Afendi’s Turkish Grill

Just had dinner here for the first time: lamb chops are incredibly good — tender and delicious flavor. Lamb and beef gyro are also excellent and the grilled veggies are awesome. The special tea is a MUST!
Plus they have a belly dancer on Friday nights — great entertainment!

Nice people, friendly service, outstanding food and very reasonable prices. Worth driving from SF just for dinner, we have very few restaurants to match. Just the tea service alone made me like ‘em, and it only got better.
So of course they had to go out of business! WTF?!? Hopefully it was just that crazy location in the corner of that ratty mall, this place needs to be more accessible. Real Doner is OK, but completely out of their league, like settling for a Big Mac when you wanted Fuddruckers.

Closed? So sorry to hear that news.
Why is it that fantastic restaurants like Afendi’s closes and so many marginal (ie. horrible) restaurants survive in Petaluma. Is there no justice? But, we still have Real Doner and I am headed in that direction.

I thought this place was awesome. The music was relaxing, the service was good. I think the people who did have issues possibly caught the place at a bad or busy time. Some problems might be cultural issues, us americans are used to speedy service with a smile. My waitress was great, and sweet. The guy in the back, possibly the cook or owner seemed not super happy, but it isn’t anything that would prevent me from going back. I liked the décor and the dark beer was wonderful. I had lamb and beef, and it was delicious. If you come to eat here, plant yourself and relax, don’t get worked up, and enjoy!

This is a good Turkish place and mixed, with good points and bad. Like Most Turkish places here, it overall can’t hold a candle to the restaurants actually in Turkey, in terms of choices and quality.
The people seem very friendly.
The place itself is nice, with nice windows, but the location is a dud since it’s in the Plaza shopping centre on the east side and not in or near downtown. However, it is obviously more convenient for people on the east side and makes sense since there’s another Turkish place on the west side.
Bread was wonderful, as is tahin and some of the meze, rice, etc. Iskender is a dud — FAR too garlicky and the bread it’s on is wrong, while they do not put clarified butter on it before serving (that is required since this dish is in the class of dishes called «Tereyagli,» which means «buttery» and these dishes are supposed to be topped with clarified butter), the «spinach kopita» or whatever they call it, using a modified version of the Greek name (it is actually ispanakli borek in Turkish) is somewhat good, but too greasy and a dud compared to the real thin in Turkey.

Really amazing Turkish food. The hummus, falafel, baba ganoosh and gyro are amazing. Try the rice pudding!
Good service, clean restaurant. A delicious find.

Absolutely delicious!
I came across this place a few months ago through a Unilocal search. Usually relying on Unilocal for food can be hit or miss, but this time it was definitely a hit!
I went back a second time last week with my husband and we were the first customers of the day. I had the lamb and beef gyros and he had a chicken and lamb plate. The food is flavorful, the portions, while not huge, are filling, and the service is excellent. The kind woman who opened the restaurant kept our Turkish tea cups filled and was very attentive. She was incredibly warm and inviting.
I have no idea what the other posters are talking about when it comes to anything negative about this place. Afendi’s is a pleasant surprise, especially given it’s location. If it were anywhere else in the Bay, the line would wrap around the block.

No way!
Do not be fooled by all those food reviews.
They are not what the review says.
First of all, they do not understand English.
(and we were not the only ones struggling with the order)
Secondly, everything was so salty!
And I went here with my friend for my Birthday lunch.
We were all looking forward since the review of this restaurant.
My friend mentioned that it was my birthday and the response from the waiters was «you are welcome»
???
This just tells how much English they understand.
Finally, you know what?
It is not even worth writing about it!
They might have been good when they opened, but now… definitely NOT!

I traveled extensively throughout Turkey in 2006, and I have to say this is the best Turkish restaurant that I’ve been to in the United States.
My bf and I were on our way up to a weekend in Sonoma, when we became very hungry and decided to cancel our reservations up in Healdsburg and find a restaurant in Petaluma. Did a quick Unilocal search and found this gem.
It’s out in the corner of the shopping center, décor is rather home-​like, lots of space and very plain chairs and tables. However, the service was immediately very warm, as they brought out complimentary Turkish tea.
We ordered and ate: 1) Greek salad (awesome greens and feta cheese), 2) Spinach spanikopita (omg the cheese and spinach melted into awesome gooiness inside flakey dough), and 3) Afendi’s Iskendar Dish (this was AMAZING, so many good savory authentic flavors. Layers and layers of delicious meats with tomato on top of toasted bread.) Their complimentary bread came out crispy & hot to our table.
Everything was superb. We couldn’t stop talking about how awesome this place was and how we wanted to come back. I highly highly recommend this place on your way up to wine country. Do NOT miss this.
Plus, the folks that run the place are super-​nice. It seems like a family-​owned and operated restaurant with very high-​touch service at a very reasonable price.

