Cazba

Great food with really fast service. The waitress was knowledgeable about the menu items, and the owner stopped by our table more than once to check on us.
My only complaint was that they were hard to find due to their name cleary shown on the building and the tables were very small. There were three of us at a 2 person table.
We ate there on New Years Eve so the small table may have been because they were so busy. I’ll definately go there again.

First time here. The dish was recommended by the staff. Rather plain. The chicken dish under enticing category. Kopotka? I wouldn’t order again as it lack flavor and substance. Rice is plain with no zing. The Greek red wine is good. We shall see how the baklava and Turkish coffee do.
Coffee very fab and love the baklava.

I didn’t find the food to be authentic or tasty. We started out with sampler platter. We couldn’t tell the baba ghanouj and hummus apart. They tasted different from each other, but were both thin and tasted heavy on the tahini. I couldn’t see or taste eggplant in either. I felt pretty confident both dips came out of can. The yogurt sauce was way too sour for the Greek or Arabic version of the typical yogurt sauce. The beef in my beef shawarma was covered in a sort of sweet brown sauce and had a good number of grilled green peppers in it – again not on the mark for a traditional shawarma. The Persian lemonade with flower water tasted right. Our server was polite and attentive.
Overwhelmingly, I thought Cazba’s food was not authentic for either Greek or Middle Eastern cuisine. All of the traditional dishes we tried were made differently than any other version I’ve ever eaten, and not in a good way. Serving canned hummus and baba ghanouj is also pretty low. A modest lunch of the small sampler platter and two sandwiches set us back close to $ 50 with tip.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PLACE! they are so kind and friendly and some of the best food in Boise.

Wonderful experience!
Walked in looking for a unique and authentic meal and got just that! Food came out right away and exceeded my expectations. Friendly and family owned business, a diamond in downtown.

Lovely outdoor patio, and very tasty baklava. Excellent, fluffy pita. Also, a pretty good pour for the Greek wine. Otherwise not too much to write home about. I tried the gyro platter, and the side dish of rice and mixed veggies it cam with just tasted a little under seasoned and didn’t seem to go with the rest of the dish. The meat was decently tasty, but didn’t have too much depth. There was a bit of lettuce, cucumbers and tahini to add, totally standard. If you just want a glass of wine and some pita to munch on while enjoying the patio, I’d recommend it. Otherwise, probably pass.

Yummy food and great service. I love the location and the outdoor seating area.
They have a ‘fast’ lunch menu but also the usual menu for those who are less rushed.

I love this place and max «the owner «is awesome. We just came out of back country in the sawtooths and checked into or hotel rented bikes and headed downtown. Got a hot tip on a great Greek/​Mediterranean restaurant and we were so stoked on the tabouli salad and kourtaki wine. We love healthy food and we were served fresh and healthy cuisine. Thank you!

I will admit that when I was told we were going to a Greek and Mediterranean place for lunch in downtown Boise I was a little nervous, but that was the 1990s talking! Of course we can find excellent foods of all kinds even in good ol’ Boise Idaho.
So we arrived and we found this restaurant quietly tucked in amongst the other shops and boutiques in downtown Boise which is always a good sign in my opinion, it usually means it isn’t too commercialized or franchised.
My first impression upon walking through the door was a strange one. The walls are painted with reproductions of some of the works of Michelangelo, which struck me as odd as I thought this was a Greek food place, not Italian, but I suppose they were going for the whole «mediterranean» thing and not geographically specific for the décor.
We were greeted by Max, who I believe is either the owner or manager and he was very friendly and helped us to a table immediately.
The food was absolutely great, although the portion sizes were a little on the small side. I ordered the lamb kabobs and also ordered the additional skewer of meat and was glad I did because without it there wouldn’t have been enough food. With the additional skewer the price for my meal was about $ 25 which is a little steep for an entrée but they were very good and there were some less expensive options on the menu.
One of my friends had the traditional Gyro and the other had curry chicken and from what I was told both were excellent.
Another major upside to this place is that our food came out very quickly, only about a 10 minute wait. Which is always important in a restaurant for me. It came out all together, and promptly.
There isn’t any designated parking for the restaurant as it is in downtown but there’s plenty of street parking and the restaurant isn’t a long walk from any of the number of parking garages downtown. We were lucky enough to park on the street but if I couldn’t find street parking I would have just parked at the grove structure and walked.
Definitely check this place out. It seems it would be a fun place to bring a large group of people who don’t mind sharing each others food and try a bunch of different things that are on the menu.

