Mezza Mediterranean Grill

Super sadness to find out that this location closed :(
I don’t know why I didn’t eat here more often because this place was really cool.
First of all, friendly staff. I was immediately greeted by the host who led us to our table and our waiter was especially helpful as well.
Second, the décor is beautifully dark with Mediterranean style.
Third, delicious Falafel Sandwich (Wrap). I especially loved the slices of tomato and other veggies in there. It also comes with a side. I went for the salad which had onions and radishes and dressed in all kinds of spices.
I guess now I would have to drive to their location in Cerritos if I wanna check out their Vegetarian Sandwich.
Mezza Mediterranean Grill — Cerritos Location:
11 435 South Street
Cerritos, CA 90 703

Just got off the phone with them — Mezza Mediterranean Grill has closed at this location, and is moving to Cerritos. Tomorrow (1÷14÷12) is their first day opening at the new location. The phone number listed here has been disconnected — the new one is:562.860.8818.
I’m bummed out, because this was a nice place to get some Lebanese food in Culver, where I work. We also do a lot of catering at my job, so it’s sad to see a good, affordable catering option leave the area. However, they assured me on the phone that we shouldn’t count them out! I guess Cerritos isn’t that far…

Been back a few times and the service is hit-​and-​miss but the food’s good and you get 10% off if you show a ticket stub for the Kirk Douglas Theatre across the street, and a free dessert when you check-​in on Unilocal

I really really really do NOT understand the 5-​star reviews here. Maybe this place is more of a dinner spot??? Because it surely is NOT a good lunch spot. I came in on a rainy afternoon around 1pm craving soup. I ordered the chicken pita wrap with rice, with a soup to start. About 4 mins later (quick, yes!), my wrap and rice arrived. A couple mins later, my soup. Hmmmmm… so much for starting with soup. The pita was luke-​warm and BLAND. To point where I had to open it up to add S/​P, which I rarely add to my food. When opened it up, the ‘potatoes’ that are listed in the description were french fries. Dry, semi-​stale, cold french fries. Gross. I picked them out and tried to roll the thing back together which failed. I ended up eating the chicken with a fork with my rice. Disappointing.
The soup was some sort of lentil blend, which I hate to say was awful. Lentil isn’t my favorite but I’ll eat it. This was just plain ‘olé bad. I sent it back. So much for satisfying my soup craving.
Overall, I wasn’t pleased. I even earned a free desert for checking-​in on my Unilocal mobile app… I ignored it! The service was decent, place was clean, and like I first mentioned, looks like it would be a fun place for drinks and dinner. I surely would not go back again for lunch. Gaby’s, Daphne’s, or Aliki’s for my Middle Eastern lunch fixins.

Solid Meditteranean food! I’ve driven past this place so many times, but have always thought it was some kind of office building… for some reason the outside just doesn’t speak «restaurant» to me. But I was at a nearby coffee shop and this place came up on Unilocal,and since I’m always in the mood for Mediterranean, I thought… why not?!?
The inside of the restaurant is much cozier and cuter than the outside. It’s comfortable and intimate! Our waitress was extremely friendly, and explained all the things on the menu right away! She noted my BF’s gluten-​free diet, and helped us figure some things out. We got Falafels, the Beef Shawarma and the Chicken Tawook, which were both DELICIOUS! For some reason, the garlic sauce here just isn’t as good as it is at Sunin, but it is still really solid. The falafels were also super yummy! I also like how they give you a BOMB tabbouleh salad on the side of the entrée, and also your choice of baba ganoush, spicy hummus, or regular hummus! LOVE!
There is SO MUCH FOOD, and I think the service, quality, and atmosphere of the restaurant really knocked this place up. It’s definitely of really great quality. And they even offered a Unilocal check-​in of free dessert!!! Free Baklava! PERFECTION!

