Cafe Matinee

All the food was very salty and falafel was undercooked. The waitress was rude. Would not go back there and would not recommend it to anyone I know.

I only give 4 stars but that is because of the prices. This little restaurant is so very authentic and the food is absolutely fresh and made to order. They have the BEST hummus I’ve ever had. We LOVE the pickles and the pita bread is deliciously hot and fresh! If you want authentic Lebanese food, this is it! Susan and her husband are the waitress and the cook, at least during lunch. Sadly, no lunch menu so it is a $ 20 lunch if you order a drink with your meal. It is however, $ 20 well spent!

Deliciousness is an understatement. This place is a little hidden jewel. I’ve tried many Mediterranean restaurants in OC and LA and aside from Phoenecia in Glendale, this is the best Lebanese food I’ve ever had. 10 out of 10. You can taste everything is made from scratch (except the pita bread). Best falafel I’ve had in my life… Even the simple salad is delicious. I love the spicy kick in the hummus. Can’t wait to try lamb kabob next time.

I don’t understand what all the stars are about. Go to open sesame in long Beach for Lebanese food or even the olives branch in san Juan capistrano.

This place is pretty expensive for the quality and quantity of the food. We ordered the lamb kabob that came with rice pilaf and a small salad. The salad was fine. It had a little too much dressing, but that’s ok.
The rice pilaf had absolutely no flavor. It was completely bland, and the rice was too watery. It may have even been instant rice, which is completely unacceptable for a place that’s going to charge $ 16-​$ 24 a dish. I’m Chinese, I know rice. This was awful excuse for rice.
The lamb kabob also lacked flavor and was slightly overcooked, which made it very chewy.
We were the only customers in the restaurant, and our water cups were completely empty, and we were completely ignored.
Ended up costing $ 20 each for poor food and poor service.

As usual Gus, Susan and family made everything perfect. We love them and their menu. One of our regular stops and we find ourselves craving Café Matinée.

The absolute best customer service I’ve EVER experienced. The lady (who is the owner and waitress) cared so much about her restaurant and her craft. Everything there is homemade and the kitchen in so clean.
The food too was amazing. Got the falafel plate and it was perfectly crispy and filling.

I give this 4 stars on all levels: service, food and atmosphere.
You’d never think that a strip mall place like this would be so good. Our experience started off shaky. The staff seemed unwelcoming. It could have been the seven people i our party… four under 7 years old! But, by the end of our meal the owner seemed to be our best friend telling us about her restaurant, family and life. What a blessing, especially in such a cold place like southern California.
The food was wonderful. Kabobs of all kinds. Hummus. And finished off w/​baklava. Yum.
We appreciate good food and on a road trip (heading home from San Diego to Central CA it is worth going off the beaten path for good food.
We will certainly be back!

We started our week night dinner w olives, pickled turnips, hummus, pita bread and red wine. All delicious and reasonably priced– a couple of high priorities.
Dinner was lamb kabobs, and, combo skewer kabobs which were chix, beef, and kafta– which is beef/​lamb. Both entrees were served w rice and side salad. All of the food was quality. While I’ve never been to Lebanon, the atmosphere was casual and pleasant; it seemed authentic.
Service was friendly and appropriately attentive. The entrée recommendations were spot on!

I came here with a bunch of co-​workers and we ordered items family style. I was excited to finally try this Lebanese place that was tucked away in a small strip mall as I had bookmarked it for a while and had heard such wonderful things about it.