I had forgotten to do a review!
My girlfriend and I went to Afrendi a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed ourselves. I had never eaten at a ‘Turkish’ place before with the exception of doner and gyros prior to is so I did not know what to expect.
It looked like a slow afternoon, but it was still early (always a concern to see an empty place). The small tea with sugar cubes and the tiny gold spoons started off the meal a great touch. We had dolmas and eggplant salad as an appetizer, both delicious. The bed of hummus the dolmas were presented on was amazing. We then ordered the combination grill. It was more than enough for the two of us after the appetizers and bread.
The place was nicely appointed with traditional and modern decorations. The staff was professional and towards the end of our meal very conversational.
We really enjoyed ourselves and plan on returning often.

I had wanted to go here for a while and decided on a Sunday evening to go. I went with my husband, son, and sons gf.
There were about 4 other tables that had people sitting at them. One waitress to serve the tea that did not understand english and one waitress to serve the food.
We ordered: Lamb Kabobs, Chicken Kabobs, Chicken Gyro, and Falafal. The food took about 40 minutes.
We got: Falafal, lamb something — not kabobs, and two chicken «specials». When we mentioned to the waitress that my son had ordered the chicken gyro she said that they didn’t have any gyro so she gave him the «chicken special» instead. Except that the «chicken special» he got was also what his gf got and she had ordered kabobs — but neither of them got what they ordered — no gyro, no kabobs. No sorry, no offer to get them what they ordered. She said to eat it — it was special. And the lamb kabobs were not kabobs and appeared to have been pan seared. Um.
Since the waitress was clearly not going to get us what we ordered we decided just to eat as we had already waited 40 minutes. The food was okay, a bit bland. Nothing to write home about and not what three of us ordered.
I gave this place two stars because the food was okay. I won’t be going back though. Too bad because I was looking forward to this meal.
I really don’t understand the good reviews — maybe we went on a really off night? Who knows, but what restaurant serves you something other than what you ordered and then tells you to just eat it anyway?
We paid 60.00 for 3 things we did not order & one we did order, no drinks, and one appetizer. Maybe I should change this to one star.
**I love that people who reviewed this restaurant after I did have now called me a «goof ball» and claimed that I am culturally intolerant. I am a world traveler and have dined at back alley restaurants as well as michelin rated restaurants. The review by Teeny is weird. especially since it came after mine (I edited this review after I read that one). No one that I saw in the restaurant was rude or yelling. And now yet another update after mine that claims that I am a goofball for calling the food bland. I did not get the plate that I ordered and it came bland. Noone asked me what kind of spices I wanted. And as for the servers being family — the young lady serving the tea was definately not family.
So now not only did I have a bad meal, I have had people who have rated only one restaurant call me names because of my review.
I am feeling that family love!

Afendi’s was a great surprise that crowned a very important day in my life.
I visited Turkey (Istanbul) and I lived in New York — so I had exquisite Turkish food before — and I missed it so much. Afendi’s food was as good as I had it in the capitals of the world. Their dolmas were excellent and fresh, on a pad of hummus that had all the Mediterranean spices needed. I had an eggplant salad that was freshly made and it sat in olive oil just enough to mix the flavors. My boyfriend did not eat much lamb before, and he enjoyed so much the combination grill with chicken, lamb and beef over rice. I grew up with lamb — I packed the leftovers; it was too good to let it behind!
Beside the food, we appreciated how neat was the place. The windows were clean so we could appreciate the view toward the mountains, the bathrooms were clean. They use clean, ironed, scrubbed table cloth, like everywhere in restaurants back in Europe — but a rare sight in the US. They have nice traditional decorations on the walls, and posters that show you a bit of the Turkey’s most beautiful places and their complex cultural heritage.
The fifth star goes to our wonderful waitresses, who can teach a lesson about the traditional Turkish hospitality. Afendi’s people showed the same warmth and genuine interest in their visitors, as I encountered while walking the streets of Istanbul. You, as a guest entering their place, are not just another customer, but a treasured friend.
I hope this makes it up for all the obnoxious customers — since we saw some, and WE were ashamed for their ignorance, lack of consideration and rude tone toward the waitress. Yes, the nice lady serving you has an accent, but that does not mean you have to yell thinking she is deaf, and her command of the English language may be actually better than yours. We can’t stand people who come to eat in an ethnic place without understanding a bit about the cultural aspects of visiting another culture. Afendi’s staff shows the best of their country — and it is reflected in all the details of the restaurant. That should be respected.

