Jaffa Cafe

This place is well-​deserving of 5 stars! You must eat here – I mean it! From the time we walked in, we were greeted with warm smiles. We ordered an array of Mediterranean food and our meal was ready in a very reasonable time! The food was so unbelievably fresh, the seasoning was just perfect, and the pita bread was deliciously tender and warm! I’m already dreaming about the next meal I will have here. Is tomorrow too soon to visit again? The crew was so kind and anxious to have pleased customers. Trust me guys – I’m spreading the word about your phenomenal restaurant. And I’ll be back!

The food is wonderful. the perfect «fast food» restaurant for lunch or dinner. The portions are generous and well seasoned with fresh pitas and creamy tzatziki. We eat here about once a week and have tried everything on the menu.

Very nice and quite little restaurant. The Gyros are a good size and the plates are fulfilling. Great flavors and service. The owner offered us some free baklavas since it was our first time in. I would definately recommend it and return if I got the chance.

So stoked on Jaffa! I have had it Togo a couple times. This was my first time eating at the restaurant. The place was clean and a good atmosphere. The owner was super friendly. I love how they hook you up with baklava for visiting for the first time. Now the food… GREAT! You get a good size portion for a good price. This is now one of my go to spots for lunch!

I ate at the one in ag and this one is ao perfect in a good area they have outside tables. The food tastes awesome pita is so soft and fresh i love it. I cant wait till i go back everything is so good.

The food, customer service, location, and place as a whole are absolutely wonderful. I have had many places similar but Jaffa is the one to beat.
I have yet to try something I don’t like. The garlic pita is amazing. The chicken is always perfectly cooked. And the fresh made sauces are just perfect.
A place we regularly eat at and love.

Ever since my wife and I tried a shawarma overseas we could never find one in the States that was comparable. It wasn’t until we found this place that we finally found it! It only took us 8 years to find it so you know how happy we were to have found this place!!! This place has awesome fresh food that you can’t find anywhere else! And don’t forget to end your meal with the baklava!

This has become one of our favorite go to restaurants in Santa Maria for lunch. Loved the San Luis restaurant and hoped this would be as good. It really is!
Schmarmas, you try spelling it right, are my favorite. Lamb or chicken, wow. I also love Turkish coffee and Thiers is very good, just a touch too sweet. I guess I could order less sweet to make it perfect. The different sauces are all excellent and enhance every dish. Like taking any dish in a multiple different directions depending on which sauce and amount you use. Excellent!

Great Med Café and the owner/​operator is always a lovely host for all. Love the arroyo grande café as well.
Now if only we could have an Indian, Argentine, Brazilian, Peruvian, Paraguayan etc cafés in Santa Maria as well. Then no need to travel elsewhere for delightful exotic cuisine! :)

Our new favorite place! We came here for our lunch hour and the customer service was on point and so was the food. Free baklava for first time visit! It was fast, delicious and the staff super friendly. We will definitely be your new regulars! Love it! Thumbs up!

Having a Mediterranean restaurant adds a little diversity in any city. Somehow, one never seems enough.
Jaffa is the second of such a restaurant to open in Santa Maria in 2015. The difference being is that Jaffa is cafeteria style whereas the other place is not. Plus, the other place – called Sula – has live entertainment and a full bar, so there’s that.
Nevertheless, Jaffa is quick, delicious, and inexpensive. A daily gyro special with a cup of lentil soup is $ 10.

I tried this place for the first time a couple weeks ago and was really impressed! The process to get your food and pay is different. So first, you grab an order form from the window counter and fill it out then you hand it to the cooks and go grab your drinks Then you just go sit down until they call your name for your order and you eat. THEN, you take your slip up to register and pay. I got the beef shawarma, not even knowing what it was but my district manager I was getting lunch with got it so I thought I’d give it a try as well. It came with some beef, rice, hummus and pita bread. I finished my entire plate and was pretty satisfied.

This place is so good. I’ve tried various places in the area (Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo), and none of them compare to this. Staff is extremely friendly and the owner is usually there for personal service as well!
Must-​Go for anyone in the area or remotely close.

Excellent Mediterranean food with great portions. We got the gyro sandwich and chicken shawarma plate, very delicious and very well seasoned. The bread is very fresh too. Restaurant is clean and owner is friendly and attentive.

