Old Jerusalem Restaurant

My favorite middle eastern spot. I use to work in Beverly Hills and they had the best middle eastern food but I think this place is just as good. I think it’s a family joint so a lot of the same people are always working. Really friendly. Got some kind of chicken plate and boyfriend got hummus and beef plate and for dessert we got the goat cheese thing and baklava. Soooo good. All worth it.

Chicken Shwarma is great. Prolly been here 15 times and only once was the food cold. So overall I’ll forgive it. Good food.

Quickest service of all the authentic Middle Eastern restaurants I’ve been to. First came the perfectly cut pan bread halves with aioli and hot radish dipping sauce. Next came my Shawerma with hummus all under 5 minutes. I used my spoon as a lever and layered some lamb and beef pieces into a pan bread with my fork. Filling the rest of the space with an equal volume of hummus and topping a whisk of radish sauce on top, I took a careful bite in the middle of the sack savoring the Mediterranean herbs and spices. The lemon aftertaste was so seductive. I had no choice but to take a bigger bite. Each ingredient complimented each other. The hummus soaking into the bread flavored the meat, which was as tender as it was filling. That is what I call a meal.

The restaurant offer delicious food but when I asked for a piece of tomato cut in slides they charged me $ 5.99! the resturant manager said we are not a grocery store we are a resturant!
$ 5.99 for one piece of tomato

Intro to my visit/​experience: Came here for my first time with my coworker/​friend on an early Friday evening after work. We were seated right away and were immediately served complimentary appetizers — pita bread and yogurt sauce dip and some magical tomato and onion dip that I could not stop thinking and talking about for a few days.
What I ordered:
–Combination plate consisting of three skewers: lamb, beef, and chicken, served with hummus and rice.
What I enjoyed:
–The kebabs were all tasty and seasoned so well in their respective flavors.
–My favorite part of eating Mediterranean or Middle Eastern dishes is the yellow rice — something about it. They gave a generous serving, and I enjoyed every bite of it.
–The hummus was perfect. I’ve had some hummus at other places that taste over-​roasted or nutty-​flavored, but this one was delicious dipped with the pita bread and added that extra burst of flavor on the kebabs.
–Friendly and fast service
–Complimentary pita bread and dips
What could have been better:
No complaints here.
End Note:
Very delicious. Probably some of the best kebabs I’ve had. Very convenient to get to by BART — only a block away from the 24^th Street & Mission station. The price for the food was fair, and definitely left me full for the rest of the night.

Its Christmas day and everything in town is closed. Thank God for Old Jerusalem. My friend Archi & I came in hungry and left satisfied. We ordered potatoes and eggs for apetizers and it was delicious. They gave us complimenry bread with two different sauces (a green sauce that was mild tasted like garlic/​hummus, it was pretty good and a red sauce that was pretty spicy) I ordered the Shish Tawook wrap, it was not the best maybe because im used to the Lebanese Tawook from home. It was quite dry and did not have much flavor, a tawook from home would have fries and garlic but this one hasnt. It had tomatoes which is my least favorite vegetable. Then I got knefe for dessert, not the best I had but it was still good. Not too bad of a restaurent. I would give 4 stars because of the knefe.

Hummous– ful is served warm, as it should be.
Pita is warm and moist, as they should be.
Lamb kebab and chicken shawarma are sliced and diced to the right size, seasoned with love, and just damn delicious.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to have visited the Old City, it really does feel like you’re walking into a restaurant in the Muslim Quarter… despite the lack of shishas and haggling shopkeepers. The workers are inviting and honest, the food is served in a timely manner, and the dessert is all homemade.
Oh and get this, there’s kanafeh. Forget your filo dough pastries and baclavas. You won’t be getting authentic kanafeh anywhere else in the city. They don’t use too much syrup to the point where the cheese is old and soggy, and have just the right amount of pistachios.

While getting my hair done at Annie’s Studio Salon (York and 20^th) we were deciding what to order for lunch. She mentioned Postmates, which I had never heard of. I guess I’ve been in Mississippi for too long LOL! Basically it’s like an UBER for food! You order and someone will pick it up and deliver (Thanks, Denzel!)
After telling Annie about my horrible experience in Ocean Springs, MS she said «well, do you want Arabic food?»…Duh, I want Arabic food. She tells me that her parents went here the other night and loved it so we went to town and ordered:
–Falafel: It was more oval shape than the traditional round shape but OHMYG! It was so crispy and light.
–Combination plate: Chicken, Beef, and Lamb. I only had the chicken pieces and 1 piece of lamb. They were so juicy and flavorful. I wish they had more grilled veggies but other than that the meet was very tasty and the RICE? The rice I could just go to the corner and pour the green sauce all over and be in heaven
–Hummus with meat: The Hummus was so smooth and the meat was cooked perfectly, tender and not salty.
–Kunafa — «Warm syrup-​soaked dessert of shredded wheat and goat cheese topped with crushed pistachio» — it was my first time trying it and it was so good! Not overly sweet, the cheese isn’t overpowering and the pistachios add such a nice flavor to it. The only thing is we didn’t eat it right away so it wasn’t hot, nice, and gooey like it should be but that was our fault. it was still really really good. A nice cup of tea and mint would just put it over the top.
I took absolutely no pictures of the food and only one picture of the Kunafa and that was after doing my happy dance with a head full of color.
Yea, maybe their prices are a little on the more expensive side but if you’re getting good quality, authentic food then I am down for that, always.
It was such a nice treat to eat some real good Middle Eastern food here in SF, esp since we’ve been striking out in MS.