3.5 stars for Mezza Grill! It’s easy to just drive by this place and not really notice it but it’s a great place to stop for lunch or dinner. Theres free parking in the little lot behind it. The only thing that worries me a little is that the restaurant never seems very busy… at least from the times that I was there. hm shrug!
Portions are large and plates come with hummus, salad and pita bread. You have a choice between tabouleh and a greek style salad which are both very yummy. I HIGHLY recommend the CHICKEN TAWOOK… the chicken is so juicy and flavorful — cooked to deliciousness!
The staff are very friendly and attentive! Since I love Unilocal-​ing, the two times I went, we got free dessert just for checking in! Their baklava is delicious but spend the extra $ to get it served with vanilla ice cream and strawberries… yummmmm soooo goood. :)

Because this place is almost always packed, it’s not everyday we can finish enjoying our meal in an hour, so our office goes here for lunch only for special occasions.
I really liked the Beef Shwarma ($ 12.50) with humus. Moist and yummy meat and the humus had a really wonderful texture to it. While not the best Mediterranean, it is definitely worth a stop once in a while.
Friendly staff and good service is also a plus.

I found I really enjoy Mediterranean, so I’m always looking for new places to try. Ironically, this newer restaurant is a mile from my home, and I found a great offer on
to entice my family to give Mezza a try.
OMG! is all I can say. The prices are comparable to other Lebanese restaurants I have tried, and the food is tastier. The portions are very generous and the service is wonderful. Our waitress, the busperson, and even the owner (? I think) showed appreciation for our visit. I would go back in a heartbeat! You must visit Mezza… and try the Zatar!

Crusine of art. The salad I had was a lot bigger than I thought, And Iit was full of flavors, Can’t beat the half off price for the Wine bottles on Mondays.
Service was great… will def come back!

Filet Mignon Kabob is recommended!

Downtown Culver City is happening with all the cool eateries. We were in the mood for Mediterranean so decided to check out Mezza, after reading all the great reviews on Unilocal.
The restaurant isn’t that big, and it was packed on a Saturday night. I had called the night before to see if reservations were required, and the guy said no reservations necessary for a table at 7. So I went with his suggestion. Well the night we went, there was a 45 minute wait for a table. We weren’t going to wait that long for a table and was just about to leave, when the hostess said that a table would be ready in 5 minutes. And sure enough 5 minutes vs 45, I can deal with.
I decided on the half and half plate, which you have a choice of 2 meats (I picked the chicken and beef shawarma), and your choice of hummus, spicy hummus, or baba ganouj, and choice of fatoush or tabouleh salad. I chose the spicy hummus and fatoush. Portions are generous here.
I didn’t care much for both the chicken and beef shawarma. The seasoning had a hint of sweetness to it which was odd tasting to me, and the meat was on the dry side, it was almost like eating a piece of cardboard. It’s hard to describe, but I just didn’t care for it. The chicken was better than the beef. I’ve had much better shawarma else where. The humus and fatoush were good.
The night that we were there, they had a belly dancer which provided entertainment. Service was okay. Mezza is a decent Mediterranean restaurant, would I go back? Ahhh, maybe.

This place is well priced, great tasting, and should be in the main part of downtown Culer City. Make sure you go a bit south on Washington to find this place on the corner.
While it was fairly empty on a Tuesday night for dinner, there were plenty of take-​out guests that came and went. There are really two price ranges, both of which are fair and good.
The selection of appetizers was wonderful. We had the grape leaves and Rakakat. They were great, full of flavor. The fried cheese was tasty and not too oily. Our final appetizer was a Arayes Kafta. It is like a mediterranean quesidilla. I could have had this for my meal.
But we went on and I had the beef shawarma plate, which was loaded with meat and rice. Their spicy hummus is also wonderful.
What I meant by two price ranges is that there are sandwiches you can get for around $ 8 that can be a meal, or you can go for the plates which range from $ 12-​$ 18. Give this place a try!

