Kecho’s Cafe

I highly recommended. The beet salad, flat bread, ravioli, and wine were outstanding. Great personal service also.

Came back w/​the kids and their grandma, and it IS a great place to go w/​kids. The girls had the Picasso pizza and the sliders (just $ 6 on happy hr) and I was able to try the Greek red wine at happy hour prices (just $ 5) really good.
Grandma got the Piato Athena (essentially a «combo» plate) w/​spanikopita, chicken kebab, green beans in a tasty tomato sauce, and a rice & pea pilaf — really tasty! I tried the new salmon plate w/​a picata type sauce, but it was really, really sour — too sour, really; maybe the lemon juice needs to be cooked a little more to mellow it out. Topped it off w/​a chocolate sundae, which the girls devoured.
Gourmet Greek food in OB? Love it! I’m raising my rating to 5 stars.

Good food and great service. Only 4 stars because the prices are a tad high — I came in with a Livingsocial certificate, and probably wouldn’t go back unless it was during Happy Hour based on the prices.
They give you a small bowl of olives to start. Nice touch.
We shared the beet salad, margherita flatbread, and baked feta. I really liked the beet salad ($ 10) (without goat cheese), but my old man didn’t eat any of the beets because he said they were pickled. I don’t think they were pickled, I think they were roasted with salad dressing on them. But, I love pickled beets (so sue me) anyway. The salad was good, but not nearly big enough for $ 10.
The baked feta ($ 8.50) is the stuff dreams are made of. Seriously, if you go here and don’t order it, you wasted a trip. I could eat this every day and be perfectly content. The feta is nice and salty, warm, served with flatbread.
The margherita flatbread ($ 11) was good, but not amazing. It was also nice and salty — in a good way, not an overly salty way. Some places don’t salt their mozzarella, and then the cheese has no flavor. They do it right here.
We finished with the galaktoboureko dessert — custard in phyllo dough with pistachio ice cream. $ 7, worth every penny. Delicious. And, we never order dessert, so the fact that we got this tells you a lot.
The beer selection is small, but good.
I’d like to see more vegetarian options, then I’d come back again.

Found this little gem in OB through one of the voucher deals. Never would have discovered it on my own. It opens at 5 for dinner and happy hour, no lunch. The restaurant has a very cozy, warm feel to it. The staff couldn’t have been nicer or more professional. We ordered three small plates, shrimp, grape leaves and the meatballs and all were very tasty. The food combined with the friendly neighborhood atmosphere and great service… it’s a winner in my books.

The food was excellent. Very cute and cozy setting. It’s nice to split a couple dishes. Would definitely recommend

Very good food. Very fresh and healthy. Tried 4 items off the happy hour menu. Fav was the baked feta with flatbread. Best feta I’ve ever had. Very relax ambience.

My SO and I dined here twice, on weekdays in December and January; reservations are a good idea, as it’s a small place.
The service, as others have said, attentive, timely, kind, and informative, but not intrusive. That only takes one sentence to say, but anyone who’s ever waited tables knows what advanced practice it truly is.
You’re greeted by a small bowl of marinated olives; drinks, from a small assortment, are interesting and good. There’s wine and beer for drinkers and I had a blood-​orange soda, which my server treated with as much respect as you’d usually get for a glass of wine. Nice touch!
There’s a very small front area (maybe 10 tables) and a slightly larger back roofed-​and-​walled patio, which was comfortably warm even in winter. Artwork on the walls and nice plate settings make the atmosphere casual but elegant. Tables are small but well-​spaced so that conversation is possible.
The food we ordered ranged from good to great. The dinner salad was pretty ordinary, but the flatbread pizza was delicious — crispy crust and well-​flavored melty toppings. Gnocchi in tomato sauce were bland. Souvlaki was tender and delicious, though its accompanying pilaf was bitterly overseasoned. You can share mezede (small plates) or entrees; there’s no extra charge or fuss for sharing anything, so you can enjoy lots of different flavors.
The Galaktoboureko (dessert — crisp phyllo layers rolled around a vanilla custard filling, served with ice cream) is to die for, so save room for it! Dessert portion sizes are good for two people. Coffee was dark and unexpectedly good.
When we returned within a week for a second meal we were greeted as warmly as though we were regulars, and I noticed other patrons being treated the same way, including single diners, who are often relegated to corners and ignored.
All in all, not flawless, but a lovely small restaurant. I only wish I lived in OB so I could go there more often. ;-) Perfect for a romantic or intimate meal, or when you’re feeling blue and misanthropic and generally fed up with the news cycle and want to feel cheered-​up and restored.
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Wow, what can I say, this place is great! I’ve been in a few times with different groups of friends, and everyone always walks away happily full and festive. I love going in and seeing your Chef Stephanie in the kitchen. She is amazing to watch through the service window, (always focused, never stressed, cool as a cucumber, dancing an culinary ballet of sorts) and is super friendly when in the dining room, and her dishes and desserts are to die for!!! The GALAKTBOUREKO is a MUST TRY ITEM!!! Oh, and her Caramel Sauce just isn’t fair ;-) I’ve been a fan of here’s since her days of chocolatier-​ing and couldn’t be happier to see her blossom in this lovely, quaint café. Kudos Kecho’s, she’s a keeper! Her passion, talent and joy come through in every dish she touches.