This place has been on my list to try for years! I had a pretty sizable lunch so I was relatively hungry. A vegetarian combo was perfect for my friend and I to share while we caught up on things. They give you some sides of a spicy, red sauce with onions, a yogurt sauce, olives and picked radish with plenty of pita to start, and the vegetarian combo was a healthy serving of hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, pureed squash, eggplant and cucumber tomato salad — yum! We enjoyed our meal, and it was just the right amount. I want to come back and try their wraps and kebabs. Next time soon!

I’ve had their lamb/​beef and chicken shawarma plates on a couple of visits — both very flavorful. Their hummus is delicious and made a lasting impression. From what I recall, it was about 15 bucks a plate, but worth it as the portions were significant.

3,5 stars.
This place has been bookmarked by me for a few years, and I just finally made it there!
My take on the Old Jerusalem Restaurant:
— nice meza (pita, olives, pickled radishes, yogurt dip, and tomato onion dip)
— had lamb and hummus — plenty for one person and pretty tasty too
Would I come back given that this restaurant 20 min away from my house? No.

Disappointed. Completely bland food, slow service, a little run down space.
I didn’t realize, recently moving from la, that middle eastern food wasnt awesome everywhere. This proved me wrong. I had the chicken shawerma. Not impressed. Not enough hummus, but probably a good thing as it didnt taste great.

Old Jerusalem has been on my radar for a while, and after attending a book-​signing nearby, the boy and I dropped by for a quick lunch.
SERVICE.
We were seated in the mostly empty restaurant, but then our server just sort of never came back. She walked by us several times, but seemed to be avoiding us — it was very odd, there didn’t feel like any tension or unkindness, we just were unable to place an order? Yet another large table that sat down a few minutes after us received immediate service, so I’m not sure what was up with that. We ended up getting our order to go based on this.
FOOD.
Despite this oddness, we had a thoroughly enjoyable meal once we arrived home with our take-​out. Highlights were definitely:
+ MIXED SHAWERMA
+ HUMMUS (oh my god so good~)
+ KUNAFA
I’ve never had kunafa before this, and while it was a bit of an acquired taste, it was absolutely delicious. I would definitely make a point of stopping by for take-​out the next time I’m in the neighborhood.

I go through restaurant phases where all I can think about is one place, and I want to go back every other day until it gets off my mind. Old Jerusalem, I just can’t quit you.
THE VIBE:
Seems like it’s run by a family, everyone’s very friendly. Lots of younger families in here eating, chatting with the owners. Homey décor, nothing crazy.
THE FOOD:
Delicious, comforting, epic proportions. My girlfriend and I split a shawarma combo and we have leftovers. Every table gets complimentary cracked olives, tahini, warm fluffy pitas, and an onion/​tomato slaw that has a nice bite.
PRO TIP: after you gorge yourself, check out Samirami imports next door. Great Mediterranean and middle eastern grocery with olives by the pound, great spices, and lots of fun goodies.

Okay let me sum it all up real’ quick.
HUMMUS!!!
FALAFEL!!!
GODDAMN-​GOOD-​SPICES FLAVORED RICE!!!
That’s about all you need to know if you happen to be hanging in the mission and looking for a delicious and affordable Mediterranean fix.
If you are a hummus lover, falafel craver, middle eastern food advocate, there shall be no other places where you shall find true happiness.
I had the three meat dish and I couldn’t believe how good and tender the meat was (bonus point for the kabob chicken, a bit less enthusiast about the beef but I’m just really picky about beef).
But the best is yet to come.
THESE SIDES ARE INCREDIBLE. The rice, hummus, falafels, are outta this world.
I will come back, plus I love the inside decorations (very typical) and the service is on point.
Thank you Old Jerusalem!!!

This is the best places for falafel dishes. I have never had falafel this good anywhere else in the bay area. Their other signature dishes we tried were:
— Shish Kabab plate
— Chicken Shawerma sandwich (very moist chicken)
These dishes were well done and they had good flavor. And no dinner would be complete without a good dessert. You cannot go wrong with their Kunafa dessert. They are the only ones who do that in bay area. The mint tea is very good with their dishes. The other dishes we would like to try when we go next time would be the Kalaya.
The service was great. It’s a short walk from the Mission Bart station. Their location is in a lively mission neighborhood.