Went here for the first time on Friday night with a
certificate. The food — fantastic! Had the following:
Arayes Kafta — 6.99
Lean ground beef, parsley, onions and spices on a toasted pita served with sliced tomatoes, chopped red onion and sumac and served with our cucumber yogurt dip.
Half and Half Plate — 13.99
Your choice of two: beef shawarma, chicken shawarma or gyro. Served on a bed of rice with your choice of regular hummus, spicy hummus or baba ganouj and your choice of fatoush or tabouleh salad.
Big Jake Jessa’s Big Combo — 18.99
All three kabobs: tender pieces of filet mignon, marinated chicken tawook and delicately spiced kafta served on a bed of rice with your choice of regular hummus, spicy hummus or baba ganouj and your choice of fatoush or tabouleh salad.
The Arayes Kafta was fantastic, easily big enough to satisfy me for lunch. I highly recommend sprinkling some lemon juice on the meat, and the yogurt sauce was perfect — tangy, creamy, and nicely seasoned.
We were dazzled by our main dishes — I will try to post the pictures soon! I got the gyro and the chicken shawarma for the half and half plate. Next time I’ll just get the gyro — so amazing! The chicken was alright but a little dry, but not even close to the yumminess of the gyro. The fatoush salad dressing is pretty bitter, but I loved it. For the Big Combo, we thought the filet mignon was the best; again the chicken was a bit dry. The baba ganouj was quite smoky and lovely, and the spicy humus was very flavorful, although not really «spicy».
When we got there at 8, almost every table was full, so it is a good idea to call ahead for reservations. Staff was friendly and attentive, the ambiance was pleasant and the noise volume wasn’t too loud to have an easy conversation. The portions were perfect, and with the appetizer we were full enough to bring home left-​overs which reheated nicely. The fatoush salad was even good the next day!
On the way out, we were offered rose water for our hands — nice smelling end to dinner before heading out for a Friday night on the town. There was a parking garage right around the corner, or street parking in front.
I will definitely be returning!

This place totally charmed my friend and I when we came for dinner :) The 2 of us ordered a tremendous amount of food because we were armed with a $ 25
certificate and had to order at least $ 35 of food.
The chef is Lebanese so there were some cool unfamiliar dishes for us to try, as well as some Mediterranean staples.
SPINACH FATYER — interesting, tangy, different. though not my favorite and the dough was a bit too thick for me
FRIED EGGPLANT & CAULIFLOWER — sooo simple and sooo good. and not battered
CHICKEN TAWOOK — flavorful chicken (got a piece too charred to be edible though) & amazing garlic sauce, got it with great spicy hummus & lots of yummy salad
FALAFEL SANDWICH — wonderful moist falafel, fresh veggies, seasoned fries, good chili paste on the side
KNAF — incredible rose water & cheese dessert with a little crisp phyllo on the top, what a lovely ending! very aromatic and special, wanna try the ashta next time!
Service was absolutely wonderful. They start with some pita chips & sesame oil. Our waitress was very knowledgeable about the menu and made great recommendations. The owner, as well as other staff, stopped by regularly to check on us and refill our water, etc. One drizzled some rose water on our hands at the end. We walked away with huge smiles after every member of the staff wished us a good night on our way out.

Came here on a Saturday at about 1:30, absolutely starving, so you should probably take my review with a grain of salt.
As appetizers we got the hummus and the vegetarian plate. The hummus was great, as were all of the things on the vegetarian plate (especially the felafels), but the pita it came with was a bit dry and cold, not my favorite.
As a main course I got the gyro plate, which comes with a yogurt cucumber dip sauce I thought was going to be tzaziki. It wasn’t. It was a watered down version. However, there was plenty of gyro and they were absolutely delicious. Not too dry, not too greasy, just right.
Clearly, we ordered too much, I would say the plate is enough even without an appetizer because I couldn’t even finish mine, and I tried.

