Tannourine restaurant is located in San Mateo’s 25th avenue shopping district, not far from the Fairgrounds and features the cuisine of Lebanon and the Mediterranean. They focus on offering: ” “meze”, “mezza” dining is an experience shared throughout the Mediterranean, where small savory plates of food are enjoyed in a convivial atmosphere, where friends and family join in the sharing of food and drink; in an unrushed, unhurried environment.”

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Sinbad Bar and Grill serves Mediterranean food in downtown San Mateo. They used to have a market in back but it closed. Sinbad’s serves kebobs, shawerma, salads, and sandwiches. Read the rest of this entry »

Cetrella is located in Half Moon Bay and serves Mediterranean cuisine with local ingredients from named sources. The restaurant closed for a winter hibernation, then reopened in May, 2009 with a new chef, Sylvain Montassier (Boulevard, Alinea). We were fans of the previous chef and hoped the food would live up to our expectations. It was great to find a solid place for food after a day at the beach. Tourist places like Half Moon Bay are always difficult places to find good food. They have live Jazz on Friday & Saturday nights. Menu changes all the time, plus you can order off the bar menu. Read the rest of this entry »

L’As du Fallafel is a very popular, low cost Middle Eastern Fallafel restaurant and is known as the favorite fallafel place of Lenny Kravitz. They have a walk up window that seems to always have a line, as well as a sit down restaurant. Opened in 1979, it is located in the stylish Marais neighborhood, 4th arrondissement, not far from the Musee Picasso. This place is covered by the usual tour books. Read the rest of this entry »

Contigo means with you in Spanish. They are a Barcelona inspired Spanish and Catalan tapas (small plates) restaurant in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco. They cook everything from scratch using the products of local, organic, and humane farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and artisans. Pica-Pica small plates are $8 each or $7 when you order 3 or more. Read the rest of this entry »

Evvia is the sister restaurant of Kokkari in San Francisco and has been serving Greek cuisine to the Silicon Valley since 1995. They are located in downtown Palo Alto, just off the main University street shopping district.
This restaurant has a feel of a Mediterranean country inn, with the stylish oven, cookware, and large communal table. Read the rest of this entry »

Located off the busy Burlingame avenue corridor, this place is located down the block from Starbucks. They have served food with a Mediterranean/Asian influence since 1986. We tested lunch here. Read the rest of this entry »

Trio is a Mediterranean restaurant run by 2 chef owners from Europe. It is located in the heart of the city and is highly recommended by the Fodor’s Guide. They have a small back patio and roof top dining if weather allows. Trio also stays open late. An english version of the menu is available.

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