Baraka Mediterranean Grill

They’ve moved into a larger store about two blocks north on El Camino.

4 stars kabobs, kabobs, kabobs!!!
driving down el camino towards san jose me and a friend saw a sign that sed BBQ we had to go investigate, it was a lil mom and pop market that specialized in mediterranean food, they got a meat shop in the back offered goat and lamb, several other meats not offered in a regular grocery, alot of naans/​breads, pastries, chips, oils, sauces., lil side eatery where they prepare fresh kaboobs all flavorful for a cheap price.
food ****
service *****
ambiance *** it is grocery folks not a stand alone resturant

Currently closed; the owner didn’t tell me when it’d be open again.

Baraka is both a Mediterranean (Persian?) grocery and a small restaurant. My two visits here have been like night and day, though the food has been decent both times. The first visit was on a chilly day and the owner didn’t seem to have anything except kufta kabob, so that’s what I ordered. The tables up front were close to the open door and I froze my ass off. That, and it smelled slightly of zoo (I think it was the floor cleaner they used).
About a month later I made my second visit. The space had been completely rearranged and had a much nicer feel. The restaurant had been given it’s own dedicated space and the nasty smell was gone. And this time the entire menu seemed to be available for ordering. Definitely an improvement.
Food Summary:
– kufta kabob plate — Nice kabob, nice salad, though rice was a bit dry. The owner initially seemed unsure of contents when I asked; He said it didn’t include hummus or baba gannoush but added it in later when it was served. Growing pains?
– falafel plate: 4 largish falafels, plus salad, hummus, pita. Included tahini/​yogurt dressing and hot sauce on the side. Falafel was fresh but had holes in the middle — That’s right people — I’m talking «falafel donuts». (the owner said he does this to make them cook more evenly). Unfortunately the falafel itself was nothing to crow about; Though it was crispy outside, the interior was a little bland and texture-​free for me. All in all, the plate was a bit on the small side.
The owner is extremely nice and watches his customers carefully. On my second visit he decided to crank some Celine Dion (wtf?), which made me immediately want to wrap up my meal to go. A few other customers looked annoyed too. He noticed the body language almost immediately and turned down the music to a whisper.
Though I don’t know how long this market has been here, the restaurant portion seems like a place that is still figuring out what it wants to be. I hope to come back someday to see how they are doing.

«Baraka» means blessing in Arabic.
This is an awesome one stop Halal market for a meal, whether making it from scratch or doing a pickup run.
If you’re into goat, you can pick up fresh cuts from their meat section. They have everything you need spice wise for making a meat marinade or your curry base whether you decide to make it from scratch or choosing from their large MDH «so easy a non-​Indian/​Mediterranean food person can make it too» spice boxes.
Having one of the better selections of jarred olives and preserved fruit jams (cherry, date, plum, walnut, pear, etc) on the peninsula, I wanted to get one even though I didn’t even bread at home to spread it over.
Or you can be like me and my friend Clarence. Have them do the cooking and grab a fairly cheap take out combo gyro plate made to order or shish kebabs to go.

*Minimum charge of $ 10 on credit cards.
Halal at cho’ boy!

Clean store. They have fresh Halal Meat (Skin off is the best part I like about Halal… otherwise, i donot even care for it…)
Anyways, Bottom line, good stuff, fresh walnuts from LA (not Chiped) ‚
OVERALL ! GREAT

This place is great. My wife and I ate at the eatery, which is part of the market, and the food was great. We got a chicken and beriani rice, which was delicious, and the kabobs which were excellent. The portions were generous. We also had really nice tea to cap it off.
Highly recommended.

WARNING: this place seems to be miscategorized! It’s a grocery not a restaurant. I have no idea if it’s any good but it’s definitely not a place you’d take a group of friends for lunch, as I tried to today. To me, the name suggests it’s a sit-​down restaurant. To me. Dumb silly me. It’s not. It’s a freaking grocery. With a few tables on the side and a deli counter. Sigh… I felt like a total jackass.

Interesting Middle Eastern grocery and meat market that has a fairly large area for eating despite not much going on with the kitchen. We got to talking to the owner a bit and he has quite a few specials, except some of them only get made on certain days. So I had the lamb chops while the co-​workers did the koobideh wraps. Pretty darn flavorful. One of the co-​workers is looking for the perfect Baklava too and it looks like they import theirs straight from Turkey. Some of the other desserts are made buy a Lebanese guy out of Michigan. Interesting selection of all types of goodies, especially if you’re into cooking and preparing Middle Easter/​Mediterranean foods.

4 stars. The food served probably deserves 5 stars, but, given the lack of décor, service, and availability of shwarma, despite it being on the menu, they can’t really merit 5 stars.
I got a kufta kebab wrap. It was the juiciest, most flavorful middle eastern wrap I’ve ever had. The meat was soft and tasty. It was absolutely fantastic, and only $ 5.
Apply some patience, and get some awesome food.
—
Update: I’ve gone back a couple times, now, and the food hasn’t held up. I guess my first experience was an outlier.

After moving to the Bay Area, I tried many different Halal meat shops searching for one that was clean, with good prices, and good service. After suffering through many dim-​lit, hole-​in-​the-​wall shops with sketchy work areas and dirty men handling the meat, I was almost ready to give in…
But hallelujah, I found found everything I was looking for in Baraka Halal Market! The store is well stocked, the people are friendly, and most importantly, the butcher area is clean. The meat display case is organized with various fresh meats, and they take custom orders as well, without giving me attitude!
In addition to the market, there is now also a restaurant. The last time we went shopping, the hubster and I decided to give the restaurant a go. We wanted to eat light, so we decided share a combo plate. After about 10 minutes, out came a massive plate piled high with the beef shwarma, beef kabob, rice, humus, baba ganoush, and salad. Needless to say, we were stuffed after sharing one plate! The shwarma was good, but the moist and well-​seasoned kabaob was excellent! It was just like koobideh and better than many Persian restaurants. Did I also mention the huge plate was reasonable priced as well? It was only $ 9.99 for a combo plate– easily shared by two!
I already come here for my Halal meat shopping needs, but now I will definitely come back to try more food items from the restaurant menu.

Fresh goat meat is what I like to buy here.
This review is based on the meats and groceries that are sold in the market.
Food from the new restaurant sounds good.

Its a grocery store selling Middle Eastern, Turkish, Indian & Pakistani foods, with a neat little butchery on the side selling Halal meat.
The other side of the grocery sells BBQ: kabobs, wraps, shawerma & falafel with neat little table scattered around.
My husband and I stopped for a quick lunch and very happy with our food. I had the Shawerma beef wrap ($ 6.99) and he had the kabob wrap ($ 4.99). Mine was a huge wrap bursting with yumminess! flavorful beef strips and fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy lettuce, tzaziki sauce, and the chef added their special spicy sauce which just delicious. This weekend we stopped and shared their very generous combo plate … perfection again. We’ve decided to get our meat from Baraka Halal Market and treat ourselves to their kabobs. I’m looking forward to trying more items on their menu. The service was great, the owner is always smiling and very friendly.