Gaby’s Mediterranean Restaurant Cafe

Lived in LA for years and finally am writing about one of my favorite spots, Gaby’s! Everything I have eaten is great, but my favorite is the Lemon chicken on a bed of rice! I usually don’t like lemon flavored anything but this dish is unreal! The flavors are amazing with only a hint of lemon, chicken cooked perfectly and it is healthy too! Definitely a must try if you’re in LA with about 5 different locations.

Food– Always soooo good. It’s very close to my house so tend to eat here fairly often. Good portion sizes also.
Stars deducted for the service. It’s usually pretty slow and feels rushed, even if there’s no one else dining.
Steer clear of deserts. Taste frozen and thawed. Actually sent the cheesecake back.

PRO: A lot of cops so definitely safe, CONS: Waited for 30 minutes finally food was ready but the Chicken was burnt and the chicken nuggets was disgusting had to throw em away not coming back.

Really good all around Mediterranean food. Outdoor patio with good ambiance and hookah if you please. Best part is you can get good food, late at night!

I live up the street so I’ve given Gaby’s a few chances but sadly keep coming to the same conclusion: I am not a fan. I want to like it because the ambiance is great and they do often have fantastic live music playing. The service has always been fine as well. But the food is sub-​par. It’s dry and leaves a lot to be desired.
If you’re looking for good Mediterranean food walk a little ways down the road and go to kebab grill. What they lack in ambiance they make up for in deliciousness (which is more important in my opinion).

Good food and service. Our server, Sami J, was very knowledgable, patient and polite in helping us order
We did not know what to order and he suggested recommendations hat were spot on
We will definitely return and hope he will be there to assist us further in our quest in trying new foods

The chef really needs to learn how to do the Greek Salad! It was everything wrong in it. Wrong lettuce, wrong onion, and more! I’ll help you!
Greek salad
1 large sweet onion, thickly sliced
Extra-​virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and cracked black pepper
1 large head iceberg lettuce, very thinly sliced
1 ½ pounds whole trimmed bulbs of fennel, sliced crosswise paper-​thin
Roasted Bell Peppers, or 4 small store-​bought fire-​roasted red bell peppers, cut into strips
24 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
¾ pound English cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded, and thickly sliced
8 scallions, thinly sliced
1 red onion, very thinly sliced
½ cup small fresh dill leaves, coarsely chopped
½ cup small fresh flat-​leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano
About 50 mixed green and black olives in brine and/​or oil, pitted and halved
16 whole caperberries
¾ cup Red Wine and Feta Vinaigrette
²⁄₃ cup crumbled feta cheese
4 pepperoncini, sliced

I love Gaby’s! It’s one of my favorite restaurants in Culver City. I had the beef shawarma pita with a side salad. For dessert, I had their chocolate flan cake. Everything was tasty and the chocolate flan was amazing!

Got the beef shawarma. The meat was dry and tasted somewhat old. The salad, rice, and hummus was great, but I was turned off by the meat. Still good place if youre with a lot of people. Good parking.

Nice spot to hang out and enjoy good food and good hookahs. The food was awesome and service was great. Owner was so sweet to take care of one hookah for us. Will be back for sure.

Fabulous delivery place! Can take and hour but usually worth the wait.
We often stop in to enjoy the chicken kabob plates with amazing garlic sauce and rice.
My son enjoys the lemon chicken dish which is fantastic too.
They offer Hookah as well.
Live music some nights as well.

I am not a super picky person but I have to say it. This beef kebab was so tough. Like gnawing with your incisors like a lion on a zebra in the Serengeti tough. We had a really hard time eating it. The salad that came with it was wilted and soggy. While I appreciate this contrast in textures, this is not ideal.
The chicken kabobs were good so I will give it that, and the beef keftka was decent. But I can’t go back there. At least until my jaw heals up from the beating it took trying to get through that beef kebab.

Gaby’s offers a fine yet affordable Mediterranean eating experience, but there are a couple areas that I had to take off points for.
But first, the good:
— They’ve got their own parking lot with a fair amount of spots. Unless you come at a prime hour, you should have no trouble slipping in.
— Service was fantastic. Despite me being in thick conversation, our waiter was extremely attentive throughout the meal, constantly refilling our waters and checking on us without being obtrusive.
— Great menu of authentic Greek and Israeli specialties.
— Comfortable eating atmosphere in a wood-​covered patio-​like extension.
I tried the Musaka, Roasted Lamb, Beef Kabob plate, Turkish Coffee, and Baklava, as well as the complimentary Zaatar & Pita appetizer.
The Musaka was tasty, but used way too much oil, as most of the sauce was comprised of it.
The Roasted Lamb came with lots of great tasting, moist pieces of meat. However, it was prepared with too much salt, causing my mouth to feel nearly parched after the meal. Also, the menu said it comes topped with nuts – and it did; however, they were extremely skimpy. Just a small pinch of almond slivers and pine nuts. Regardless, this was my favorite of the dishes I tried.
The Beef Kabob was tasty, but they ignored our cooking preference. We asked for medium rare, but they gave it to us well done.
The Turkish coffee was done right and is recommended.
The Baklava comes free with a Unilocal check-​in. It’s fine, but not particularly noteworthy.
The food tastes good, prices are fair, and portions are ample, but less reliance on salts and oils would make it even better.

