Daphne’s California Greek

The best place for authentic Greek food, perfect for a full meal or a quick stop by and it makes for excellent leftovers! Easily one of the best food places for lunch or dinner in La Jolla in my opinion. Make sure you try anything with gyros and all the dipping sauces are so yummy!

Love this place it’s one of my favorite locations. The new style veggies are awesome.

Highly disappointed. Came here, ordered the mix and match combo with gyros and a beef kabob and upgraded so that I could get their lemon soup. The food was great and so was the soup.
The hot sauce over by the drinks is delicious. I highly recommend it.
The food was not the issue, in fact if I was rating just the food, it would have gotten 5 stars. It was quite honestly the service and the timing of the food and cleanliness of the tables.
Over half the tables had not been cleaned. So it was hard for me and the other dining guests who ordered after me to find some place clean to sit. In fact the other guests and I had to find someone and ask them to clean the table we sat at. Perhaps we all came after some mad crazy rush… mmmm but perhaps not. I was actually sitting outside the restaurant in my car, talking on the phone and had a great view of inside. There were only a hand full of tables that were sitting and eating.
Another thing that ticked me off? Timing. Please, oh please, tell me why the people who ordered after me and I’m talking like 3 or 4 tables received their food before I did? Completely ridiculous. 30 minutes. It took 30 minutes to give me the soup and food. And I believe I had to say something out loud for one of the employees to take notice that I still had not received my order.
Highly, highly disappointing. I’ll make the effort to drive 25 minutes to go to Santorini’s Island Grill in poway. They have pretty tasty gyros and tzaziki sauce.
Fix the cleanliness and timing of orders. Daphne’s…you can do better than this.

Haven’t been here in forever. My friend and I used to eat at this location a lot, when we needed to go to Ulta, Ross, or Marshall’s in this shopping center. This visit, we were coming for dinner before a scheduled Asian foot massage.
This location is very clean, great ease in ordering. Now the wait for our food is what got to me. For some reason, the other tables around us received their food before us, even the people that ordered after us. Me and my friend both ordered the mix and match plates and made it a combo. It literally took 24 minutes for the soup to arrive and our meals arrived 1 min after that. Why the heck did it take so long? Were they plucking the chickens and slaughtering the lamb and cows in the back?
The lemon chicken soup was excellent. The salad on the plate was a very good portion, I was happy with the freshness and not wilted greens on the salad. The chicken kabob and gyros was excellent. The rice was very bland, just plain American rice pilaf, no flavor. The meal was not as spicy or flavorful as I remember. I remember the meat having a little bit of stronger flavors, probably from the seasoning. Are they trying to cater to the American palate and the La Jolla location by making the food a little more bland than it used to be? I guess we’ll never know.
I for one, will not return for bland Greek food. There are a few good authentic Green restaurants in town, I can go there or a Persian restaurant if I crave Mediterranean style food.

I haven’t had «authentic» Greek food before, so I can’t really base my opinion on how traditional the food is. I’ve been to Daphne’s twice now and both times I usually opt for the mix & match plate just because I get the most variety. Daphne’s has pretty good deals, especially their $ 1.70 street pitas on Wednesday and $ 5 pita sandwiches.
I find that their food is more flavorful and less greasy than other Greek places I’ve eaten at. The chicken kabobs tend to be dry and the tzatziki sauce has it’s good and bad days. The pitas get cold fast, so if you don’t eat them quickly, they start getting hard.
Eating at Daphne’s is guilt-​free because it’s not too greasy and they offer a lot of veggie options. One of my favorites here is the lemon soup– it’s hard to describe, but it’s definitely worth trying. There’s a balance of savory and sour, something you don’t get to experience every day.
I’ve tried most the menu of Daphne’s because I had them cater a 300+ guest event. The customer service and manager are great and very easy to communicate with. They have a large variety of vegetarian options that make it great for all dietary restrictions.
Budget-​wise, it won’t hurt your wallet. They do give you a lot of food on plates, and the pita sandwiches are loaded with meat! It’s hard to eat cheap in La Jolla, so Daphne’s is a great option.

Most disgusting place I’ve ever been to whatever you do do not order the salmon worse thing ever! The plates have grease stuck to the plate the bathroom is filthy!

Daphne’s has undergone a serious revamp since the last time my husband and I visited about 10 years ago. The menu is completely different and so is the interior décor. Unfortunately, the food quality has tanked as well. Tiny shrimp, tasteless gyro, and tough cuts of chicken served atop limp veggies and without the faintest Greek seasoning or spice used in ANY item we ordered. A major disappointment. We should have known better when the restaurant was completely empty at 7 pm.

One of the main reasons I’m giving this place two stars is because every time I come here I receive horrible service. Either they don’t have enough people working here, or they just don’t know how to delegate.
They forgot to bring my soup with my meal, then even after I had already asked where my soup was…. the soup continued to sit on the counter for almost 10 minutes.
The high chair was nasty and sticky and looked like it had not been cleaned in ages. My seat was sticky, the table was sticky! I mean come on people! Pay attention to details! No one wants to touch a sticky table and then turn around and eat food!
I do always rave about the lemon soup! I usually come here get some of the lemon soup and a hummus appetizer and I have to admit it’s always good!
But…I usually have a child that I bring along with me to eat, so the last thing I want to be concerned about is a dirty nasty high chair, or a dirty nasty table.
Improve your customer service and please wipe all surfaces and high chairs down daily.

This is definetly not authentic greek food but nonetheless it was cheap and good for its price. Theyre having a $ 5 classic c gyro special now

Kids eat free at daphnes on Sunday.
The steak kabob is a little dry, but the chicken kabob is good with a nice herb flavor.
I love their greek salad dressing and gyros even though I am not a big fan of greek or Mediterranean food.

