Kareem’s Restaurant

I was a non-​vegetarian that needed to take a vegetarian to lunch. I went with the highest rated vegetarian menu near the rental home and Kareem’s did not disappoint.
First off, the service and assistance with ordering was excellent, it was a younger gentlemen that helped us. I said recommend something good, he recommended the Falafel Plate With Hummus and Baba ganough. I’m not an eggplant fan, but holy moly, the baba ganough totally rocked! In fact, everything was very good, very fresh tasting and it really gave me the sense I was eating a home cooked meal.
The only bummer was we called two nights later to order a massive take out but they were already closed at 8:00, so we had to go with a lessor competitor. ;-(
Thanks for a great experience, wish we had Kareem’s up in San Jose.

New place for me/​us and very pleasantly surprised. The chicken sauté was excellent and can’t recommend it enough. We also had the salad and kabob (we all shared our dishes). Drink selection was slightly limited, but other than that I couldn’t be happier with our choice of restaurant.
The only reason why I’m not giving a 5 yet is b/​c I want to wait until we eat here again and try their other dishes.

Up until about 3 or 4 years ago, hummos wasn’t given a thought when deciding on where to go when I wanted to dine out. Since I’ve stepped out of the ‘meat locker’ and became a vegetarian, I’ve experienced many meals where care is given to all aspects of the dish, not just the meat.
Mediterranean food is a great example of a place where care is given to every type of meal, vegetarian or not, and this type of food can be found at Kareem’s Restaurant.
The meals are moderately priced, not outrageous, but what you get is amazing.
Smooth, creamy hummos lightly topped with parsley and paprika, baba ganough packed with plenty of eggplant with just the right of spices.
That Falafel though! How can I describe it? Like mini cakes, cool to the touch on the outside, but warm, dry and fresh on the inside. Not oily nor mushy but crisp, as they should be.
If you love great service (our waitress was nice and was very helpful in explaining the dishes) and extraordinary food, make this is your place.

This is a small restaurant with home cooked middle eastern food, just like visiting your mom or grandma’s house. Food was delicious. The inside could be propped up to make it nicer and cleaner. Lady doing the cooking and taking order was really polite.

Delicious hummus, baba, falafel, and pita. It’s a tiny no-​nonsense restaurant tucked in a strip mall. The people in the back all smiled and said hello when I came in. The sweet girl up front was helpful and attentive to me at my table. My order came out quickly and was all fresh and very good. The falafel were moist in the inside and crunchy on the outside… just how they should be!
I would definitely come back!

I can’t recommend this place enough! I was never one to get hyped up about Mediterranean food but Kareem’s changed all that for me. Their falafels are unique and out of this world! I’ve always thought falafels were just okay but Kareem’s recipe is next level!
The fact that everything is made fresh is a plus too. They really take pride in their food and that’s integrity I can respect.
I had the falafel plate which came with a hearty helping of hummus. I also had the amazing Fatoush salad and dolmas, so so so good!
I can’t wait to go back. I wanted to go back the next day but time did not permit me. Anyway, love this place. Yummy food and great customer service.

I went here for lunch today and I was shocked with how amazing this place was.
My gf and I ordered a falafel wrap and chicken wrap. After we ordered, the cashier asked us if we want free fries. He said it was on the house which was cool.
The wrap here is under $ 10 and it’s a good size portion. The chicken is marinated and the tahini sauce goes really well together. They also give you a stamp card where if you use it 5 times then you can get $ 15 worth of food for free. lol wow.
The service here is great and it’s a hole in a wall so you don’t see a lot of people here. If you are looking for a good affordable Mediterranean hole in a wall then this is the place to go!

I don’t understand why this place isn’t swamped!
The place looks very relaxed and authentic, so maybe people do not feel welcome enough to go because they’ll feel too foreign? Haha I’m not sure.
The food is CHEAP (and delicious)
They give you free stuff (fries, drinks, etc)
And they have a stamp card where if you visit 5 times, you receive a $ 15 reward to use ???
THIS SPOT JUST WON AT LIFE.
Just go. Just… Go.

My love for Mediterranean food grew when I finally tried this gem!
I have been following their Instagram for awhile and finally drove to try it.
I wanted chicken kabobs and they didn’t have any.
I decided to give the falafel a try instead.
I was hesitant to try it because I have never been a fan of it but this falafel changed my whole perspective.
It is so delicious!
Won’t disappoint at all.
Place is a little small, service is friendly and food is fresh!

Simply amazing atmosphere, food, and customer service. You’ll be taken care of here for sure.

If you really want the most authentic falafel or just want to try Mediterranean Cuisine, Kareem’s is the place to be. It’s a small hole in the wall, mom and pop owned business that care about the quality of there food.