I dined at Gaby’s for the first time this last weekend. I had the Falafel Pita with a side of French Fries. The food was okay. It was nothing outstanding or noteworthy. The staff were friendly and the place is nice, but I probably wouldn’t make another visit.
For the record: It was kind of too loud in the restaurant while I was dining (there was a saxophone player playing live).

My husband and I ordered and had delivered two salads for dinner –he had the Mediterranean salad and I had the chopped. He started eating and realized there was a live cockroach crawling in his salad! This is the most disgusting encounter with food we’ve ever had and he is trying not to be sick.
Management took five minutes to get on the phone and then told us it was probably the delivery company’s fault.
Never eating here again.

Just had Saturday night dinner here with the hubby and we very much enjoyed it. We started with the falafel and a side of hummus to start. The falafel was particularly tasty and flavorful — a bit harder than I’m used to, but we loved them. The hummus is fresh and good. They also bring you a yummy spiced olive oil and pita to start — the pita is packaged not great, but the dipper is good.
«Order the lamb kebabs! You won’t regret it.» That’s my husbands advice and the lamb was excellent — tender, marinated well and cooked perfectly. I ordered the chicken kafta — it was pretty good, not the moistest I have had, but fine. We both ordered the plate, which come with generous helpings of fresh wonderful salad and tasty rice.
There was also a live saxophone player and even football on TV to appease the hubby. All around a chill solid place. We also saw tons of people bringing wine and beer so it seems like BYOB and there’s a liquor store right next door. Parfait!

This was a chance discovery by a few friends after a late night movie. We went back to celebrate post a long difficult test.
It is a quaint little place, u can blink and miss. It is a medittarenean place with a large menu and an equally interesting hookah bar. They dont serve alcohol but you can pick some from the liquor store close by and have it.
We ordered for a hummus, lamb entrée and a blueberry sheesha between the three of us. The hummus comes wih pita and zatar. It is one of the best zatar I have ever had. Extraordinary, much recommended.
The lamb, succulent, served on a bed of aromatic rice and a slight gravy was delicious too.
The hookah is large and if you enjoy it, is highly recommended to visit Gaby’s.
The servers are patient and cordial, the palce is not very expensive and you should go in a group. It is recommended if you are in the area and not big on ambiance and details.

This review is based upon the Rotisserie Half Chicken and Chicken Shawarma. I was sorely disappointed after taking my first bite out of both.
Nothing about the grilled chicken was Mediterranean. It tasted so bland I could have easily confused it with El Pollo Loco! No hint of the standard spices that are essential and popular for any Mediterranean food; even the salad was some sordid affair. The Chicken Shawarma, though seasoned a tad better, had absolutely no pickled vegetables in it! I have been eating Shawarmas from so many different places and I have never gotten chicken pieces simply wrapped in pita. The tiny bit of sauce in it might as well have been poured back in the bottle.
People who are used to eating bland food might enjoy this but to those who know their flavors and spices, this is definitely not the place. It doesn’t matter if you’re more than a hole-​in-​the-​wall eatery; if the food is not good, ambience is not going to make me feel better.

So yummy!!! We tried the Schwarma beef plate which came with hummus, Mediterranean salad, rice and Schwarma… also got an individually wrapped pita… so yummy.
We tried a side of Mac and cheese and finished it in minutes. It was cheesy deliciousness.
Also I honestly was going to save some for later but the Schwarma was sooooo good!
The salsa bar is also amazing

Despite the overall 3.5-star rating, I think Gaby’s is a decent, local’s spot for Mediterranean food in the Culver City/​Palms area. The food shows quality, prices are reasonable for the portion-​size, service is adequate, and the atmosphere holds a natural grunge (or an inside-​outside feel rather) with live music after hours.
This a great place for a casual sit-​down lunch or dinner but maybe not somewhere to stay for hours. I can certainly imagine getting takeout dinners here on weeknights.
FOOD
The menu boasts with a variety of beef, chicken, seafood and vegetarian options (yes!), which will likely please any palette. Portions are good for sharing.
* Vegetarian’s Choice: hummus, baba ghannouj, 1 stuffed grape leaf, 2 falafels, and tabouleh, $ 9.75.
This is my default Mediterranean dish because it offers the «whole shebang» of mezza I love. And yes, this was a good idea! I’d make it even better by including at least 2 stuffed grape leaves (they give 1) and maybe a side of greens/​tomatoes. Otherwise, it’s delicious (and great as leftovers — I’m eating the rest as we speak).
Complimentary pita and Zaatar (a mix of sesame seeds, herbs, spices and extra virgin olive oil). For those who are new to Zaatar, it’s got a subtle flavor, slightly pasty and grainy from the blend of herbs and spices — good with diced fresh tomatoes and onion. It’s probably not something I’d search the menu for, but I’m glad I tried it.
SERVICE
We had a sweet waitress who gave us just enough attention — no complaints there.
**Yelp check-​in offer: 1 free dessert with a minimum $ 20 purchase (~2 entrées). It’s Baklava!
PARKING
Small lot to the side with the strip mall or side streets.