Al Azayem Restaurant

Great food, prices, and service! I had a shawarma sandwich, and it’s some of the best shawarma I’ve ever had (And I’ve had a lot). They give you a good portion, enough to satisfy you for lunch easily, for just 4 bucks.
The place is a bit hidden and doesn’t look great on the outside, so you wouldn’t expect great food to be coming out of there, but as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover. There’s so many options for Arabic food in El Cajon, but this is definitely my new go-​to spot when craving a quick fix.

The food from this place is delicious. I haven’t had Arabic food that tastes this good in a while! The flavor is on point and everything is as fresh as it gets. The highlight of all the food we got was no doubt the chicken kabob. It’s delicious. The beef cream chop is also super tasty. I recommend this place for anyone looking for some authentic Arabic food.

Awesome middle eastern food. Great price and awesome service.

I like every thing in this great restaurant great food great service funny guys i like them soup and shawarma and the qozi

I was introduced to their shawarma sandwiches earlier this year and loved every bite… but haven’t been able to to get out to El Cajon since.
Last week a relative was in town and I took her to try the beef shawarma which she devoured with glee. Since last week’s sandwich I have thought of it every day… today I couldn’t stand it any longer and drove out from PB. The bread they use for the sandwich is sooooooooo magnificent, I could honestly eat it every day. Soft yet chewy, just fluffy enough. The meat is perfectly spiced and aromatic. The best tahini sauce I’ve had in a while.
I just finished mine and typing this makes me long for another.

Great service, great tasting food. Had the falafel plate and everything was great about it no complains. Totally coming back

This Unilocal review cannot express how I feel right now. I always order too much food for myself when I come here, because It is all so very delicious. This place is one of the best in El Cajon, anything you order here is amazing and delicious.

Wowzers. They gave us a LOT of food on the family platter and it was super cheap and incredibly flavorful. They are the Real MVPs!

As I prepare to roll out of this restaurant no way to get me a wheelbarrow I am so full I can’t stand it and everything was so good. Yes the falafel was incredibly fresh first of the day perfect. Soup was so fabulous concoction of mushrooms and potatoes cream I don’t know what else really good but put a little pepper in it. The tomato based eggplant potato stew melted in your mouth the closer you got to the end of the bowls the richer it got. the falafel came with tomatoes cucumbers onions pickled cabbage. We also got free samples of the four kinds of dolma oh my god and a squash soup that was light and delicate. The total was $ 13.60 including bottled water and tea and we could not finish all of it. I hate to recommend places like this because now it will become popular and overrun!

Customer service: They need to improve their customer service because my recent experience with them didn’t meet my expectations. They neither greeted me nor thanked me for supporting their business by filing up their hungry pockets with cash. They choose whom they want to be nice with. This arrogant and rude attitude will harm their business by losing their current and potential customers. They need to adopt friendly and professional manners instead of nasty and unfair behavior.
Food: We ordered beef steak (kebab) and grilled chicken to go. When we got home, we found the beef steak raw (uncooked well) as it was red from the inside, and the grilled chicken was bland and tasted as if it was old or rotten. So, we threw it away in the garbage.
Also, the restaurant is too small and too crowded with noisy customers, and their kitchen is too small as well.
They need to improve both their customer service and food quality if they want to continue their business.

It’s good and their food is more than delicious, but I took a star because they need to improve their service and thier restroom.

Oh food is awesome. I ordered lamb shank and its made to perfection as iraqi way. Also their appetizers are great

Went there for lunch I have only eaten here once , great and fresh food, great service.

I have yet to eat at such a good middle eastern restaurant in the states. Very authentic Iraqi dishes cooked in a very Iraqi way. The (Koozi) was amazing, the lamb shank was very tender with great basmati rice. The whole experience was perfect.
Update: the guy at check out is very rude and needs to lighten up. Screw that, one star for that.

You wouldn’t think a little hole in the wall restaurant located in a strip mall in El Cajon made such delicious Iraqi cuisine. Amazing shawerma, kabobs, fresh breads and more. They know exactly how to season everything just right. Sometimes we swing by and pick up a big sayneeyeh (tray) for dinner and it’s a delicious feast for all. They even have delicious patcha on occasions. Mmmmm.

Great food, great prices with authentic Iraqi cuisine. The only thing missing IMHO is the lack of a garlic sauce with the chicken dishes… though I know that’s a lebanese thing.

Authentic Iraqi food with slight twist on marinade and spices (compared to Persian or Turkish) to the kebab, tikka, both lamb and chicken, shawarma and even the rice. Cabbage pickles are great (yellow). All VERY TASTY.

I have lately been frequenting El Cajon and trying out the various Middle Eastern Restaurants. I have tried Sagmani, Nahrain Fish and Chicken Grill, Sahara and now this restaurant.
So far this one wins my heart. I ordered the Lamb shank and did notice that the other Middle Eastern patrons ordering the same dish got bigger ones than me it was plenty of food for me! I guess that they didn’t know that Asians eat a lot too!
The turmeric rice was very nicely cooked and flavorful. The lamb was tender and the sauce that I ordered with it was the eggplant version and it was really fantastic.
This place is a no frills place. Yes it is small but it is clean and they serve fresh no nonsense food. I was the only non middle eastern patron which made me feel as if this was the place to go in the neighborhood.
This is not a fancy place but a great family place that feels like you are eating in someone’s home.
Finally found a middle eastern restaurant that I enjoyed in El Cajon. I do wish that they would remove the swai fish from their menu as those fish are not healthy at all. If I ordered the fish next time I would be sure to ask what kind of fish it was.
Bravo and thank you for your reasonable prices and good food!

If you are looking for typical Iraqi and Chaldean for at a very reasonable price, this place is a very good bet you’ll find what you are looking for. The place is not much to look at with very simple tables and chairs, but as I hung out, I could tell right away that the locals come here for what comes out of the kitchen.
On my visit, I ordered the Beef Sandwich with sliced meat from the spit, served on a warm traditional Middle Eastern bun. The bun came stuffed with an abundant of tender lightly seasoned beef, freshly sliced tomatoes lettuce, and some pickled cauliflower. It came with a side of garlic sauce pour into the sandwich, but I passed on that. The sandwich was very good, especially the beef, and for only $ 3.99, you can go wrong. You can also get the same sandwich with chicken. Oh yes, the sandwich also came with a small bowl of creamy of chicken and vegetable soup which was okay.
I also ordered for only a couple of dollars, a side order of Iraqi yellow rice. I really liked the stuff. I was amazed to the healthy portion they delivered, which could of easily have been for two people. The rice was terrific, had great flavor, was perfectly cooked, and most importantly, it had great flavor. They sure make some great rice.
So, if you happen to be in East County, are in the mood for some Middle Eastern food, and don’t have a lot to spend, this place should fit the mold.

The food. Wow, the food is cheap !! Compared to Ali baba, 100 times cheaper. That’s the good part and the food quality is alright. You get what you pay for right?
The lentil soup they give for free!!! Who does that! :) the samoon bread is on point ! Yum! I’m hungry thinking about it