Not the best middle eastern food I’ve ever had but it was very tasty.
Nice presentation. Bigger portions.
Beautiful interior.
The proprietor is friendly & warm & accommodating.
A group of us had a variety of things: the combo app platter, sauté calamari, Falafal platter w waffle fries, grilled fish wrap w rice.
The babaganoush was outstanding!
The tzatziki was watery– very little flavor & awful consistancy.
The Falafal was ok same w the hummus.
The pitas were fresh, nicely grilled & thick.
Dry crumbly feta– the serving was like less than a table spoon.
Restroom required either a really thorough scrub or an update.
Service was friendly (typical for the area) however she was really flighty & lacked a real understanding of the menu.

Ok, let me start of by saying I feel really bad about giving this review because the family that works the restaurant were super nice and attentive. However, my review is my honest dining experience.
This was my first trip to Boise. I wasn’t sure what to expect (ok I made some presumptions) but had never been and wanted a quick weekend get-​away. So far, I’m pleasantly surprised by the city. I wanted ethnic for dinner and as we are staying right in the heart of downtown there are lots of choices. Decided that Mediterranean sounds fun…
Cazba is centrally located and easy to locate. It is set-​up for a restaurant and lounge/​bar at night. The décor is cool with a nice large bar area. My first disappointment was going up to the bar to order a mixed drink… thought a Mediterranean style drink would start my dining experience off right. We were informed that no alcohol could be served because they forgot to renew their liquor license which expired yesterday. Sigh… but I was willing to forgive and forget and stay for a unique dining experience. We ended up with water as our beverages.
They had to bring a table in from outside which had to be covered and the chairs were mixed match. Our table was put in an awkward place so people were constantly walking by hitting our chairs, bags, etc.
The menu had a nice selection. We decided on babaghanoush for an appetizer, chicken schwarma wrap and kokopita special. I have eaten lots of middle eastern/​Mediterranean cuisine from all over. I know babaghanoush as its a staple. I have never eaten such bitter, sour as this. In fact, I was concerned it had gone bad because it was so bitter. Their pita bread was great with the right texture and temperature. I wish I had ordered a plate of it. The wrap was excellent but if you don’t like mushrooms… don’t order. The tzatziki sauce was fabulous! The kokopita was cold in the middle and the sauce on top had already started to gel by the time it was brought to the table. The rice seemed over heated as it was too hard (not eatable) in some spots but moist in others. The salad dressing was way to tart for me. The salad itself was fresh and included a healthy topping of feta cheese.
I thought their prices were high, especially they are not a 5– star restaurant and located in Boise. The portions are very generous but more than one person could possible eat. I think bill of almost $ 50 (before tip) for an appetizer and 2 entrees for the quality of the food was excessive. Also, keep in mind we had water to drink.
The positives are the staff. You can tell this is a family that works together. They were very attentive and checked on us throughout the meal. I can’t say I would return though… especially considering Unilocal suggests several other Mediterranean options here in Boise.

The Cazba might receive a higher rating if not for the terrible service. Our server ignored us the entire time and was more interested in looking cute. Food service was also incredibly slow.

Great except they added an extra skewer at ten bucks without asking. Didn’t know until bill came. Didn’t bother telling them, it was probably a mistake.

Someone wrote that this place had «decent food, poor service.» I figure that it must have been opposite day, and what they MEANT to write is «awesome food, incredible service,» because omfg, this place was amazing and exceeded my expectations in almost every way.
The owners checked on us to make sure that every part of our meal was perfect, from their wine suggestions, house made tzatziki, to their perfectly spiced dishes… everything was wonderful.
Take all that add in the romantic ambiance and fish bowl sized wine glasses (filled practically to the brim) and you will find me. An incredibly satisfied customer.

Lovely interior.
Great flavors and food.
Okay prices.
Poor service. When they brought out our food we still had nothing to drink not even a drop of water our mouths were as dry as the desert!!! They were pretty nice tho. But it’s like they go to Greece and back to grab your check and pick it up!