The restaurant was cozy and comfortable and the food was amazing… The two of us ordered 3 mezze’s and shared — I highly recommend this strategy so that you can taste as many dishes as possible. The menu is unique and most of the items we ordered were new to me, but I loved them all! They even had a really good Petite Petite on the Wine List…
Carlyanne (I hope I spelled that right) was our Server. She was so nice… as well as, very knowledgeable and attentive. It was obvious that her intention was to make our experience the nicest possible, and she did a great job at doing that!
I’m so glad to have discovered this place! I will definitely be a regular. :-)

Food was great, went with a group of 11. Prior to the orders being taken we asked for individual checks and the waitress agreed. We enjoyed our meal only to be told the individual checks was not done. That caused confusion amongst the group as some had no cash only credit card. It spoiled the entire dinner experience.
The chef who I assume is the owner had to step in and provide individual checks why this could not have been done in the first place! Even he messed up some of the checks we took cash from the tip to give to some in our group that were over charged, leaving one person in the groiup putting extra money to help make up what was taken out of the tip. It was a mess,…
I will return but only for a table for two, no more large groups at that restaurant.

Don’t come here if you are hungry !
That was my mistake when i came here first time
The restaurant is cute but very small, they got an indoor patio in the back.
So here is the deal, the menu mainly is mainly consists of «Mezzes» aka small appetizer plates. There are only 4 main course dishes and they are definitely over-​priced. This is OB, not downtown!
On my first visit here i got the Scampi Kecho ($ 13.5) and Zeus (Grilled chicken, pesto, sun-​dried tomatoes, mozzarella, feta ($ 12), thinking oh that’s plenty of food to share between 2 pple especially the flat-​bread. When the flat-​bread came i was surprised its not the flat bread that you normally think of. Its a small round individual pizza not enough to share, same with the Shrimp scampi plate, small appetizer. OK 25 dollars down we were still hungry and disappointed.
Since when Mediterranean food for became a fancy business?
With growling stomached with ordered one more dish from the main course — Kotopolo Souvlaki (chicken skewers). Chicken was good, but the rice was’t. It wasn’t that long grain that you normally get at Greek/​Mediterranean restaurants.
On my second visit here i just went straight for the main dish. well only 4 choices to pick from… Arnisia (Seared lamb chops, lemon caper sauce, sautéed spinach, potatoes) $ 24. Sounds good right? I thought so too, i got fatty 2 chops, no spinach (for some reason it came with some string green beans) with very dried potatoes.
I gave this restaurant 2 visits and both time the food was underwhelming and over-​priced.
3 stars for the nice staff but definitely not for food. I won’t be back.

I stopped into Kecho’s Café last week — it was the day I moved to Ocean Beach and I was dying for some good grub. The menu looked promising and it was really close to my house so I figured I’d try it out.
I was dining by myself that night but my server, Carliana, made me feel so comfortable and at home. She really took her time with me and made sure I knew about the new happy hour menu they started as well as the fine assortment of beer and wine. She was very attentive and came back to check at all the perfect times.
The décor is chic and romantic! There’s a covered patio in back with a heated area for the colder of nights. It is lit by candles in the center of the table. It’s small and sweet. I felt a little too casual wearing jeans and an oversized country band tee-​shirt, but didn’t get any weird stares either. I ordered a simple margherita flatbread and a roasted beet salad, both were DELICIOUS.
I have no complaints. Will definitely be stopping back in one of these days. It was a great introduction to the laid back and happy Ocean Beach atmosphere!

This place is awesome! Food was fantastic, wines were great, ambiance was just right, and service was outstanding, (but then I would expect nothing less from The Olive Tree family!) Thanks to Mike @ Olive Tree for telling me about this place, it is our new «date night» restaurant! A+
UPDATE as of 8÷28÷013: Well Kecho’s has closed. I don’t know why, but it’s a bummer.

