The food is delicious and service is excellent! This is my favorite Mediterranean restaurant!

First time eating at this restaurant. Took our orders for drinks. The beer my son ordered was not available because the tap/draft was broke. The food tasted decent, but seemed a little pricey. The biggest drawback was the time we waited for our food. Reservations were for 6:30 pm and by 7:30 pm still no main course. Our waitress never came over until about 7:45 pm and said the swordfish was taking longer than anticipated. We were served 5 minutes later. Phoenician Taverna is a better mediterranean restaurant in my opinion. read more

This restaurant was fabulous. The food was excellent. The chicken kababs were very tender & marinaded to perfection. The hummus was fresh & flavorful. The calamari was tender and not chewy. We had 2 Turkish white wines that were very good. The owner Mr Ozdil was so nice and had a great sense of humor! We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and had leftovers the next day. We will be back! read more

We had an amazing experience here. We did not have a reservation, but were seated at the bar. This turned out to be the best possible outcome because out bartender was so helpful to us when ordering. The food is subtle and could possibly be under appreciated if expecting over flavored typical American food. I found everything delightful. We had grape leaves, spinach pide, turlu, two desserts, Turkish coffee... And it was just a wonderful experience. A good place for vegetarian options! read more

Excellent food magnificent service modern fusion ambiance thank you shish kebab tender fresh and also highly recommended special fish BRANZINO thanks again read more

Cafe Mediterranean - Mediterranean Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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Great Mediterranean food and great service. Manager came over to talk to us, very personable business. Highly recommend!

Cafe Mediterranean is our new go-to spot! I had the baba ganoush (w/ veggies instead of pita) and chicken thighs; both were very good. The service was awesome. Between the two of us, we can be difficult to please. Whether your diet is vegan, veggie, keto, whatever... you'll find delicious choices to fill you up! read more

One of my favorite spots in the Cincinnati area. The soup is incredible and my favorite dish is the chicken kabob. It quite honestly is some of the best food I've had. Aside from the food, the service is well done and it is a good atmosphere. It is a little on the pricey side but you et what you pay for. read more

overpriced! the food portions are disgraceful for the price. The food was not good at all. The owner is rude and doesn't take a customers criticism... Never going back again!!!!! read more

This might be a non assuming restaurant but don't be misled - the food here is outstanding! Authentic Mediterranean - high quality food - healthy and delicious. The lamb and falafel are my favorites! Service is warm and welcoming. read more

The grilled octopus was incredibly flavorful and perfectly prepared. The doner gyros kebab and lamb shish kebab were incredibly tender and amazingly seasoned. Great atmosphere, definitely going back to try more of the menu. read more

I am normally not the type to right review but this place deserve so much praise. I have an amazing experience every time that I visit. I love all types of food so I have not had a favorite restaurant in years but this place takes the cake. You can taste the freshness in every dish that you order and everything is packed with flavor. In addition to the great food, the service is beyond my expectation. They treat you with so much respect and grace. The owner takes the extra time to connect with every guest and the gentleman that has been here to serve with him each time I have visited is probably the most professional and kind person to ever serve me. As much as I don't want to give away my new favorite spot, it would be a shame for anyone to miss out on this great place! read more

I don't like Mediterranean food, but I love this place. The hummus is amazing--not even comparable to the store bought stuff. I try something new on every visit, and have never had anything that wasn't amazing. Tonight I had the stiffed cabbage and my boyfriend had the bronzino...both rave-worthy. Our friend had lamb kabob and can't stop talking about how superior it was to other places. It's rarely busy, probably thank to Forno's better PR: if you can't get a seat there, this isn't a lesser choice. It's just as good. read more

Cafe Mediterranean - Everything is good - Mediterranean Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

