Cafe Socrates

When I’m at Fashion Valley, this is MY place to go whenever I am at the mall getting my shop on. After you have walked around this HUGE mall for a while, you gotta fuel up right? Well this place is the perfect place to go if you are in the Food Court area. Ever since the first time I was seduced by their gyro try-​outs, I have always gone to this café to get fueled up.
Their Mediterranean food is super flavorful and had a good amount of food on it for the price range. Whenever I go, I get the ‘Healthy Special’ on the LED screen advertised close to the menu. It always comes out quick and hot and delicious: the chicken is tender and well seasoned, the shrimp is succulent and really fresh tasting, and though you really can’t f up a greek salad, this place makes it seem like an art form! Though everything can be eaten by itself, I love tasting it with the yellow rice they have, tasting it with the pita bread they give you, and tasting it with both. The amount of yogurt they give for your meat is well portioned out and gives just the perfect tarty creaminess to give some UMPH to the meats. One plate of food is definitely enough to fill me and another person!
I am a BIG fan of this food court café and will always make this my to-​go spot if I am at Fashion Valley and am feeling the noms. I haven’t tried the burgers they have here, but if its Mediterranean food, I usually stick to what I’m familiar with.

The food here is great! I love their Greek salad. I work in the mall and its always nice to get your luch super fast when your on lunch break. They have a great crew as well. Super friendly.

This place was pretty bomb!
I’m strict on my calories since I count my macros. So, there are not many food options for me at the mall. As I was walking around the food court, I noticed a sign «today’s special». It had a picture of salad, grilled chicken with rice. I decided to give it a try.
I forgot the total of my food but it was on the pricy side. Since the food was fresh & looked delicious, I didn’t really care about the price. I also got a sparkling water because I was craving for some coke lol… As for the food, it was very good. Not salty and not oily at all. I didn’t eat the rice & flour thing (comes with the meal) to reduce my carb intake.
For someone who is looking for a healthier choice of meal, I recommend this place. Since it was a busy weekend night, my food took 15minutes. But, it was worth the wait, tasted pretty bomb, fresh & healthy.
I forgot the name of the cashier who took my order, but she was very VERY nice. Next time, I’ll ask for her name again.

Starving out of work, my girlfriend wanted to head to Fashion Valley — and as I have not seen her in ages, could not refuse. We went to the stores she wanted to wander before eventually appearing at the food court where I got to grab something to eat.
Stomach grumbling, I glanced and saw Café Socrates. Not in the mood for sandwich trying which was the Stone Oven next door — I picked Greek. The smell of their Feta fries overwhelmed me but I was strong and picked the falafel plate instead of the tempting falafel sandwich combo with french fries.
Falafel was tasty — nicely fried on the outside made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both. However I was a bit disappointed with the size and the quantity. I seen from other picture it was 3 as well and they gave a whole bunch of rice. On the plus side there was the salad and the pita bread that came alone with it. It was okay for mall food.
Utensils and all on the left side if I remember correctly. Might come again but I had better Greek food elsewhere.

Never had a bad experience. Always fresh ingredients. Great chicken.

Nothing amazing rom what I ordered. It is a Mediterranean place but I ordered a cheese burger. Wasn’t bad but wasn’t out of this world. Can’t expect too much from the mall food court. The burger was really well done. Probably would have been a lot better if it was medium. The fries were good but you can’t really mess up fries. They are the thick cut steak fries. Not bad.

All I wanted was my gyro fix, and I got much more than expected. I visit this location plenty of times. They have great customer service, food is always fresh, and whatever you do, you must order their feta cheese fries. They’re so good I wanted to leave, and come back in a disguise and grab another order of them.

Good spot to take in a quick lunch with a movie or if you’ve something to pick up in the mall. California Gyro was quite good and the fries cooked perfectly. Not bad at all for fast food.

Folks,
If you want Middle Eastern food that tastes like it came out of your favorite Aunt, Uncles, Grandmothers kitchen, then you want to go Café Socrates! Café Socrates provides menu options that are gluten free too… bonus!!!
Hummus = 5 Star!
Babaganush = 5 Star!
Falafel sandwich = Turn it up to 6!
When I visit SD, I go out of my way to eat there. I tell my co-​workers to stop by for food.

Their low fat daily special is both a great value and a great flavor! I hope it never goes up in price or goes away. You can always count on outstanding service too. They are the fastest and maybe one of the freshest in the Fashion Mall. Alicia is always all smiles and very friendly. Also take advantage of their perka offers for a potential free meal.

Ok food. But be careful they ask if you want hummus or feta and don’t tell you that they are charging extra for it. It was very dishonest.
*update
First of all let me say that ok is an bit of an understatement concerning the falafel. It is amazing. I was kindly and quickly contacted by the manager and he has said he would talk to employees. I may have over looked the pricing on the menu but after my order and getting my receipt it still wasn’t clear about the extra charges. All in all it was $ 2ish extra and the sauce and cheese was good.

I stopped in the Socrates for a quick lunch. This time around I wanted something lighter so I went for one of their healthy items, the grilled chicken breast served over steamed rice, a side salad, and some warm pita bread for $ 7 and some change.
The chicken breast was very good. It was tender, had a little charring on the edges, and those edges had some very goof Mediterranean herbs and spices. The chicken was served over some yellow rice which was quite good. It was a little sticky, but not by much. It had a nice mild turmeric flavor and they sure did not skimp on the rice.
The side salad was good and came with fresh cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions, topped with a little feta, and dressed with their zesty house dressing. The lettuce was good, but the pieces were a little large and should be chopped into smaller more uniformed pieces. The feta was great and the salad dressing was very good. The pita bread arrived nice and warm and was moist and soft. I used it to make mini pita wraps with the chicken and salad, not to mention the tasty yogurt sauce too.