Worst «Greek» plate I’ve ever got from a restaurant as far as I can remember… Pretty sheisty too, they put the tiny cups of dressing for my salad and tzatziki under the meat so it looks like the box has more meat in it…
Tabbouleh salad was awful, I love tabbouleh too, but I only ate half, it was a discrace, I would’ve asked for my money back which I don’t really do for food but I got my food to go…
Chicken Shawarma just tasted like mildly flavored chicken and was dry, not at all like legit shawarma I’ve had…
Gyro meat was kind of dry too…
Pita bread was kind of hard and stale…
Salad and rice were fine though but it’s hard to mess those up too much…
Dino’s Greek food in Claremont is much better, as are most other Greek places, even the place at UTC is way better than here… I won’t be back for sure…

My husband, son, and I ordered food to go from this location (two different pitas and a kids meal). With only one person in line in front of us, it took 15 minutes to receive our order which is way too long for a fast-​casual restaurant, most of the food was bland (I know they claim to be «California Greek» but it definitely doesn’t count as Greek food), and they forgot both the drink and the side item in my son’s kids’ meal. On the way to the car, I noticed they’d forgotten the drink and went back for it, but we didn’t realize the side item was also missing until we were sitting down to eat miles from the restaurant and it definitely wasn’t worth returning for. With all of the good food options in this area, I’m not sure why anybody would choose this restaurant.

Not too bad, but not too good, either…
The salad was fresh but their meat was super greasy. The rice is also swimming in oil.
The red sauce wasn’t impressive and their green sauce was super oily (Plus it tasted like… absolutely NOTHING. So weird…)
I’m pretty disappointed because I thought Daphne’s would be less fattening than a typical fast food joint. If I’m going to eat a meal this heavy I’d rather enjoy a Portillo’s hot dog and fries.
The pita bread was fresh. Hurrah for that.

First time at Daphne’s and a very welcoming and vibrant restaurant. I ordered the Mix & Match Platter, which is a good value. It comes with a fresh salad and rice and I got the chicken kabob and gyros. The meat was freshly prepared and seasoned well. The food was brought to my table and when I was finished the table was cleared for me. Would recommend to anyone wanting to try Greek food for the first time and not wanting to spend lots of money.

Meh. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching old re-​runs of ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ — but really kind of beyond ‘blah’. The steak Kebob was burnt and tough (see pict). Like they cooked them 4 hours ago — stuffed them into a bucket — and then re-​cooked on the grill just for me (I feel special). The rice pilaf was bland — like oatmeal tasteless bland (seems to be a Unilocal consensus). Even the Gyro meat was really tasteless (lack of season). For $ 11 (with drink) — you expect better quality — or at least some in the kitchen that knows or cares about what they are doing. Sad. The pictures on the wall looked far better than what I got…

Rain falls in the gloom
beef kabobs grill in fire
grey clouds drift away.
It’s the scent that I remember best. The scent of the bell peppers and beef kabobs. The beef, the secret Greek spices, and the bell pepper mix to create some mysterious and delicious flavors. I don’t eat the bell peppers but I do like the aroma and flavor it leaves on the beef. :-)
The rice had a distinctive flavor which I did not like. I prefer the more neutral flavors of jasmine rice.
The french fries were excellent for a fast food fry. Crunchy and nicely seasoned.
Pita bread was fresh and had a good flavor and aroma.
Fried shrimp had pretty good flavor from the batter.
Salmon plate. Very good flavor from the salmon and spices. A bit dry though. I suspect it was overcooked. It comes out juicy in the center when I pan fry fresh salmon.
It’s nice how all the dishes are under $ 10 but the amount of beef/​fish you get is smaller than I would prefer. The beef kabob and french fries are the best dishes I’ve had here. The service was fast and friendly. Thanks Elle J. for dinner! :-)

Came in for a light dinner.
This is probably the nicest Daphne’s I’ve been to. Bright, clean and spacious. I typically order the gyro pita with fries or rice. Their fries are the thin cut fries, which are my fave. I request them to be cooked well-​done so that they are crispy when I get them.
When I come to this Daphne’s the customer service is always on par. It is located by Jamba Juice and Fin’s and there’s usually no issues with parking. The shopping center can get busy, but you can always find a parking space.
Reasonable food at good prices, especially when you’re in the LJ/​UTC area.

As far as fast food goes, Daphne’s definitely deserves 5 stars! The food is delicious and you get a lot for what you pay. I usually order the chicken kabob with rice and lemon chicken soup and it also comes with four small pieces of pita bread. I have yet to be able to finish the entire plate.
The chicken has always been cooked well and the veggies on the kabob add some good flavor. As for the lemon chicken soup, it is VERY lemony, which I like, but if you just want a hint of flavor, this isn’t the side for you.
The service at this location has always been superb and it’s very clean!

Chicken and steak kabob was okay. Steak tasty but a little tough. Chicken okay, but a little too much oregano. Good Greek salad and pita bread. Very good Kalamata olives. The 5 stars is for the Baklava, the best thing I have eaten this year! Okay employees, nice patio tables

Greek fast food? Why not!
Eating in La Jolla is expensive, so finding cheaper meals around can be difficult. Luckily with these strips malls there are always a couple choices.
Food here is good, healthy. Staff is friendly and the place is clean. What more can you ask for. Oh I love that they serve on real plates and utensils instead of paper or plastic. Nice to know they are going Eco.
If you haven’t signed up for their rewards card… it’s free and they give you $ 5 credit for your birthday!