The best part about eating gyros is that you never know where you will find the best tasting gyro. The carts in New York city actually have really good ones… so maybe its the food carts or maybe its a nice restaurant. It’s something everyone likes to eat (other than vegetarians and vegans) and its relatively easy to find at least. So when I heard they had good gyros here… of course I had to try it.
I’ve actually been meaning to try this place as I’ve watched it get renovated from the old thai place to Mezza. Dinner prices are a bit higher than other mediterranean places though, so I’ve always waited until I could come here for lunch. 8 dollars for a gyro sandwich with fries included? Not bad at all. Its also nicely decorated inside. Not overly done, but nice cool colors and spacious seating.
Our server was friendly and spunky… and was wearing a cute large scarf (don’t know exactly what these are called) around her waist that jingled with a bunch of hanging metal discs. Only thing I didn’t like was when we were ordering and she didn’t bother mentioning that garlic fries were an extra charge. Would you like fries or garlic fries? I hate it when restaurants do that, they charge you extra but don’t bother telling you. They ask you if you want this or that as if it comes with it.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon when I came here so food came relatively quickly. Only 2 or 3 other tables in there at the time. Big gigantic mound of thick cut fries and the gyro wrapped in a foil sandwich paper. Open up the paper, and reveal the huge gyro busting with meat and filling! Oooohhhhh… leftovers for sure!
The gyro was wrapped up in a large soft pita, tons of meat just overflowing. Good amount of sauce and other ingredients too. The meat, while flavorful, was pretty dry though. I noticed a lot of outer cuts, and some inner cuts, but even those were kinda dry. Big portions yes, a lot of meat, also yes… good gyro but not the best.
The fries were the thick steak cut style, very greasy, and covered with what looked like red pepper and paprika. Tasty and most of them were crispy, but as with the nature of thick cut fries… quite smushy after they cool down a little. The garlic fries were covered in tons of watery garlic spread, gave good flavor but made the fries soggier. A weird contrast… soggy…then tiny bit crispy… then smushy insides.
Good solid gyro… and enough of it to satisfy big eaters! Definitely not first date food… unless you use a fork and a knife… which is so lame for eating a gyro. Nice option for lunchtime, maybe not dinner but we’ll see.

I have loved Mediterranean food all my life and I had been looking for a good opportunity to try Mezza, when suddenly on Friday, my boss said she was taking us out to lunch there. YES!!! It’s an easy walk from our office so we headed over and the place was packed. They let us sit and place our orders at the bar, then we jumped on the first available table. Small, friendly place, with Mediterranean art and knickknacks here and there. My boss had visited previously and chatted with the owner, who says that it can be called Mediterranean food, but his is actually a little more focused on Lebanese in particular. Interesting. Anyway, on to the food! Service was a tad slow and they mistakenly gave my boss chicken kabobs instead of chicken shawarma, but she didn’t mind and everything was pretty good. I wanted to try as much as possible so I had the Half & Half Plate: pick 2 meats (in my case, beef shawarma and gyro), your choice of hummus, spicy hummus, or baba ganouj, and choice of fatoush or tabouleh salad. I had the hummus and fatoush. The portions are very generous! My plate was piled high with meat! They used pita chips like croutons in the salad– yay! The hummus was good and they also give you little cups of tahini and a yummy yogurt sauce (thin tzatziki). The only miss for me was the toughness of the beef shawarma. Maybe I just got the end of a cut. But the gyro meat was delicious: very tender and flavorful. I though it was funny that they serve the plates with one of those fat, pillowy pita breads, but the bread basket for the table has the thinnest, blandest pita ever. Odd. Woo-​hoo for leftovers! Thanks to a Grand Opening postcard (you can try asking…), we received 10% off the bill, plus free desserts for each of us. Mmmm, I love me some baklava…
Based on the food, prices, and convenient location, I will definitely be coming back. Just be aware that parking can be hellish at lunchtime in CC, and the waits for tables in this small joint can leave you rushing to get back to the office.

Hit this place up for lunch. The validated parking around the side is a bit whack (tandem parking, leave your cars with the gate keeper)
Service was friendly, and it seemed obvious they hired only women as waitstaff so they can sashay about the premises with the belly dancing noisemakers worn about their hips. I think it backfired since the place is moderately quiet for lunch but constantly jingling as the waitresses run from kitchen to table. I found it annoying not appealing.
Portions were a good size. The beef shawarma sandwich was very good, I like it better than the nearby Gabby’s. But it was heavily sauced up and dripped out after every bite. The tabouleh was decent better than say Zankou’s anyhow. I felt the ingredients were of good quality.
Great place to start having lunch instead of at Gabby’s.

