Café Paloma

This is a very, very cute café. It’s also a great spot for watching the underground tour groups passing by. The food is cheap, delicious, and healthy. I recommend getting a soup and salad combo. Also, try their carrot spread!

Wonderful lunch. Just stopped in because a friend from LA had a small window of time for lunch. She had soup we had salads. A pleasant surprise. Will go back.

So good, I went back the next night just to try more things from the menu. Everything I tried from the Meze menu was a burst of perfect flavor blends. My friend loved the Yaprak saraia (vegetarian stuffed grape leaves). I loved the borak (which is like spanakopita with caramelized onions). Two people had the felafel. One order wasn’t completely cooked in the middle but it was still so delicious my other friend saw no need to send it back. Wish I’d had room to try the yoghurt soup and the baklava. Will have to go back again. Also loved that it wasn’t noisy (until 7 with live music, but we were out before the). If you come for the live music, it gets really crowded.

Café Paloma, you’ve won me over with your romantic decorations, charming staff and some of the best falafel that I’ve tried so far.
As with most Pioneer Square establishments, the restaurant is a bit smaller so I highly recommend reservations for larger parties (we had a group of eight).
After going back and forth between a few choices, I settled with the falafel and man, am I glad that I did! I’ve had falafel at other restaurants where it was dry and the spices were overbearing, but Paloma’s falafel had great flavor and texture. I was also pleasantly surprised by the side salad that came with it — loved the dressing!
Other popular choices in my party were the lamb pita and lentil soup (which was my close second). If you’re looking for something a little lighter, I’d recommend the gorganzola sandwich or salad with a cup of lentil soup! :)
Price is pretty standard for Pioneer Square — you can expect to pay over $ 10 for your meal. In terms of ambiance, I loved the natural lighting of the restaurant and can definitely see myself coming here for a catch-​up sesh with a friend or on a date. All in all, another great find for the Pioneer Square restaurant scene. :)

We r from LA and stopped by here!!! So glad we did mezza plate was great and the soup was devine. Love the room and there is a stage and piano I would come here often if I lived closer

Delicious! I’m a big fan of Middle Eastern food and this café did not disappoint.
I ordered the baba Ganoush appetizer with grilled chicken. The chicken was tender and flavorful; the eggplant dip was creamy and we’ll seasoned.
I would come back again.

Probably the best, most understated and simple lamb pita sandwich I’ve had in Seattle. Highly recommended!

I went here yesterday and split the lamb pita with my partner since we were going to a dinner thing later and needed a little fix. It was delicious! Great pita, great lamb mixed with tomatoes and red onions with a yogurt sauce and side salad. We especially liked the dressing because of the use of mint. I’ll have to try that at home.

I just had the most enjoyable meal at this restaurant. It was nearly empty when I dropped in, and that is usually a red flag. I was surprised by a wonderful meal. The lamb was flavorful and moist. The salad was crisp and dressed correctly. And the lentil soup left me wanting more. All paired with a pleasant Turkish red wine. The service was also excellent. I would definitely recommend this restaurant!

Excellent food, service and staff! Here on business and am finding no need to search out other food options. Great neighborhood café look and feel!

What a lovely place for lunch, like a midday Mediterranean retreat! Fantastically delicious with a beautiful ambience and people.

Food was good — but lunch was expensive for the amount of food you got.

The falafel here is absolutely amazing and definitely worth a try. The atmosphere of the place is very relaxed and the staff and host are very warm and welcoming. So happy that I had a chance to eat here while I was up in Seattle.

This is the best falafel in Seattle. The service is somewhat slow but it’s perfect for a long relaxing meal with a date (that you really like) or friends.

Food was delicious service was blah. We had the hummus for an app which was very fresh and yummy, and the eggplant panini and chicken pita for dinner which were both also delicious. Service was just slow and we felt like we were forgotten throughout the meal which brought it down to a 4 for me.

Nice food for the lunch and not expensive.

The food was great. I had a prosciutto sandwich, and I recommend it. Friendly service, but very few waiters. Overall, a great place for lunch.

Oh, don’t you just get down when you have high hopes for a place and leave thinking it could have been better?
It could have been. Not that it was such a negative experience, it just seemed the place had more potential.
We were seated pretty quickly, and I think there were a total of 2 other customers being waited on.
We immediately ordered the Yaprak Sarma (grape leaves, stuffed), Kofte, and Falafel plates. While waiting for what seemed to be far too long, we decided to pass on the wine because nothing on the menu seemed appealing, and then we got to sniff the wonderful scent of… burnt bread? Eh.
The food finally came out and I was slightly disappointed that the falafel plate didn’t come with any pita bread + hummus, but came with a salad. Granted, the salad was VERY good — as was the falafel. It just seemed like a lot of money for fried beans and a side house salad. But I digress. The grape leaves were tasty and the boyfriend loved his Kofte.
Server was very personable too, which I’m a fan of. I’m just not sure I’d keep Paloma at the top of my list for Mediterrean eat-​outs.

Cute place in Pioneer Square but my experience left a lot to be desired. The management is highly unorganized and their operational execution is flawed. I think one woman was in charge of serving the dining room, taking to-​go orders, answering phones, etc. It took 15 minutes from the time I walked in to the time I placed a to-​go order (3 people in front of me) and less than 5 minutes to actually get my food. At one point, the lady behind me said, «Do you have any idea what’s going on here?» None.
As for the food, to be a real-​deal Mediterranean restaurant, I appreciate the uniqueness of their hummus but I have to say, though edible, I didn’t find it to be very good. The prosciutto panini thing was fine. Maybe I just visited on an off-​day but three stars for the recognized potential of this café.

Great atmosphere. Authentic food. Excellent wine selection. Musical entertainment. What else do you need. Will return!

I was impressed with the attention to presentation and the first thing that jumped out at me was the salad dressing. It is hand made and uniquely tart but not too tart with a little bit of sweetness. I had the borek which had an amazingly flaky shell with a perfect blend of spinach and other vegetables. This is a very classy place to dine.

Best hummus in Seattle. I go every other week just for that reason alone. They also have great Red Lentil soup. Every time we get a new person at my office, I use it as an excuse to go to this place!
The service is good considering they have, at most, 4 people on staff, at any time (cook, waitress, food prep and the owner on the register). Not a long wait time for a table (seat yourself), but crowded around 12pm-1pm…and long wait time on food.
There’s not much elbow room to eat, but if you bring good company, you probably won’t mind.
Also, they can only split a bill between 2 or 3 credit/​debit cards.

I have been in a half dozen times and the food is always great. the food is quality and not greasy which is rare in this area. I recommend the lamb pita, its the best.

This place was okay. The dining room is very close quarters which I don’t care for. The food was decent. I got the lamb burger which tasted good but gave me wicked burps for the rest of the day. My wife did not care for that. She said it smelled like I was farting out my mouth I thought it was hilarious.
We ate here while on a weekend trip to the area and wanted to try different places. If you’re into this type of food then I guess it’s okay but it’s not necessarily my cup of tea. The place is clean, the people are nice, and the food was decent.