallet. I'm still giving it five stars for quality

+2

Jin Park

Fantastic food and friendly staff! The meat is perfectly tender and juicy, and the pastries were crispy and perfectly seasoned. We loved every single item on our dishes!

JoAnn SkyWatcher

I have been to La Mediterranee on several occasions. This was the first time that I came here during the day for lunch. My friend and I had a fun time sitting outside (they have a lot of seating outside) even though there were plenty of seats available inside. Something that got my attention this particular time was the beautiful stained glass scene of snow covered mountains of Lebanon. Also, I didn’t realize that there are actually four of La Mediterranee restaurants located in San Francisco. They make their award-winning Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes from scratch daily. That is one of the favorite parts of eating there—how fresh the food is! The pita bread was definitely fresher than any I have ever had. My friend gifted me my lunch for my birthday. She particularly loves coming here because they have so many vegan options. She had a bowl of Lentil Soup with no meat that she loved! We also had a glass of red wine that went well with lunch. The Dolmas were yummy! I so enjoyed the Avgolemono Soup seasoned perfectly. Besides eating there or taking food home, you can have them cater food for a party or even a wedding. I’m sure I will be back!

+3

Gauri Bhatia

I usually don’t enjoy mediterranean food but I loved this place!! The food was amazing and so fresh! The waiters are super nice and bring your food in on time. The baklava is delicious with the right amount of sugar and is just wow. An amazing restaurant to visit and definitely worth it.

Annemarie Newell

This is one of the best restaurants in Berkeley! It has been my mother's favorite place since the 80s when she went to Cal! The food is amazing, authentic, and so fresh. The portions are huge, worth the price. I love the lamb kebab plate. This last time I got the Middle Eastern Plate which is a sampler of a lot of the other dishes. The potato salad isn't like anything you've ever had before, and is so good! I also got the cheesecake for dessert. Delicious. The chocolate mousse is also some of the best I've ever had. I frequent this place and you should too!

We got the Beef Kafta kebab with the Avgolemono soup and the Halal Saffron Chicken Breast Kebab with the potato salad. We really loved the Avgolemono soup, Beef Kafta kebab, and the Chicken breast Kebab. The pilaf that came along with the entrees was not flavorful.

Raeven

Delicious Mediterranean food and a cute atmosphere. Excellent stuffed dates, rice, and grape leaves in particular. The temperature is little chilly on cold days, but it must be costly to heat a large space.

Sharon Perkins

Berkeley, CA. The La Mediteranee family of restaurants has won Zagat and other awards but the cook at this location was heavy handed with the salt in the lentil soup and the tabouleh on 10/7/23, afternoon. Also the falafel was dry. Everything else tasted great! The flavors in the hummus, tabouleh, dolma, cucumber yogurt soup, and salad were complex and delicious, made with fresh herbs, garlic and rich olive oil. But there was meat in my dolma and I’d ordered the Vegetarian Plate. I’m not vegetarian but what if I had been. The staff probably need a bit more training in attention to detail. It was a fun place to dine and be a part of the Berkeley hubbub. We sat outside to enjoy the mellow weather and people watch. Hallie and the person who seated us were sweet and attentive to our needs. Great service!

+4

Michael Delehanty Real Estate

My wife and I came here with friends who kept telling us how great it is. It was relatively busy and the service was quite good but the food was not. Maybe I’m just picky but I struggled to find things on the menu and what we ended up ordering was so forgettable that I cannot recall anything we ate that night. The restaurant is fairly clean and certainly fits the area but I sat there all dinner wishing we had gone to the spot around the corner instead. Our friends will definitely be back. I won’t.

+3

Take Back Roads

Overall we had a very enjoyable experience at La Mediterranee. We were able to walk in on Friday evening and get a table, which was great cuz we were both pretty hungry. We ended up getting the Meza plates to share, which gave us the opportunity to try a lot of different things on the menu. Most of the food was very good to excellent: the chicken legs were tender and delicious, the hummus and baba ganoush were fantastic and the falafel were also very good. The two fillo were both pretty dry. The dolmas were good but not great. I liked the tabouleh but my wife did not. The mint tea was tasty, but my wife wasn’t a fan of the wines or the presentation (cheap glassware).

+2

Bandana Garg

Ordered the Mediterranena Meza. Portion wise it's more than enough and you can try a variety of items. Chicken pomegranate and Lamb lule were good. The other items were just ok. Was disappointed in their pita.

We ordered the vegetarian party platter and were disappointed with the quality. The falafel was very dry and didn’t taste fresh, the Levant sandwiches were soggy, and the dolmeh was quite bitter. Overall, the food did not seem well-prepared, and we ended up throwing much of it away. Given the price, this was not a good value, and we would not recommend this catering option.

Alexandra Michalopoulou

The dolma was a disgrace to all Mediterranean cuisines that pride themselves on offering dolmas. Apart from the fact that it had meat in it - which is not unheard of, but definitely, right off the bat gives "I've no idea what I'm doing so I'm gonna slap something with a strong flavour to save face" vibes - everything else about it was objectively offensive. The leaves were thick and hard (and hardly cooked), with the texture of maple leaves, rather than vine leaves, and the bitter taste of grass. The leaf itself was chewy and indestructible, it's veins felt like wire. The leaves should be hand picked, thoroughly examined, and for the love of god, steamed before wrapping. The rice as well was undercooked, sticking with the "earthy tones" of the wrong kind, felt more like pebbles. It was clearly not sautéed before hand. The absence of mint and onion at this stage (or any stage for that matter) made sure that the rice will remain plain, flavourless and insulting. And since this step was skipped, there was clearly no need for olive oil. But I'm sure, since this is a "Mediterranean" restaurant it must have had it somewhere. But more like someone whispering above the pot "olive oil" rather than actually using it. The size of the dolma, which traditionally is meant to be bite size, was upsetting. I've never, in my happily dolma-full life of 28 years, had to cut a dolma in thirds to attempt eating it. The wrapping was surprisingly tight. Which came in handy after dinner, when we decided to play football. The dolma didn't not come undone. And all of this would be forgiven and forgotten. But they poked this Asia minor bear, yours truly, by committing the worst culinary crime of all. They added cinnamon.