Positive: I enjoyed my shrimp (see photos).
Turkish coffee the best! I’m not a coffee drinker, this was sweet, perfect if you like yours on the SWEETER side!
Negative: Hubby’s beef (see photo), pita bread burned. Beef a little over cooked. He said he liked it, but I tasted it and I like my beef medium, but this is more cooked than medium. He tasted my shrimp, and he liked it BETTER than his beef!
I wanted hot cocoa to go, since the waiter talked us into trying out their coffee, and it was cold outside, so I went for it. It was hotter than hot. When I asked him, why he didn’t made the same temperature as my husband’s coffee, he said, ‘hot cocoa was supposed to be hot!” Hot enough that I have to add 2 ice cubes and it was still so hot, then it was watered down — what do you expect — but I’ve done that before with my hot cocoas and they were fine, but I wasn’t happy with mine. Because of that, minus a star.
Other than the food and coffee/​hot cocoa, the restaurant was clean! We were the only ones eating around 2PM. It was a great choice!
Update: I gave them 4 stars. I got sick the following day, today! I just updated my rating to 1 star. It must be from the shrimp!

We just moved to the Boise foothills from nearly 50 yrs. in the DC Metro area and are delighted with the number of quality restaurants here! A year ago we were used to seeing «Opa» and must’ve first seen this place before it combined with Cazba, so it was a little hard to find online again. However, we’ve spent a lot of time in BoDo lately, and dropped in yesterday (Sat.) around 4:30. Not surprisingly not many customers there at that time, and the service was superb. Indeed, we would have thought the servers might have been part owners, they took such pride in the place. The décor is very impressive, and along with the different kinds of food choices, makes it quite a nice Mediterranean mélange.
I ordered the Dajaj chicken wrap, and hubs had the Kota Pita. Both dishes were amazing. The waffle fries are probably the best I’ve ever had! Wonderfully seasoned and crisp.
Dang. That will be my biggest (health) challenge here. Y’all have amazing fried potatoes in this state! I already knew about the superior Idaho potatoes. :-)

The spouse & I were on 8^th street, planning to go elsewhere, but decided to go here at the last minute. I’m glad we did.
Cazba is a hodge-​podge of flavors from the Middle East. If you go in wanting just Greek food, or Lebanese food, or Turkish food, you’ll be disappointed. If you go in wanting to be able to choose various dishes from around the region, then you’re in the right spot!
We started with hummus in the Lebanese style, and it was simply delicious. It had more of a paprika and tomato mixture to it than you might see elsewhere, and it was spectacularly done. My moussaka was very good, but not quite like what I’ve seen elsewhere. It didn’t look like this one was made in a dish, and had a piece cut out. This looked like they had all the individual ingredients already prepared, and put it together just for me.
The salad dressing was good, but very sweet. It’s some kind of vinaigrette; I’m thinking raspberry or huckleberry. The rice wasn’t very good, but I didn’t particularly want to eat any rice, anyway.
The service was spot-​on; they kept us in drinks and food, but didn’t smother us with attention.

One of the most memorably delicious meals I’ve eaten in the past few years. I travel frequently, criss-​crossing the US and visiting numerous foreign countries, so I don’t offer that accolade lightly.
Dinner started with an appetizer of hummus and pita bread. The hummus was rich with olive oil and garnished with basil. The pita was lightly toasted so that the edges were barely crisp. The only times I’ve had better I’ve been within sight of the Mediterranean Ocean.
For the main course I had dolmades. I ordered these expecting them to be more of a greek style, with a yogurt sauce, but instead they were Turkish in style, served with a very light sweet and savory sauce. Normally dolmades in a restaurant are just kind of meh but these really blew me away.
The side dish on my plate was described simply as «mixed vegetables», a dull term that does it no justice. It was a mixture of green beans, baby corn, and potato in a delicious pungent broth. I asked the waiter what its name was, and he reminded me, «mixed vegetables». He admitted, though, that his vegetarian customers like it so much that many of them ask for a meal-​sized bowl of it as a special order. I can certainly see why.

I’d definitely come back here next time I go to Boise! It’s great! It threw me off at first that it encompassed a wide range of Mediterranean food, but what the heck, when there are «Asian» restaurants that serve Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food under the same roof, it doesn’t seem that strange.
And in fact, this place was great! The Greek Salad was different from what you’d have in Greece – I would’ve preferred more tomatoes and cucumbers and a little less green onion, but it was still good.
The Baba Ghanoush was heavy on the garlic… as it should be! It had a unique taste to it, but I was in love with it after a few bites!