WOW. the owner of this place is rude.
He wrote me a private message threatening me to come tell him to his face that the meat in his doner/​gyro/​shawerma was not real. I’m sorry but what I got was processed meat, at Real Doner it was real pieces of meat.
I’m sorry, but the day that I went:
we waited OVER an hour for our food. and there were only 2 other tables of customers there already eating their food when we walked in.
the food was not tasty. ALL of it, and we ordered several dishes to go.
the woman waiting on us was as sweet as could be, the only thing that made the wait bearable was her.
after about 20min of waiting they gave us free bread (because we told them we were fasting for the whole day when we first came in to order and that we needed to leave with food within 20min to eat dinner– they said, «no problem food will be ready in less than 20 min».)
after about another 20min they brought us free tea. i actually didn’t like the tea. i drink middle eastern tea all the time. this was overbrewed and so it was bitter.
The owner’s got a lot to learn about how to handle dissatisfied customers.
He accused me of writing my review in this way so I could ask for free food at Real Doner.
The whole experience of the message was completely surreal.
I will NEVER go back again.
***NEWSFLASH***
I have received yet another message from the owner:
For your review of: Afendi’s Turkish Grill
Real foot in your cuontry so go bak to you cuntry, b cuos your are not real, do not com to my afendi’s. Agen
Thanks «Joe». I was actually born here. but thanks for telling *me* to «go back to my country». classy.
please stop sending me messages. you cannot bully me into removing this review. I guess I now understand why the ratings for Afendi’s are so high.

I don’t usually contradict other reviewers but I feel that in this case I have to. Some said that the restaurant was cold. When we walked in I actually felt it was too hot.
That is the only gripe I have. The Turkish Tea was delicious and served in cute tea cups with tiny spoons. When it comes to the entrees and wraps the portions are huge. There is no way I could finish all they gave me. The gyro meat is so tender. My husband suspects the dolmas were freshly made.
My brother is a big coffee fan and he ordered the Turkish coffee to go with some baklava. I hadn’t planned on getting dessert, but when our server made mention of rice pudding I couldn’t resist. I’m glad I listened to my gut. This was the best rice pudding I have had in a very long time. Even my husband liked it, and usually does not like rice pudding.
The best part of the entire experience was our server. I did not get her name, but I suspect she may be the owner or his spouse. She took very good care of us. Our water cups were always full. There was a slight language barrier, but we got around that with few problems. She even showed us how she makes the tea and coffee. We wanted to pack her up and take her back to Illinois with us.

Tried this place a few months back and didn’t realize I didn’t review it.
Anyways, I came here with a friend on a weekend around opening so the place was completely empty. Pretty unfamiliar with Turkish food, my friend and I asked the people who ran the restaurant what they would recommend. We ended up ordering the Spanakopita ($ 6.95) and a Lamb and Beef Gyro ($ 8.95).
The Spanakopita was really flaky and being hot out of the kitchen, it was quite good. It was lacking a bit of variety in flavor – the cheese kind of overwhelmed the other ingredients – but overall, well made. I would not recommend leaving leftovers and trying to reheat it later on as it’s very messy, and it’s also not as enjoyable cause the oil from the puff pastry just seeps out and makes the dish soggy.
The Lamb and Beef Gyro was DELICIOUS. The meats inside were so tender and delicious and the sauce that they had inside made it even better. For the price we paid, the size was pretty good. I would recommend this over the Spanakopita.
If you come here, you MUST ask to try the bread and the humus. The bread is so fluffy and the humus is definitely fresh made, not fridged/​frozen. Free of charge, but being the first to arrive that day, I think they didn’t have it prepared yet so we had to ask.
Overall, really good experience. Easy to miss since it’s between a lot of other stores in a shopping center. Definitely be sure to check it out at least once though.

I was eager to try out Afendi’s when I heard that it was opened by the owners of Real Doner, but was meant to be a nice sit down restaurant. I used to eat at the curry place that previously inhabited this location, and I was pleased to see that they took the time to redecorate. It’s very festive and has a great ethnic feel to it.
When you sit down and look over the menu, someone brings out a nice tiny cup of tea in a fancy glass. This includes a sugar cube and a golden spoon. It’s a very sweet touch and just enough to rear your appetite.
The actual menu has a lot of variety. My bf got some beef kebabs and he thought they were okay. I went for their «special», which is the iskender kebab. I thought it was delicious, albeit expensive. It cost about twice as much as my usual go to spot for an iskender kebab, and portion wise, it was not much more. Overall, I thought it was rather pricey, and the service a bit on the slow side, so if you’re in a rush, definitely not a good place to squeeze in a bite to eat. However I honestly do think it’s a nice restaurant and has a friendly ambiance.