VEGAN EATERS HERE… Jaffa is remarkable, in every way. Modestly stylish, spotless, exceptionally personable owner and staff who are clearly proud of all their hard work and, the food. OMG, the food!!! You only THINK you’ve had great falafel before. Trust me, unless you’ve been to Jaffa, or been to Yottam Ottolenghi’s own home (he wrote «Jerusalem», best cookbook of 2013) you haven’t, yet. Red lentil soup you will think about tomorrow, garlic sauce on fresh made grilled pita you will dream of, fahtoush (middle eastern pita bread salad) my Lebanese grandmother would love, baba ganoush, smokey and luscious, hummus that isn’t already digested for you and, finally, the falafel… deep brown, crunchy, deep green inside from all the herbs, THESE are what you will return for, over and over and tell your friends about. I’ve never had better, ever. So reasonable, shareable, we will be back often and bring everyone we know. Say hello to Ali, the owner, such a generous, kind man.

I am SO grateful for this convenient location near the County complex in Santa Maria! My first visit was long overdue; after seeing a review in the Santa Maria Sun, I took my boyfriend there, «to try it out». Upon opening the door, I was warmly greeted by the welcome aroma of garlic and olive oil and lamb…
The customer service at this Mediterranean café is friendly, helpful and never fawning. And the food? I’m not a newcomer to this cuisine; I’m pretty picky. I avoid meat 99% of the time. And lamb is my weakness. I was so stoked with my first bite of lamb shawarma, that I scarfed it down with the voraciousness not displayed since I had the metabolism of a 17 year old.
I’m going to keep coming back! The baba ganoush was creamy and spiced to perfection, tabouleh refreshing. I ate the garlic sauce by itself; it was worth it. My boyfriend got the vegetarian platter and was so excited by the food here, we drove to the Arroyo Grande location the next day and were not disappointed.
If you work at or near the County complex in Santa Maria, Jaffa Café is located in the old Starbuck’s suite off of McCoy. You won’t regret it.

I was greeted by the manager as I approached the open kitchen counter. I wasn’t sure what the process was. He read me and kindly explained that I had to check my orders on a form and pick up and pay for my order when my name is called. When dining in, you can pay after you eat.
I ordered the baba ganoush (vegetarian) pita wrap and a baklava plus a fountain drink that is self-​refillable for the duration of your dine in. After paying for my order, I sat down and took a quick bite of the baba ganoush. I noticed the pita bread was of excellent quality. Soft, thick and chewy (in a good way). My wrap consisted of veggies slathered in hummus and vinaigrette. Well, I took that to the beach and somehow, it tasted phenomenal there. Baklava was a little stale, maybe days old, but it wasn’t too sweet and tasted good.
FYI, they’ve patio tables with umbrellas. The dining area is pretty cozy. Meaning when it gets busy, you gotta shimmy everywhere.

Okay, so I fell in love with Jaffa Café when they opened in the village of Arroyo Grande! At that time, I asked the owner when he would be opening in Santa Maria, to which he replied; «maybe someday». We’ll «someday» is HERE!
This is an amazing Mediterranean restaurant with all the dishes one would expect to find; Shawarma, falafel, Baba Ganoush, Gyro, and the best hummus ever!
The atmosphere is bright and pleasant (it used to be a Starbucks location), the kitchen is impeccably clean (it’s open to the dining room, no secrets here), and they have a wonderful condiment bar if you like to dress up your meal. I grabbed a pickle and that’s it because the food is flawless!
Locals should make this a regular stop for lunch or dinner and travelers should not think twice about jumping off the 101 freeway at Betteravia and driving the mile and half to take advantage of this amazing and authentic Mediterranean café.
Welcome to town Jaffa Café! Here’s to many years of property for you and great food for us!

Jaffa is the place to go for Mediterranean cuisine. Simple, fresh, tasty, friendly, clean, efficient, and affordable. Their salsa bar is so good too!

Went here on opening day and ordered immediately. Very friendly staff and super fast service. We ordered the gyro combination plate between two of us and it was enough to share. For about $ 10 we thought this plate was reasonably priced. Food was excellent if you are into Mediterranean cuisine. They have a wide menu selection and the restaurant itself was clean and had a pleasant ambiance. They had a tv in one corner but it wasn’t loud and no music was playing either. Also an outside seating area that looked nice. There were restrooms in the back.
One thing that stood out for us was that you pay after you eat despite ordering at the counter and picking up your food yourself. This, however, is typical with the other Jaffa locations and isn’t a negative, just something to keep in mind when going. We would have preferred to simply pay when we ordered our food.