I had been searching for years for a satisfying Mediterranean restaurant in Cincinnati - and finally found Cafe Mediterranean. This has become one of my favorite places, and I always look forward to coming back. The food is absolutely delicious. I'm in love with the grape leaves - you won't find any better anywhere else. I always get the lamb shish. The lamb is cooked to perfection - tender and juicy without being tough or dry - and flavored wonderfully. I'm always too full for dessert, but perhaps one day. The ambiance is also very nice. Perfect for a date night, but also relaxed and casual enough for a day out with friends. Service is exceptional. All staff are friendly and helpful, and food is served quickly. Tonight I introduced my friend to this place after our show at the Aronoff. She agreed it was the best Mediterranean food she has ever had. I definitely intend to be a long time regular! read more

This is one of my local favorites. The food is incredible, the wine list is superb, and the service is impeccable. A must place to dine. You will not be disappointed. read more

I came here with my family on a Friday night for a celebratory dinner. It was a little bit early (7pm) but the place was pretty empty. I'll get right to the food. My entree was delicious and huge. I ordered the Iskender kebab (lamb in a tomato yogurt sauce). It was so tender and seasoned perfectly. The only thing it was missing was rice, which I ordered on the side. The rice portion I got was extremely small, which was confusing. My husband even ordered two sides of rice because it was nowhere near enough to balance out the rest of the dish. I'm not sure what the price was, but they could afford to be a little more generous in that regard. There were also these crunchy crouton-like pita pieces in the dish, which were a great touch. The rest of the table ordered the eggplant marinara, lamb sauté, or chicken sauté. Everyone was satisfied with their dish, but agreed the iskender was the best. For dessert we couldn't resist the baklava and it did not disappoint! It was everything baklava should be: crispy, flaky, sweet and flavorful. Overall, I enjoyed my meal here and if I were to come back, it would probably be for lunch instead. read more

The food and service was absolutely excellent! The owner came out after the meal and greeted us and was extremely friendly. The swordfish kebab was to die for and the hummus was very fresh. I will be recommending to all of my friends. read more

I tried to call and place a pickup order and was put on hold for 20 minutes listening to their kitchen in the background. I tried hanging up and calling again but the line rang busy for a few subsequent calls meaning they never came back to hang up the phone from my original call. read more

I have to say I was pretty disappointed with my experience here. I called in a take-out order of Kuzu Incik which is listed on the website menu as lamb shank, rosemary, tomato, onion, and carrot. I also ordered a Greek salad to go along with it. What I received was similar to what the menu said but definitely did not totally match. That was not the problem though, it's just that the food was pretty bland and unexciting. The lamb shank was a plain lamb shank laying in a small amount of tomato sauce which tasted fine because I like lamb but did not seem to have very much of any added flavor. It was accompanied with large pieces of bell pepper and green beans. The bell peppers were essentially raw even though they had a couple charred grill lines in them. They must have been placed on a grill for a second or two just long enough to create a black line but without cooking the pepper at all. The green beans tasted like they had simply been steamed without anything else being done to them or flavor added. Usually I expect a good amount of flavor from a Mediterranean restaurant but everything I was given appeared to have been prepared with the least amount of effort and the least amount of flavor. I could have prepared this meal in my home in about two minutes if you don't include the cooking time for the lamb. Slice a bell pepper, toss a handful of green beans into the steamer basket, and place the lamb shank with some pureed tomato into the oven. This style of preparation and lack of effort on the food is definitely not worth much more than the price paid at a grocery store for the raw ingredients. The salad had about the same effort put into it. Nothing special, just chopped lettuce with some artichokes and green olives and feta added to it. As previously mentioned, nothing I ordered matched the online menu. It is possible that the restaurant menu matches but I placed my order over the phone based on what I saw on the website. The lamb was supposed to come with rosemary, tomato, onion, and carrot. Instead it came with tomato sauce, bell pepper, and green beans. Maybe the tomato sauce was cooked with a bit of rosemary. The salad was supposed to be the Greek salad with greens, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, feta, Kalamata olives, and dressing. Instead it came with lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber, artichoke, green olives, and feta. I didn't notice any dressing on the salad so if there was any it was a very small and unnoticeable amount. It is also clear from looking at the online menu that this is the Café Mediterranean salad with feta added and dressing missing. In summary, it was bland, effortless food inconsistent with the menu. I don't think I would return to this restaurant. read more