If you want AMAZING Mediterranean food, come here. This little hole in the wall had anything and everything. My favorite is the falafel or the lamb and their humus is amazing. I promise you won’t be disappointed in this awesome family ran restaurant!

Wowowow. BEST and new favorite middle eastern restaurant. Kareem’s really hit this fatteh out of the park. I haven’t had it since being in the Middle East and this brought me back. The owner and her son were very warm and welcoming. I highly recommend this place as the go-​to if you’re down here in Anaheim or SoCal in general.

The best mediterranean restaurant. The owner Nisreen is a sweet and kind lady that is one of the best chefs around. My family is from Jordan and I grew up with delicious food, my mom makes mmm dishes. I can say with confidence Kareem’s on par with my home cooked meals.
I have a Food & Beverage company based at the Anaheim Convention Center. Anytime our client (s) request food, we use Kareem’s as our vendor. The feedback from our clients are always «very impressive and delicious food items»
Please support this local family business. You will obtain great value for your buck.

Found Kareem’s from my boyfriend having a class with him so we decided to give it a try, ¹⁰⁄₁₀ everything was amazing! We ordered the #13 which is falafels and hummus and it was super delicious! We also got a chicken wrap which was really good as well!
Lady working the register was very cheerful and nice and the food came out quick. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone, especially if they’re in the mood for falafels!

Every year during the Muslim holy month (June 17^th to July 17^th in 2015), almost all Middle-​Eastern restaurants in Anaheim offer Ramadan iftar in the $ 15 to $ 25 price range. Everyone is welcome and admitted to this epic meal that begins after sunset. Although I do not observe Ramadan, I have been to three iftars so far after hearing about the amazing Arabic food served in these open buffets, which are filled with banquet-​style dishes and special occasion items not commonly found in restaurants. Just google «Ramadan iftar» to see how exquisite and remarkable the feast can be.
I took my friend’s recommendation and chose Kareem’s because I am a fan of their homestyle cooking philosophy. I was told everything was prepared from scratch. The light fresh taste was apparent in their Ramadan buffet. At 8:10pm, just past sunset, piping hot main courses were still being brought out, a strong indication that the food was served as fresh as it would be at home. The restaurant closed its regular menu service, so the husband and wife owners were fully committed to serve guests who were having the iftar buffet. The owners were mingling with guests, taking away dirty plates, making sure everyone was comfortable seated, they provided excellent hospitality.
Kareem’s buffet did not include their famous fried falafels or any generic skewered meats, but there were 15 cold appetizers, spread out along two tables, many that I had not seen before. It reminded me of a salad bar that contained Middle-​Eastern food. The setup was what I imagined iftar buffets to be like. I suddenly felt like a guest attending a Middle-​Eastern potluck.
Some of the appetizers contained familiar ingredients but the combination of ingredients were new to me, like the fattoush salad which was simply tossed green salad but included toasted pita bread, and the mosahaba that consisted of cold creamy hummus topped with olive oil and steamed garbanzo beans. There was another fantastic side dish with roasted cucumber slices slathered with yogurt. The lentil soup, one of the first items typically consumed after breaking the fast with dates and water, tasted homemade without MSG and with hardly any salt applied. My absolute favorite item was the most unique, the mujadara, a savory vegetarian dish with dried lentils and bulgur wheat lightly seasoned and then garnished with crispy carmelized onions.
The hot main courses, following a pan-​Middle Eastern theme, included kousa mahshi (stuffed Lebanese zucchini), molokhia (Egyptian viscous vegetable stew), green bean casserole, lamb, and chicken. Two items which stood out were the kousa and molokhia. You won’t find these items on Kareem’s regular menu.
For the kousa, rice and seasoning was stuffed inside the «squash» and the product was simmered together. The Chinese have a similar variation, so the taste was not too foreign. The chef’s cooking was spot on, because perfect balance between not fully cooking the rice and not softening the squash too much was achieved. The assembly was thrown into some thick gravy and served. Since this dish requires intensive prep, it might explain why kousa mahshi never appeared on the menu at any of the Middle Eastern or Mediterranean restaurants I’ve been to. I see crunchy defrosted grape leaves much more often.
I’ve heard about molokhia before, it’s commonly served at Egyptian restaurants, but I never tried it. Molokhia is one of the most popular Egyptian dishes to be eaten over yellow rice. The consistency is very viscous and slippery, so it’s neither a soup nor stew, the taste is almost like spinach but much more bitter and minty. Maybe the best comparison is a hybrid between Persian ash-​reshteh and Indian saag. I paired the molokhia with a piece of juicy bone-​in lamb (cooked in a broth), which is a versatile meat that also paired with the green bean casserole. The only main dish that I avoided was the grilled chicken, the white meat was too dry, possibly overcooked.
For desserts, I enjoyed a cup of Arabic tea and a slice of their «pie». I still don’t know what it’s called, but the base had a strong and lingering rose syrup flavor with consistency of a spongy donut. A layer of hard fragrant cream was stuffed on top of the base. The dessert also included ground pistachio, which I see in almost every Middle-​Eastern desserts. It was so good, I would have refilled one or two more times, but my belly was about to explode after indulging in this epic feast.
If you like the mantra «We cook what we eat at home», then Kareem’s belongs on your bucket list. I would make this Anaheim restaurant a destination for a homecooked Middle Eastern meal during Ramadan. Don’t be shy, or you may miss out. Although I did stand out like a sore thumb, by not being Middle Eastern and overeating compared to other people, everyone in the restaurant was pleasant, friendly, respectful, and accommodating. It was definitely a memorable experience.