Finally, I found the right food for me in San diego! I ordered a chicken sandwich with salad, it was fresh and healthful enough!

Cashier was nice and patient with me as I quickly explained out food allergy situation. I ordered 2 plain hamburger patties, just the patties alone because everything else on their menu contained something my daughter was allergic to. I told him we had food allergies to gluten, dairy, soy, and corn. I asked what kind of oil they use in their fryer. The cook said they use soybean oil. So I told the cashier that I just wanted 2 plain hamburger patties by themselves. No bun or veggies.
When our order came, they put a slice of cheese on each of the patties I ordered. I asked the cashier to have them make a new set of hamburger patties and pointed out that I had already told him we had an allergy to dairy. I specifically asked for 2 new patties to be made and for them not to just scrape off the cheese and give the old patties back to us.
I was very calm and nice.
What came back was the old patties that had bits of cheese still on it!
Then they threw on frenchfries, fried in soybean oil, which I had already told them we were allergic to.
The only reason why I am giving this one star is because the cashier was nice. Everyone who was working there was totally ignorant of food allergy issues, and even the mistakes were kindly shown to them, they made no real attempt to correct them.
We will not be back to this restaurant again.

Short version — It’s underwhelming mall food court food that is healthier than the Panda Express next door but there are multitudes of better options elsewhere.
The details — It isn’t cheaper by any means. The meat entrée plates are $ 12 – 14 that comes with a bed of rice, salad, and hummus. It’s definitely fresh tasting, which is great, but flavor wise it’s nothing extraordinary. And that’s fine. I tried it once and I am not compelled to come back. I’d rather pay that much for a really good flavorful salad at Nordstrom Café and talk to friendlier people who seem thankful when I hand them my money.

Tried them out during the San Diego Latino Film Festival. They were generous enough to provide food for the volunteers and staff during the 10 day festival which was very appreciative. Now lets get down to review:
— Gyros: they have various selections, I tried the lamb, grilled chicken, and falafel. All of them were great, They put in a nice portion of meat. The lettuce was crisp and the onions were sliced thin and hardly noticeable. The sauces helped and each type of meat had their own sauce. If you want something filling with a decent flavor profile, go for the Gyros.
— Burgers: aside form offering traditional Mediterranean food, they had burgers. They had veggie (boca), beef, and event salmon burgers. I had the beef and it was a decent size. None of that puny McDonalds burger or anything. It was a huge patty on a sesame seed bun with lettuce, onions, tomato, mayo, and what I think is 1000 island dressing. When I took a bit of that, you can taste the char of the beef, meaning it was freshly cooked. It was worth eating and all the volunteers enjoyed it.
Will be looking forward to eating there again given all the other options in that food court are very generic common food court selections.

It’s so good you’ll be fighting the food court birds off because as soon as you sit down they will flock to you.
I’m impressed with the food here… especially for a food court&fast food place. It’s a healthy delicious alternative to the other options in the vicinity. The customer service is friendly and the service is fast. There is an array of nonalcoholic beverages as well as few different selections of beer and wine.
I got the chicken kabob plate which comes with rice and Greek salad. Delicious and healthy!
This place could probably get 5 stars but I feel wrong about giving a fast food place 5 stars.

Hands down, the best Mediterranean food in San Diego. Simply forget the rest. I’ve been here too many times to count, the variety here completely spanks anything else nearby. I’m lucky enough to personally know both the owner and employees and can safely say that this is one establishment that I’ll never forget.
Even if you aren’t sure what something is on the menu, the staff is always more than happy to tell you, don’t let inexperience discourage you from trying new food. My recommendation (beside everything on the menu) would be the gyro sandwich with feta and hummus, try it!

I love the low fat daily special and the gyros here. Everything always tastes extremely fresh, from the chicken/​meat to the pita bread.
Normally I don’t like salads but the low fat daily special is the only exception. Definitely a delicious healthy option for those health nuts out there.
PS remember to download the Perla app to get free meals!

I came here whilst I was shopping at the mall, remembering that I should probably eat something that day. Avoiding the regular fast food places, I headed over to what was a Mediterreanean place.
Hey, if you have kebabs, I’m sold.
I ordered the jumbo platter (3 types of meat) as I hadn’t eaten all day, and saw that they had «NEW!» Greek coffee, so OF COURSE I had to try it.
Damn, it was GOOD. It was like Cuban coffee: strong, a bit sweet, but the grounds themselves were superfine, almost atomized. Made for a great sipping coffee.
The jumbo platter was great: I ordered grilled chicken, salmon (burger), and falafel, just to get an all-​around gander at what they had to offer. The grilled chicken was not dry, but it wasn’t overly juicy, just tender enough to cut through and have pieces with your salad. The falafel I dove into, but even as it was good (slightly crunchy on the outside, temperature hot on the inside) I have this psychological block to eaten fried foods, so my mind was screaming that it was good but bad. I reached the salmon patty last, and I wished I had eaten it first, as by now it was cool and I was getting full.
Portions are generous and they give you all the sauces you could want for your falafel/​salad/​meal, so if you’re in the food court, I would say come here if you want something relatively fast and healthy.