Highly recommended. The service was excellent and the food was delicious and authentic! We sat at the bar and were taken care of by the owner himself. We had the hummus and pita app and we both had a lamb dish. Afterwards, we had the baklava and complementary chia tea! The atmosphere was trendy, fun and romantic. Everyone around us seemed to be really enjoying themselves, too! read more

I was BLOWN AWAY by this place tonight! The boyfriend and I went for dinner on a whim, and I couldn't have been any happier with our experience. We had the Greek salad, zucchini fritters/pancakes, and the sigara borek. ALL of our food was outstanding, but the sigara borek took first prize. The grape leaves on the salad were an amazing bonus! On top of the food tasting and looking incredible, I cannot give the customer service enough praise. All requests or questions were answered with "my pleasure" instead of phrases like you're welcome, no problem, or certainly. I thought guest relations were on a decline after the last few places I visited, but Cafe Mediterranean restored my faith in the service industry. To really seal my fantastic night, the prices were very reasonable, decor was gorgeous, and we left full and happy. We will return soon and often! read more

I stopped by cafe mediterranean on a whim when going for a hike at ault park. I got a falafel sandwich to go ($7) so I can't speak to the dine-in experience. My sandwich was delicious though. A good amount of food and the falafel wasn't too dry like a lot of places. The pita which housed the falafel was thick and had a nice golden brown outside without being overly fried. I would definitely go back again. read more

Excellent food and service. The owner greeted us and recommended his favorites as did our server. We had a zucchini pancake appetizer and entrees Moussaka and Lamb Shank (Kuzu Incik) and Caramelized Flan (Kazandibi) for desert. Turkish coffee of course. Yum! And a belly dancer for after dinner entertainment - what! read more

I love this place. The food is great, I've never had bad service and the owner is extremely accommodating and friendly. The lamb and tenderloin kebabs are great, as is the hummus. I only wish I had more opportunities to eat here. read more

Came here for dinner, and it was pretty solid! We ordered the cold appetizer sampler, the zucchini fritters, and this middle eastern pizza thing that I can't remember the name of. Everything was pretty tasty! Between the 3 of us (other 2 in my party had really small appetites), this ended up being plenty of food! We ended the meal with an order of the baklava which was okay- there was something off about the flavor. Overall, not bad, I might come back if I'm in the area craving Mediterranean food. read more

Great find! Delicious food and great service. I appreciate that this place is not pretentious. We had the cheese roll and baba ghanoush appetizers and then shared the lahmacun (Turkish pizza with ground lamb), which was extremely flavorful. Finished off with complimentary tea and rich chocolate pudding. There were many other items on the menu that I was curious to try, so I'm sure we'll be back. read more

Wonderful dining experience! Food, service and ambiance all top notch. I had chicken shish kabab with rice and vegetables. Chicken was flavorful, juicy and tender. The veggies were perfectly cooked as was the rice. My friend has the salmon and loved it. Will definitely be back! read more

Excellent food. Their cold appetizers platter is my all time favorite. The bread served on the side is so soft it melts in your mouth. Lahmacun is excellent. The kunafe is to die for. Some day I will go there just to binge on the kunafe. Sipping the Turkish tea that's served on the side inspired me to get a tea steeping kettle myself and I try to get closest to the tea they serve, I am a woman on mission. read more

First time for dinner Saturday with our 2 college kids and a girlfriend. We all were pleasantly surprised with everything we experienced: service, food quality, food variety and prices. We had the appetizer sampler which was one of the best I have ever had. Every item was fresh and absolutely delicious. I had one of the lamb dishes which was excellent!! Waiter and others that helped were outstanding! Sorry we hadn't been before will be back again....shortly! read more

New to the scene. It's a short menu with some tasty appetizers but underwhelming entrees. The staff is still feeling each other out so service can be choppy. Nothing here is crave worthy, but a solid place for some funky appetizers. Great falafel though! read more

We have been here twice now and loved both experiences. The food here is excellent! We have been to the Mediterranean and this is exactly like the food we had there! Very flavorful and expertly prepared! The service is warm and friendly. We will return again and again! read more

