Habibi

Super good food and reasonably priced. They have excellent kabobs, and are only $ 1.50/ea to add to the main courses. It is family owned and authentic. The service is really good. They also have a buffet with live music which draws some of the famous arabic singers in the area.

Bland food. Bland service. Bland décor. Not bad, just bland…

Gross and bland food!!! Their lamb/​beef schwarma was dry as hell. I am talking borderline beef fkn jerky dry and no flavor! My family and I were sooooo disappointed eating lunch here. The flatbread that came with our meals also tasted like it was made a few days earlier since some of the pieces were crunchy like a cracker. We will never return! We should have known not to eat here since we were the only people there.

I had one of their soups and I was very very satisfied, their food is healthy as they claimed. I loved the long flat bread, it was fresh, they have one of those round oven –bread-​baking things in the back. I loved it! They have really friendly service, the prices are right for exotic healthy food and generous sizes. I like how it’s decorated too.

LoVed it!

We were in the area so thought we’d give it a try. Not sure at first what region this food was from but after asking the waitress we found it to be Iraqi food. The ambience inside was really nice, almost upscale. We chose the buffet, the selections and food was ok but i would not recommend the buffet if it’s been sitting out for a few hours as some of the food was dried out. For middle eastern food it’s not bad much better than 1 star that some ppl gave the place. I’ve had much worse middle eastern food in SoCal than Habibi, but would I come all the way back to Escondido for their buffet? I don’t think so. The service could use a little help though, our waitress was not very attentive.

Came here last weekend and it was my first time eating here. The revies are mixed and that is the experience we got.
Service-​We waited like 10 minutes to be approached by the waiter, but once he did, the service was great.
Food-​We really enjoyed our lamb and beef kebab, but the chicken was dry and lacking seasoning. The saffron rice was mediocre but the bulgar was delicious.
It’s funny, but it was definitely a 3 star experience, though it had potential and I’d definitely like to try it again.

The food was what I expected, good. The staff was polite and friendly. Prices are good. The flavor was really good. If you go on a Friday or saturday at 7pm, they have belly dance and live traditional music playing.
If you want to try something different and be happy with the food you eat, then you should try this place.
yum!

Major fail…
From my standpoint every restaurant’s basic operations consist of:
1. Hostess/​waiting staff that deals directly with the customer
2. Kitchen staff
3. Management that makes it all work and resolves any issues
Well… in this case #2 has failed in a major way.
Waitress was nice and prompt. Manager was apologetic enough to cancel the check completely. But kitchen… apparently had a really bad day.
We ordered hummus to start and it was not bad so I set high hopes for the rest of the dinner. They only have 2 choices for kids — hamburger and chicken fingers.
I try to eat as healthy as possible but in this case I guess we’re stuck with these 2 options (and they are not priced cheap btw). Both came out horrible. C’mon! How difficult that could be to cook a simple burger. But alas… it was all burnt. Chicken fingers — overfried bits of crunchy matter that hardly resembles chicken. Both sent back…
Tikka beef kabob — chewy, flavorless and burnt pieces of meat that we couldn’t really eat
Biriyani — way too dry to be called a proper biriyani
Rice pilaf was horrible too…
Bottom line — avoid unless they post a sign on a street — «NEW CHEF = EDIBLE FOOD»

We had shawarmas, which are the middle eastern version of a burrito. The meat was completely dried out and difficult to eat. I had the lamb-​beef and my hubby had the chicken but both suffered from the same issue. There was a bit of hummus in there and I tried to dip it in the sauce to make it palatable, but it was a no go for me. Maybe they do other things well, but I wouldn’t go back if they can’t even make this simple dish edible.
Also-​service was bad. We came in before the dinner rush so it was super slow but I had to get up and ask the waitress for drink refills.

Awesome! I disagree with some of the negative reviews — those people are either crazy or just too picky. Come and have a great meal! The lentil soup really IS that good!
I took my 13 year old daughter who was reluctant to try something different and she was blown away and wants to go back tomorrow.