Kebabs and shawarma can get boring after awhile, but then once in awhile you stumble across a place like Old Jerusalem where the food pictures look mind-​blowing. I feel like with Mediterranean food especially, you know it’s good food when you see it: one glance at Unilocal food porn, and I left my heart at Old Jerusalem.
The restaurant is exactly as you’d expect for a place called Old Jerusalem: a simple interior, an even simpler exterior, straightforward menu with no gimmicks like shawarma kimchi tacos that would belong in a food truck. Interestingly, the homemade cooking style was also along the same lines, with minimal use of salt or other umami-​fy-​ing agents. It runs the risk of being condemned as bland if you like bold and intensely delicious flavors, but I enjoyed the simple seasonings. (The famous hummus though, is indeed bold and intensely delicious… read on)
(+++) SHISH TOUK: Old Jerusalem has now set my standards for chicken kebabs to unreasonable heights. Besides the juiciness and good grilling technique in not being the least bit charred, minimal seasoning shifts the focus to the chicken itself. I did not know that there was such thing as a chicken kebab purist but I’m pretty certain that I’ve become one.
(++) SHAWARMA: Did not leave me as speechless as the shish touk, but good. It’s quite plain by itself but absolutely amazing when you dip it in hummus +/​-​the cucumber yogurt sauce +/​-​the spicy red sauce.
(+++) HUMMUS: Makes manufactured supermarket hummus look sad. Their housemade hummus has a much more robust flavor, with extra complexity from the olive oil and spices on top. I don’t think it lasts though (I suspect the olive oil would separate out like how salad dressing become disgustingly layered). For two, I suggest one plate with rice and one plate with half hummus/​half rice so you can save rice for leftovers.
(+) FREEBIES: They give you two free complimentary pieces of pita for each entrée, which is a boon compared to Thai curries that don’t come with rice and Indian places where you have to get the naan or rice separately. The pita bread itself is fresh and fluffy, distinctly different from supermarket pita. Old Jerusalem’s pita and hummus definitely put supermarkets to shame (even Whole Foods and hipster co-​ops). There are supposed to be additional complimentary appetizers of pickled vegetables. At first I thought it may only have been for dine-​in, but I saw it placed in another customer’s take-​out order and not mine… ohs wells, I will not be the finicky Unilocaler today since there was more than enough food.
At entrees $ 15 each (a little over $ 30 total for 1.5 meals for two people) for masterfully delicious cuisine, pricing is reasonable considering quantity and quality. Old Jerusalem is one of those gems that makes you appreciate SF’s food scene and diversity.

My beau Unilocaled a place for dinner on a Saturday night and came across OJ. We had some high expectations with all the reviews. I think a couple of things threw us off to justify the average rating.
We ordered a few things
1 — Hummus With Meat Or Shawarma hummus dip topped with seasoned coarse lamb, or shawarma mixed with olive oil and spices
Ah, flavor so on point. Delicious tender and nicely spiced meat over hummus. BUT, the portion size was tiny. It just scratched the surface of my palette before it was all gone and I got really sad. What a bummer. For $ 12, it was disappointing.
2 — Falafel I really liked. You get a small plate of 6 for $ 5, and they’re not rounded balls, they’re bigger and delicious. Crispy on the outside and warm and not dried out inside.
3– Lamb skewers with rice and hummus. I asked for medium rare and it was severely over cooked and chewy. The flavor was also really underwhelming.
They’re hummus is delicious, probably on the better end of my past tastes. I’m also so used to my big gigantic tub of mediocre TJ’s hummus. This was a delicious and refreshing reminder of how true hummus tastes.
Not sure if I’d come here again. Maybe for some things, but not others.

Came here a few weeks ago for dinner with a group of friends on Friday night.
Old Jerusalem definitely gives a strong «family shop» vibe, with all of the servers all confident and well-​versed in the food. I arrived early with another friend, and we were quickly shown to our table (another friend called earlier to notify them of our larger party). The space is quite narrow – longer in space, but not ideal for hosting large parties. It was pretty slow early in the night, but by 8−9PM, it was very busy and filled with some people standing around waiting for their takeaway orders or for an open table to clear up.
I definitely ordered the wrong item – don’t get the falafel sandwich. Being vegetarian, that’s always my default when I go out to eat in a Mediterranean space. BUT I thoroughly enjoyed our baba ganoush starter – their pita bread is pretty yummy and soft, BUT DAT GANOUSH was perfection! I should’ve ordered a combo plate… so dinner diners, be sure to order their plates! That’s what’s good here.
Their food tasted very authentic and well-​made to me (food came out after a noticeable waiting period), but the space itself doesn’t contribute to the dining experience. It’s plain, but allows diners to focus more on the food – the main attraction for the night. They also have restrooms in the very back past the cooks and kitchen (sanitation issues?), but it’s convenient if someone in your party needs to wee.
In all, I think their combo plate items and certain appetizer plates are worth the price you’re paying. But the restaurant space itself doesn’t get my engine going, nor does the lukewarm service. On the other hand, it’s very casual and seems to be getting lots of service in their to-​go department!

This place is great if you want to have a brunch on a Saturday or Sunday morning. They have the best falafel in town by far. Try The fresh falafel with bread. You can make your own sandwich, with black tea.
There’s a huge room for improvement regarding the service and the other dishes.