Chicken shawarma plate — $ 16.99 — The meat was not thinly sliced as one would find when ordering some gyro meat. Instead the meat was cut into tiny pieces and served with some Lebanese rice. The rice tasted good and had some vermicelli noodles in the mix. Unfortunately all the plates that we ordered didn’t come with a whole lot of rice. The meat itself was tender and tasted ok. All the plates came with salad and a light dressing. Some olives were served on the side as well.
Chicken kabobs (2 skewers) — $ 16.99. The chicken kabobs were juicy and tender like all the the meats we ordered. Unfortunately it didn’t have a whole lot of flavor to it. The quantity that was offered was disappointing for the price.
Kafta (ground beef and lamb mixture) kabobs (2 skewers) — $ 16.99. These kabobs were juicy as well and were a little light on the flavor. Still this dish tasted pretty good, but like the other plates that we ordered it was lacking in quantity.
Hummus ($ 6.99) — I had heard wonderful things about the hummus here, but unfortunately I found it to be just A-​OK. There was nothing that stood out about the hummus as compared to some of the other Lebanese places that I tried. Also once again the quantity was extremely lacking on the hummus as compared to other restaurants.
Baba Ganoush ($ 6.99) — The baba ganoush (roasted eggplant) tasted ok as well. I’ve had a lot better at other places. The hummus and baba ganoush are served with soft pita bread.
Zaatar with cheese ($ 6.99) — Fresh baked bread topped with white Lebanese cheese & zaatar, a zesty vegetarian mixture of oregano & sesame seed. The portion size was small and there was nothing special about this dish as compared to other Lebanese places where I sampled this dish.
Service was good here and not slow as some of the other Unilocalers had mentioned. The server provided us with complimentary baklava. This was REALLY good and some of the best that I have tried. It wasn’t too sweet and it was light and flaky.
Overall the food was good but pricey for the portions being offered. With hardly any Lebanese restaurants nearby, there aren’t a whole lot of options one has for Lebanese food in south Orange County.

I really wanted to like this place, the Unilocal reviews were mostly very good and I was in the mood for a large helping of meat on a stick.
I couldn’t decide on one thing so I figured I’d get a couple of apps and a smaller dinner. First I tried the Cheese Pie Zaatar which was described as «Fresh baked bread topped with white Lebanese cheese & zaatar, a zesty vegetarian mixture of oregano & sesame seed.» To be honest it wasn’t something I had had before and I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. What came out resembled a white pizza with extra cheese on generic pita bread. It wasn’t bad per se, but it certainly wasn’t anything special either.
Next up I had the Kebbeh balls. Meatballs stuffed with lamb, ground onions and pine nuts. These were decent, a little dry, but that’s not atypical for this type of thing. There was a little flavor, not as much as I would’ve liked but it was decent.
For my entrée I had a lamb skewer. With this came a side salad, olives, rice, turnips and pita bread. The salad was just chopped lettuce with some tomato and a ho-​hum olive oil based dressing. The olives were okay, nothing special but I would eat them again. The turnip was pickled and actually very good, perhaps the most surprisingly good part of the entire meal. Unfortunately the pita was easily the most disappointing part, it was obviously a store bought (think Joseph’s) pita that was warmed and wrapped in a napkin to bring to the table. The lamb and rice at least were decent, I would’ve liked a bit more seasoning on the lamb, but it was cooked just right (medium rare for those of you who don’t know how lamb is supposed to be cooked) and the meat itself was tender and flavorful.
Overall, I don’t think I’ll come back here, there are a lot of places in the area and I’m sure there is better food to be had.

I’m sorry I have not written a review sooner. My wife and I love this place. We have been here a dozen times and love their food. This is truly a family run business and it shows. Their home-​made kafta kabob is the best I have ever had (highly recommended). Their filet and chicken are also top notch – cooked perfectly to order and juicy. In addition to the kafta kabob, we love their house salad and home-​made dressing – simple, light, and delicious. And don’t forget their hummus – the BEST we have ever had. Rich in garlic, tahini, and parsley, this is the best hummus. If you don’t believe me, just read the other reviews!!! Their Baklava («Go get the Baklava!!) is also a nice way to cap off the evening.
Don’t let the light crowd fool you, the food here is amazing. The excellent service and family atmosphere make it 5 stars. Enjoy!

Really Delicious Lebanese Food
Definitely Coming back

Sigh. First of all, slowest service ever! I’m sorry, but very inconvenient to eat here for lunch. I believe there’s only one cook and one waitress/​server. Second, food is a little pricey compared to the quantity/​quality.
Hummus: really good. Probably the best thing on the menu. It’s served with warm pita bread.
Skewers: the first time I had the filet mignon skewers, I really liked it. When I went back recently to get the skewers entrée, it was just okay. Meat were all on the saltier/​dry side. Rice was good though (lol).
I know my coworkers weren’t pleased with the falafel, saying it was too salty. They weren’t pleased with the chicken schwarma either. A little disappointed because a coworker and I enjoyed our lunch here before and wanted our other coworkers to enjoy a new place, but it ended up just being meh.