I love Mediterranean food, so when I finally got around to trying Habibi, I was pretty excited! I’ve heard good things and read good reviews. Unfortunately the experience ended with general disappointment for me and my boyfriend.
We did go late, on a Friday night around 9:45 pm, but they were closing at 11pm that night. When we walked in, we realized we had the place entirely to ourselves. Well, I thought, service should be quick. We were seated right away, and I felt that my server was very pleasant. I found out after we got our food that she was the best part about Habibi.
I ordered the «stew of the day» which on that day was beef with white beans in a tomato based broth. I thought that it had good flavor, but the beef was SO dry that it was actually stealing my saliva from me. I actually couldn’t even eat the beef, so I just ate the beans and rice and left the beef behind.
My boyfriend ordered the beef shawarma plate with saffron rice and he found his meat to be very dry. I will not likely return to Habibi, as there are better Mediterranean options not too far away.
*I also need to add that they were playing really loud techno music through most of our visit there and it might have been because their «dj» didn’t realize they had any customers but it was really annoying and unpleasant.*

This place has great food (and you get a TON of it for very little money).
The service is friendly and prompt, the food is delicious (we’ve tried nearly everything on the menu), and the location should not put anybody off.

This palce is a little hard to find but once you do… oh man is it good!
Michael and his crew are the best and always make you feel welcome.
A few of my favs are:
The chicken and steak tika! I don’t know what kind of marinade or spices they put on it but it is AMAZING! You have to order this, it could be the best piece of chicken I have ever eaten in my entire life, 4-​REALS! I ordered kabobs thinking it would be chunks of chicken breast and steak but is was hand formed ground chicken and beef on a skewer, it was good but nothing like the tika, so make sure to tell them tika. It comes with grilled onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and pickled veggies and rice if you order the plate. They can be ordered ala cart and are relly cheap for what you get. The flat bread is homemade and delicious. Wrap the tika meats in this bread with the grilled onion, tomatoes and slather it their homemade tzadzikki sauce = :)
The lentil soup is the best I have ever had!
The veggie plate has flaffel, tabouli, hummus and stuffed grape leaves, all of which are were super yummy!
I can go on and on but you have to try it all for yourself.
It is the best Mediterranean in SD!

«Habibi, habibi, hey.» Is what I would have been singing at the top of my lungs in the manner of Gwen Stefani as I drove to this place in Escondido if my amazing wit hadn’t been depleted by a day at the Safari Park.
I ordered the Koubbah Musilla. Which was kind of like a Mediterranean quesadilla if you replace the cheese with a ground beef mix and the tortilla with a «crushed wheat pie.» I have to say I was disappointed. The ground beef was remarkably blander than Mediterranean meat dishes (e.g., shawarma) tend to be. The dish came with the soup of the day, namely, lentil, which was satisfying if not spectacular – basically Indian daal minus the chick peas and a dash of pepper thrown in. And the pickled vegetable side was actually rather tasty if perhaps the best part of the dish.
My date ordered the shawarma sandwich, which was substantially better and made me wish I had trusted my initial inclination and ordered it. If I had, my rating would have been at least a star higher. And I would have paid less. The name is a bit of a misnomer; it’s more of a grilled wrap, and it was as good as any shawarma wrap I’ve had in California.
Summary: Gwen Stefani probably had the shawarma sandwich. That’s why she sings about this place.

I hadn’t tried Middle Eastern food before, and this place is a few minutes away, so I decided to give it a shot. It’s in a strip mall off Mission. The inside is very clean, the tables are nice, and it has a stage for music on the weekends. It’s a very open floor plan.
The service was very friendly. I decided to try the Shawarma which was amazing. If you’ve never had it before, it’s a lot like a Gyro, but instead of using a pita, they use a dough very similar to a flat bread. It was a very filling meal.
I’m definitely going to try this place again as I’ve had a craving for Shawarma ever since.
If you want to try some tasty food, give this place a chance.

I went to Habibi for lunch today. I was attracted by all of the high Unilocal ratings it had received. I am glad that I chose here to have lunch. First off the 6.99 Check-​In special lunch menu was great. I was a sucker for the 1.99 add soup option. That was the best decision ever! The lentil soup was the best lentil soup ever! It was thick and creamy (not dairy creamy) and full of amazing flavor. I had the lamb/​beef shwarmara (i don’t think that’s how it’s spelled) the plate was packed with delicious food, I was stuffed for 10 bucks with tasty food! The ambiance was not bad either, definitely could feel the middle eastern vibes.
While is not the best middle eastern/​Mediterranean restaurant ever, its really good and the best I know of in Escondido!