Wow. I have been so excited to try this place for a while, and finally got to. We tried going in a couple weeks before, but we were told when we got there, that they were closing, boo. hiss.
So we made it back early the following week, and got a table. Started with the appetizer platter. There was enough food here for 2 for a full mean. holy cats. The pepper spread (Ezme) was unbelieveable as was the turkish bread.
Then we had the Sigaras — wrapped feta cheese, in filo dough and baked. YUM. although 4 of them, seemed like a small portion. $ 6.95
Then we had the lamb dinner. Afendi Iskender — First off all the meat is Halal, which is awesome, and kudos for using such high quality meat. Secondly — this maybe the best dish I’ve ever eaten. The little chunks of bread with tomatoe sauce, and meat — topped with a yogurt sauce. My mouth was singing.
And there was so much of it for $ 16.95, that I had lunch for 2 days after.
Turkish wine is interesting, but don’t expect a lot of complexity, The tea delish, and the fact that our server called me «miss» the entire time. made it all worth it.
Come here. Come here often.

My friend Debra and I met here for lunch. It was a little difficult to find at first because it’s in a shopping center, but it’s prominently placed in front beside a bank, so once I got my bearings it was easily found. Debra had worked down the street so she had less trouble. She reports the space used to house an Indian restaurant. It is square, clean and bright and relatively unadorned. The restaurant was empty when I arrived. Debra arrived shortly after I did and then a party of 6 or 8 and a couple of other, smaller parties.
We looked over the menu and decided to share a Sigara Borek and each get a lamb and beef gyro. I ordered Ayran, the salted yogurt drink and Debra had water. We both had 3 cups of the complimentary tea that was served in beautiful Turkish glasses on matching saucers w/​a tiny golden spoon and a sugar cube on the side. It was delicious and very Old World. I could imagine my grandfather drinking this tea w/​the sugar cube between his teeth. The gyros are not the size of Greek gyros. They are long and slender, almost like a dosa. The contents are wrapped in a thin flatbread. We cut them in half and then one half into smaller pieces. We each ended up taking half our gyro home, it was such a generous portion. It was very flavorful. The sigaras never made it to the table, whether by accident or by design I’m not sure. It would have been way too much food for the two of us.
Prices were reasonable, service was attentive and the food was good. Though we lingered over our food, even after they were wrapped as leftovers, we never felt pressed to leave. I’d come back, maybe even for dinner.

To quote my Husband 5 minutes ago, ‘Man-​I just burped up some of the dinner and even THAT was good.
I couldn’t even wait to get back to our hotel to write this review, so i’m writing this in the car. We just had the best Meditteranean meal we’ve ever had in our lives here tonight.
We received a very warm and friendly welcome, and were promptly served Turkish chai tea on very ornate gold and glass teaware. Our server was perfect-​friendly, concerned, and quick. Even the other employees were sweet to us. At one point, my Husband dropped a fork, and another employee heard it, and came dashing out from the shadows like Batman with a new one before my Hubby could even bend to pick it up! The fresh baked bread was also fabulous.
I ordered the lamb kabob platter ($ 14.95). I have never had lamb that was better– it was crispy on the outside, and so tender on the inside. It came with a very tasty and buttery rice, yogurt dipping sauce and a lovely fresh salad. I can’t put into words how well everything was seasoned and how wonderfully all the flavors combined together. It was really memorable. My Husband ordered the ‘special dinner’ ($ 16.95), and it was just that. The portions were huge-​very easy to make 2 meals out of them. I really struggled to fit everything in my tummy, reasoning that it would be a sin if I left one morsel on the plate. They also had many cheaper options if you are on more of a budget.
We finished the meal off with a lovely piece of baklava. All in all, this was a TRULY 5 star experience. They opened in April, and I hope to goodness they are able to stay open and serve their wonderful food to the community. (The décor is beautiful too) I really wish we had a restaurant of this caliber in south Florida!

After being on the road for 7 hours we arrived in town but was a bit early to check-​in to our hotel. I was starving and wanted to check this place out. It’s a beautiful restaurant with really cool lighting and artwork. What I assume is Turkish music was playing and set a really cool vibe for the place.
To start Donna and I shared a «Cacik» salad which is yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, fresh dill, and mint. It was delicious and refreshing. All the ingredients were mild and blended well together. Could of used some pita or something to eat with it but I enjoyed it.
For my entrée I had the «Adana Kabob» which is grilled spicy ground lamb served with rice. It also was served with a small salad with tomato, pickle, and red cabbage. Even though I didn’t find the dish spicy I thought it tasted great. The lamb was moist and the seasoning mixed in with it were a perfect compliment. It came with some sort of dipping sauce which went well with the meat. Donna on the other hand hated her lunch… she had the gyro wrap. She said it was flavorless and boring. I took a bite and thought it was pretty good… so not sure why she didn’t like it.
Overall I recommend this place. Friendly service and good food. Pretty bad baklava though… Couldn’t taste any pistachios in it and it was a bit burnt.