I have one word for this place «Delicioso»
As a long time local to this area I said goodbye to the old timer Thai restaurant previously at this location for many years and patiently waited for a replacement. It look a while after seeing the announcement signs for this gem to open its doors and it was so worth it my dear Unilocalers!
This place will not disappoint for the food is absolutely delicious. The service is very cordial and the décor just perfect for this little corner locale directly overlooking the Kirk Douglas theater in the heart of downtown Culver City. Just a walking distance from all the other great eateries in the area. There has been a long wait for a quality Mediterranean restaurant and I am thrilled Mezza is here to stay.
There is very nice wine bar area which will be fully operational shortly offering wine happy hours and specials. We ordered the Chicken Tawook plate which was superb and cooked to perfection! As well as the Chef Najwa Salad which is a super sized spring mix salad feast with mouth watering charbroiled chicken breast pieces, loaded with dried Apricot, Green Apple, walnut, red onion feta cheese and black olives topped and balsamic dressing.
This little gem of a restaurant is definitely not to be missed and highly recommend it! Being a Mediterranean food lover I’m sure I will be back soon.
Enjoy! :-)

During my first takeout visit I was shocked when I walked in because there were basically an equal number of people working in the restaurant and customers. It seemed like there were 8 or 10 people behind the counter, waitresses, busboys, etc… Needless to say service was prompt and efficient. From the time I ordered until the time I had food in my hand it couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes. I’ve been back a few times since and same great efficient service but not as many waitresses.
Half n half plate with gyro and chicken schawrma
+ gyro meat very tender, flavorful and great tzatiski sauce, some of the best gyro meat in town but not halal if that matters to anybody.
+ the thin pitas were better than your standard store bought average pitas but they only gave me 1 half or 2 sides
— chicken schwarma was more like cut up chicken pieces not much schwarmy like flavor but not terrible just not what I expected
— tabouli was just eh and no lemon to squeeze into it
— hummus is great, perfect blend of creamy, garlic, sesame and oil. It was creamy and perfect in any way. My friend said it’s the best hummus he has ever had.
— fattoush salad was good with lots of fresh vegetables and the dressing was light. I would have liked more pita chips.
Definitely a great addition to Culver City.

I have been waiting for this place to open since I saw the sign go up.
They have redone the interior into quite a lovely little dining room. It is not over the top, but definitely fits in with the more Lebanese inspired menu. On the recommendation from the owner, Jake, I ordered the chicken tawook with fatoush and regular hummus. YUM. The basmati rice and a nice, nutty flavor and was cooked a little firmer then some places, but I don’t have a problem with it.
Now, a word of warning, the garlic sauce is good, but it is GAR-​LIC. If you are wanting a hint of the flavor, this one might be a bit overwhelming. Jake brought me some of the yogurt sauce instead (yes, I am a garlic wimp.) The chicken was served on a kabob with peppers, onions and mushrooms. Very tasty on its own with a lovely hint of the marinade. Hummus was a bit more lemony then other places make which makes it all the better. Texture was smooth.
The fatoush is their version of a dinner salad. Mixed greens, mint, red onion, radishes, pita chips and a really yummy house dressing. It is pretossed together and the flavors really blended well together.
the kibbi is awesome, I have such a weakness for these awesome little torpedoes of beef, pine nuts and spices.
For dessert, I tried a bite of the namourah. Very interesting. It is described as semolina flour, butter, coconut, milk and sugar with a rosewater syrup. Again, subtle flavors with none overwhelming the other, but all working together for a fairly sweet and different dessert.
The service was great, food a great price point and portions more then generous.
I will definitely head back to sample more on the menu.
As of now, they are not set up for delivery and are awaiting approval on a liquor license. There also looks to be a nice selection of vegetarian options
All items on the menu are halal except the gyros at the moment.
Check this place out.