Love this place! Just went for the first time on a whim looking for some food calamari. Boy did we find it! It was delicious! The service was wonderful and the manager was just delightful! I only came for light appetizers but was impressed with what I had! Will for sure be back!!! read more

Extremely overpriced for the quality and presentation of the food. A $16 falafel entree consisted of 6 or so fried falafel on a smear of hummus with a piece of charred tomato and charred green pepper. The food was not bad but I would expect something a little more exciting for that price. read more

This is one of the best Mediterranean restaurants I've ever been to! My fiancé and I like to try Mediterranean restaurants whenever we go to a new city and this one is by far the best we've had. The stuffed grape leaves are out of this world (Alex has been to Turkey and he thinks the grape leaves at Cafe Mediterranean rival those in Turkey). Their homemade bread is also a wonderful edition to the table. We split the cold appetizer platter and the moussaka and both were absolutely superb! I can't wait to bring more of our friends to this hidden gem!! read more

I attempted to eat here and had a terrible experience at the hostess station. Walked into a nearly empty restaurant and was told they were "about to stop taking walk ins." I immediately found a reservation on OpenTable for 10 minutes past the current time, and was still turned away. They were rude and unable to offer any suggestions of similar food nearby. My party continued on to Aladdin's Eatery and had fantastic service. read more

Went in group of 8 today for lunch. Ambiance was nice. We were promptly seated. There was only 1 other table filled, may be due to bad weather coming in late afternoon. I love mediterrean food. It's one of my go to food. I actually thought it's hard to mess up also, I mean after all, I want is falafel in pita bread with some vegetable. I was in for a surprise. We didnt order lot of appetizer, buy some we ordered, were quite good. Now come my main order. Well my falafel gyro looked the part but didn't taste the part. So I looked inside and saw 2 big oily falafal, tomatoes, some onion and lettuce...... that's it! Did I order a falafel burger here? French fries were shining with oil. May be I was having a bad luck so I just kept at it. But then my non vegetarian friend called the waiter and asked for falafel gyro. Why, because he liked his food even less than I and he couldn't bring himself to finish it. I am not sure how this restaurant has a rating of 4+. This will remain a puzzle, I reckon. Ohh Turkish tea was good though. We declined the desert, not willing to risk any more. Ahh and that 20% service charge, we just paid and left. I guess service was quite okay, it's just the food. read more

We had a fantastic meal here. Sat at the bar for a more casual atmosphere but the tables looked like they were well tended. The food was fabulous. Between the two of us, we shared 4 appetizers and an entree. We had the calamari, grilled octopus, spicy salad and the babaganoush. I highly recommend the calamari and the octopus though the other appetizers were good too. We had the lamb shishkabab - so tender and flavorful! And we ended our meal with homemade baklava and Turkish coffee. Be sure to tell your "fortune" by reading the dregs of your coffee!! read more

Met a friend for supper. I had an Excellent Greek Salad which was perfectly dressed & plentiful. She was a bit disappointed in the small size of the feta stuffed cheese rolls that she ordered. In addition to another food selection we each ordered the lentil soup which was good flavor but a VERY small portion served in a bowl which so engulfed its small contents that it was laughable. Seriously it only covered the bottom of the bowl by 1/2 inch. I asked the owner if perhaps the kitchen might have run out of soup for us to receive so little. He first glared at us and said that this was the standard serving size and that no other customers had ever complained about it! He questioned us asking EXACTLY how much more did we want before going out to the kitchen & bringing out a saucepan to ladle out the equivalent of another spoonful. He then asked then if that was enough! But NO, it was STILL paltry! He finally did serve what we thought to be fair which was about a half bowl. However his attitude was NOT gracious in spite of his grimacing tight smile. Additionally we thought it was odd that a loaf of bread was served rather than pita. Although I appreciated that the owner increased our servings of soup he made us feel uncomfortable by his attitude. read more

Always awesome. If you live in the area you should eat this at least twice a week. The bread, chicken kabab and tabulih are delicious! The salads are great too! read more

Excellent food, friendly service and a great atmosphere. Try the baklava; you won't regret it.