Found this on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. Got the filet mignon skewer and it was good. The woman kept reiterating the 100% all-​natural, all-​organic meat, produce, etc that they use to make the food and how they take pride in keeping the restaurant and everything so clean. We appreciated this but were not *that* impressed especially with the price paid. I’m curious to know what my Lebanese [ex] coworker thinks of this place. The bias I have of course is that I have never tried Lebanese food specifically, so maybe this place is actually one of the best around… it’s just not one of my preferences, I guess. The other thing is that the prices are pretty high here — I think the justification of this is because of the aforementioned «all-​natural, all-​organic» etc… sometimes it doesn’t quite add up though, no matter how much you want to argue those points.

I ordered a chicken Schwarma plate with salad and baba Ghanoush –no carbs.
The salad was fresh and delightful with olive oil, black pepper, chopped lettuce, and tomatoes.
The baba Ghanoush was great and they made it spicy
The Schwarma was equally delightful and a big portion. I’d come back.

The good:
— clean, dignified place
— quite authentic menu
— food is all home made
— amazing ingredients
— plenty of parking
— good introduction to Lebanese food for first timers
— several wine choices

So glad I tried this gem of a place.
The best hummus and chicken shawarma in town! It’s home made, authentic, fresh, flavorful and I can’t wait to get some more of it :)
The chicken kabob (skewer with 5 pieces of chicken) was fresh, moist and light. Not very flavorful but with a side of hummus and pita bread it was a good blend. (And the Lebanese rice it comes with is delicious too… different from a typical middle eastern white rice)
Good service and hospitality (family run)!
The sweetest lady/​owner/​chef brought me and my friend a homemade, off menu dessert that was delectable. She explained how it was made with low fat milk and pistachios and how this dessert (recipe) is only found in certain regions in Lebanon. She also explained how everything is homemade (except the bread), healthy and fresh!
Such a cool treat! I definitely recommend trying this place if you like Mediterranean food :)

I love the chicken schwarma with hummus here SO much that I haven’t tried anything else. Haha. The hummus is the perfect blend of sweet and savory with the hint of spice. The pita j’s fluffy soft with the right amount of chewy. Chicken schwarma is juicy and tender. The family owned restaurant is cozy and clean. People come with families and their dates and everyone is comfortable. I totes love this place.
FYI, they cure their own olives.

Came here based on the recommendations of many friends. As promised, the owner who casually circulated the dining room was VERY SWEET & VERY HOSPITABLE! Such a lovely person! On my first trip, I had the luxury of dining with my Lebanese friend who served as our food guide. Definitely a PLUS when you’re trying out new ethic cuisines. Our cozy party of 4 for dinner decided to order a variety of appetizers and share it like tapas-​style! EVERYTHING was yummy! We ordered:
1. Complimentary pickled radishes and olives-​Home made. The owner showed me her countless pictures on her iPhone of how both delicacies made it to the table. Incredible!
2. Jibne-​cheese pie-​Cheese baked on top of a pita bread. Hello! Anything with cheese and bread is DEE-​lish!
3. Zaatar pie-​Pita topped with a blend of exotic spices. Yummy!
4. House salad
5. Stuffed grape leaves-​Tasty!!! I could’ve easily eaten the whole plate.
6. Babaganouj-​Creamy eggplant
7. Sojouk-​Spiced Lebanese beef sausage topped with diced tomatoes & onions and a dusting of a fine red spice. MY FAVORITE! This is the protein my body was craving to balance the carbs!
8. Dessert-​Baklava and another dessert which I can’t remember the name of. The Baklava was VERY good, but not the best that I’ve had.
9. Lebanese liquor-​my friend claims that if you take a sip before you taste your food, the flavor will be enhanced. I didn’t care for it because it had a licorice flavor and I’m not a fan of licorice.
I came here a second time with my family and had the family Kebab platter. I didn’t like the ground beef one. I think it had some traces of lamb. Not a fan of lamb. The reason I gave this review only 4 stars is because the kebabs were just ok. Not the best I’ve had. The best kebabs in OC thus far is at Byblos-​Mediterranean style. So many variations of kebabs. However, the hospitality was as WARM as ever!