Lucky for us, when we arrived at this cozy restaurant, we were informed by the waitress that they were introducing a happy hour menu and we were the first to try it. Let me say the items on the happy hour menu are reflective of what’s on the main menu, but less expensive.
Anyway, my in laws had been here before and they really enjoyed it and wanted us to come with them on their next visit. The first thing I noticed was how clean and inviting this restaurant was. The décor is warm and the paintings on the wall really add to the ambiance. The waitress greeted us right away and we asked for a table on the patio. (Suggested for a romantic dinner with your significant other.)
For starters I had the «house» salata and my mum in law had the caesar salad. The salads were made with the freshest greens, tomatoes, and feta cheese. It was definitely something to write home about, but there’s more.
The in laws decided on flatbreads. The dad in law had the Zeus, which had sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese and spinach while the mum in law had the Plaka, covered in roasted garlic cloves, crispy pancetta, spinach and fontina cheese. Both were excellent. My honey had the braised pork loin with the chutney — the pork was a bit tough, but otherwise great flavors from the chutney and there was a hint of cumin. Very good. I had the fish. It was Mahi Mahi grilled to perfection with some kind of caper sauce over top. The fish also came with rice pilaf, which had slivered almonds. Since I love crunchy bits in my salads and rice, this was fantastic.
Well, I hope you get the picture. Kecho’s is a great restaurant and I hope to go back many more times.
PS…I noticed a tasting room next door. Beer and wine. Hmmmmmmm… sounds like another review is on the way.

Really excited to have found this place. Went in last night with my boyfriend and we were both super excited about it.
We sat inside and both had drinks (wine and beer), he had the soup which was amazing. My chicken was not particularly thrilling, but he ordered the fish special and it was soooo good. You HAVE to try the dessert. gabktoboureko (?). Heaven in my mouth.
Our server was really nice and the chef came out to our table also.
We’ll be back!

We thought we would give it a try and we were delightfully surprised. (small portions but yummy)
Started with their bean and sausage soup and loved it. Salads were good (my kid had the caesar he gave it a thumbs up) Then we had some flat breads which were my second fav and then the Arnisia.
It’s a tiny spot but a great addition to the OB area!

I’m a bit worried that this place has been open since March and only has 20 reviews. And they’re all 4 and 5 star reviews, amazing. And so is their food. Might be a bit too upper crust for funky OB, but I certainly hope not, since I live here and am thrilled to have an incredible Greek and Mediterranean place to eat in my hood.
My guy and I started with their Spanikopita, which is spinach, leeks, Greek feta cheese and dill baked in a phyllo pastry. Best I’ve ever had, and largest! Was light as a feather, with what seemed like a million layers of phyllo pastry, oh drool! When I’ve had this before, ti’s almost always dried out, but not at Kechos.
We then had their Keftedes, which is Greek meatballs, made with ground lamb, beef and spices. Served on pomodoro sauce. Another very tasty and filling mezzes, or small plates. Nothing really small about it at all.
To that we added their braised pork loin with fig and port sauce, served with sautéed spinach. Oh my, it was so incredibly tasty and tender. Loved that fig and port sauce.
We ended the meal with a very delectable dessert of Galaktoboureko Vanilla custard baked in phyllo, brushed with orange glaze, served with Pasticcio ice cream from Lighthouse Ice Cream on Newport Ave. A very happy ending.
I had some sparkling blush wine and my b/​f had a glass of some wine… sorry, not a big wine person, so I don’t remember what they were called, but I had two glasses and I was flying high on my tryke for the ride home!
I really hope locals and other San Diegans make the journey here as a great destination restaurant, whilst enjoying the unique beach vibes in OB. It’s certainly worth your time, and your taste buds will thank you! OPA!

Dined at Kecho’s last night. I thoroughly enjoyed everything!!! The cannelli bean soup was fabulous; lamb chops with horta (horta is dandelion greens) was perfect. We tried the gabktoboureko (pastry cream filled filo with pistachio ice cream) — it was the best dessert I have every had in a restaurant!!! My husband had the summer salad and gnocchi and my daughter had the chicken souvlaki. All delicious. Everything was fresh and very good.
Great service too!!!
Will definiately be back.

Great new place in OB. I am a vegetarian and they had plenty of delicious options. Small place but we had great service.
You also get a discount if you buy wine or champagne at the Olive Tree and have it with your dinner.
Very fresh– great service.
Cant wait to go back!

I am very happy to have such a great little restaurant in my neighborhood! My boyfriend and I walked over for an early dinner at around 6:15 on Saturday evening and even at the early dinner hour, Kecho’s was packed. Word must be spreading about the excellent food and service!. For an app we had a grilled eggplant/​roasted red pepper/​goat cheese dish that was delicious. We split chicken skewers and pork loin with a fig purée for dinner. Both were very tasty! In addition to the lovely food is a nice beer and wine selection, also very reasonably priced. The ambience is cozy and romantic– perfect place for date night!
Additionally, although we didn’t have to wait I heard that when there is a wait, you can walk to the tasting room a few doors down and be called when your table is ready. Sounds good to me!