I decided to get the chopped sirloin with chopped tomatoes and chopped onions the day I came here. It was pretty good. The pita bread that came with it was good.
Small place but they do have outside seating. The lady was nice and they take card.

Bought a groupon for this place & finally came around to using it today. No greeting upon walking in & the place itself is pretty small.
We ordered the falafel plate with hummus, babagounosh, which came with a side of pita but the pickled veggies were left out, no clue why!
Falafel was mediocre, definitely lacked flavor. Hummus wasn’t anything spectacular either but the babagounosh was pretty decent! We also ordered a side of the labneh which I felt was missing some spice.
My brother also ordered the chicken wrap, which he was unimpressed with. Not enough chicken inside either.
Overall this place did not impress

Absolutely love Kareem’s! Freshly cooked & homemade goodness!
I adore falafels. But many places don’t make them like how Manfriend’s mom makes them! She makes the most delicious and mouthwatering falafels ever! Anyways, I was so surprised and extremely happy that Kareem’s falafels were just great! These ones are green in the inside so I assume there are more greens like parsley, cilantro (?) on top of garbanzo beans! I personally enjoy the green ones more and
are less dry, which is why I love Kareem’s so much! Plus I love the crunch! Definitely order the falafel plate and I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I do!
Hummus is just amazing! Very creamy and flavorful! I love how you get a basket full of warm pita bread so go crazy with the hummus and carb overload! I usually get the falafel plate with hummus so I get the best of both worlds! But I want to just order a plate of hummus solely one day! Care to join me?
The bestie and manfriend ordered the chicken kabob plate and both enjoyed it! Although the bestie found the chicken to be a little too dry at the end! I had the same thought when I took a bite of it! Manfriend, on the other hand, loved it! Back in the day, manfriend and his family use to frequent here after school! So it definitely hits their standards!
I freaking love their tea with mint leaves! I know I can make this at home but it’s sooo yummy! The owner was nice enough to give me some tea bags. so thank you!
Décor here is very simple! Kareem’s emits a home-​y & cozy environment! Definitely coming back here to try their babaganoush (spell check?)!
Enjoy! :)

Kareem’s is a tiny place located in a strip mall behind at 76 Unocal gas station off Ball and Brookhurst. Inside has 6 tables with a few patio tables outside.
While I really liked the food, my initial first impression was not positive.
Upon walking in, we waited a bit for someone to help us. There’s no bell at the counter, and I certainly didn’t think shouting was appropriate, but I could see women in the far distance cooking in the kitchen. Eventually an older woman approached the window, handed us a menu and said have a seat.
Her demeanor was rather abrasive. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned we had a groupon? Would I have been treated better if I didn’t have a groupon?
I ordered the chicken kebob plate, and Stephen had the kufta plate. I saw the fridge with soda cans, and pointed that I’ll get a soda, and if I could have a cup of ice with my drink. She nodded, but I waited for my ice, and nothing. Mind you, there was only 1 other table occupied, so it wasn’t like they were slammed. Finally another employee walked by and I asked for a cup of ice. As she was getting my cup, I could hear the older woman ask her «What did she want?».
The food was cooked to order, and we waited… and waited… quite some time for the food! The chicken kebob was ok. Some pieces were dry. Stephen’s kufta was actually better. I thought it was a bit pricy for $ 12.99 for basic meat, rice, and hummus… no vegetables, not even a tomato.
The reason for my 3 star was some nice young man stopped at our table to check on us. His demeanor was friendly, pleasant, and basically a breath of fresh air. If it wasn’t for him, I think this review would have been 2 stars.
Three stars is not bad. Its A-​ok in Unilocal’s standard. And, considering everything from our initial treatment, our wait for the food, the food itself, it was an A-​ok experience. Fortunately for us, we had a groupon.
Would I come back? I am not sure. With Zankou chicken literally around the corner, I can get a much better deal and faster service there.