Very good Iraqi food. I hope this place sticks around in the land of Mexican restaurants. I like Mexican, but a little variety can’t hurt.
Prices at this Iraqi place are a little more expensive than at the slew of Iraqi restaurants located in El Cajon, but I suppose if you are the only Arabic restaurant around for 15 – 20 miles than you can up the prices a bit. The place is also much nicer than the Iraqi restaurant we ate at in El Cajon. This would be a great date restaurant despite the strip mall location.
Onto the food. The hubbie ordered a chicken shawarma sandwich ($ 7.99) as he had ordered a beef/​lamb one last time we’d gone to an Arabic place. I ordered the daily stew special (also $ 7.99). The sandwich did not compare to the beef/​lamb shawarma from Hammurabi in El Cajon, but then chicken shawarma really can’t. It was also about half the size and a dollar more than the sandwich from Hammurabi (that was a damn good sandwich). That said, this is a tasty sandwich and decently large (my husband ended up eating only half). Not really the restaurant’s fault that the shawarma sandwich at Hammurabi was the size of my husband’s head.
The stew was amazing. It was a beef and white bean stew flavored with cardamom. Absolutely delicious. This was a really good deal. For $ 8 you received a good sized bowl of hearty, thick stew with a large plate of fancy basmati rice. The rice was delicious, cooked with saffron and topped with vermicelli, raisins and nuts.
Both meals came with fresh, crisp chopped salad, pickled vegetables (very good) and a generous helping of their bread. The bread tasted very fresh. We also ordered a serving of Burak (very much like lumpia), which were filled with lamb. I rather regretted not getting the herbed cheese version as I felt that the lamb did not go well in this dish. I love gamy meat, but this didn’t work for me.
For the price, it was a lot of food. We ended up taking half of it home. That coupled with the high quality and flavor of the food makes this a four star in my book.

I came here on a Thursday evening with my sister because she was craving some authentic middle eastern food. I was hesitant to come since I like to stick to places I know and this place was totally unfamiliar. We found this place one of the community guide magazines and took a 20% off coupon with us because we were going to do take out.
Upon arrival we noticed it was located in a pretty empty plaza so the restaurant was not hard to find. The décor was simple and elegant and their kitchen looked sparkling clean! Their menu had a variety of items but it wasn’t overwhelming like some restaurants. We decided to get the family of three platter to go and with our 20% coupon it was a steal! ;) It look about 10 – 15 minutes for our food but if you sit in their waiting area, you’ll notice they have really nice décor. At least it wasn’t ugly white walls with cracked linoleum floors right?
So the best part: our to go order was HUGE! We took home a hugeeeeeee tray of food, rolled up flat bread, hummus, and containers of sauces. I posted a picture on the picture section so you guys can see what we got. I swear it was enough to feed 6 – 7 people. They made the food look pleasing to the eye and made my tummy happy. Definitely will be coming back for more!
Word of advice: soda + this food= nasty burps hahaha!

Escondido Unilocal King recommended.
If you’re craving real Middle Eastern cuisine there’s a new joint In Escondido that goes by the name of Habibi. They call themselves a Mediterranean grill which is a bit misleading. Unfortunately, most people associate «Mediterranean» with Greek cuisine.
Habibi is located in the same downtrodden strip mall as other great Escondido establishments like El Tejate, PadThai, and the Oriental Market. This restaurant is basically a large open room with tables in the middle, booths along the side and a DJ stage at one end. It has the feeling of a banquet room.
Hummus and Flat Bread — This was both generous and delicious.

Shawarma — This is real shawarma, not gyro from a spit as some places use. The wife didn’t like it because she was expecting a sliced gyro sandwich. I liked it though.
Tikka Sandwich — It was good, but it’s also really wet and messy.
Lentil Soup — Better choice than the salad. This yellow pureed soup was quite nice. Reminded me a bit of split pea soup.
I only had a small sampling of their offerings, but it was more than enough to warrant a return visit.
Habibi is a welcome new addition to Escondido.