Cafe Izmir

I absolutely loved the ambiance of this place. I went here for dinner spontaneously to celebrate my anniversary with Maeeeday. It’s valet parking, which was complimentary.
We walked in and there’s a little roof covered patio looking area but I wanted to sit inside because the lights were dim and they had candles on the table.
We got the pita and hummus for appz. Then I ordered the beef tenderloin plate and Maeeeday ordered the chicken kabob. Nothing is touching the beef tenderloin! It was perfectly juicy and tender with the taste of some Mediterranean spice rub and the taste of char where it was probably cooked came out of the red meat. Every bite that I took was full of beefy tenderness. The rice was just some wild rice pilaf looking thing and it was served with a grilled tomato, which was good as well. The chicken kabob plate was the same except that it was chicken. The chicken tasted lemon peppery and it was good, it’s just the beef tenderloin was in a different league.

This is my favorite restaurant. I go here every time I come to Dallas! Great Hummus and beef tenderloin.

My NeW LOVE !!!
Tuesday– great food, beautiful people, AWESOME DJ…, Cute servers!!!
I Am in Paradise
:)

This is by far the best Mediterranean restaurant in Dallas if not Texas (or the country for that matter). Chicken, beef, lamb. You can’t go wrong. Not to mention the best hummus in the world. I will buy at least 6 at a time and use them throughout the week and put it on everything I eat. Also Tuesday’s are super cheap and fun.

This place is great. the food is fantastic! Their wine selection is very good as well, try one of their Greek wines. Try the chicken Kobob and of course their hummus. But, honestly, you can’t go wrong no matter what you pick. The waiters are nice and friendly. Lively and happy atmosphere.

Ok service
Most dishes are good
I like their lamp chops — humus is great not very garlicky
Desserts— meh!!!

Okay. My first mistake was sitting at the the bar. The place is crazy busy. It is a hallmark for Mediterranean food in Dallas after all. The first wine I ordered on the menu was unavailable. The second, more expensive wine is : —. Wait staff is very nice, but hurried. Place is humming but missing the passion of owner/​chef. More to come… Began with the baba — delicious. The addition of grilled onion is unexpected and welcomed. The Greek salad is dressed with a dressing that included balsamic vinegar. Not my choice but I guess many approve. For me, the dressing should be simple, olive oil, lemon, vinegar, and seasoning. Less is more.yes. The rice is very white. I suspect the saffron rice contains a few drops of saffron oil. Look. I get it. This place is great by some standards. I travel — a lot — and my radar has this place in a solid good range. And that’s okay foodies!

5 stars for outstanding service, food and value. Service — Family owned and some of the nicest people you’ll meet, they take tons of pride in making sure you have a great experience. Even told us if we order something we didn’t like it was on the house.
Food — Izmir hummus is best I’ve had, hard to describe but it just works. Pita bread comes out warm and soft and doughy just perfect.
Beef tenderloin entrée easily feeds 2 and we got it with delicious kabob vegetables as they gladly subbed the rice for veggies.
Also tried the saffron chicken which had a great flavor. Great value we split these and a couple other dishes and a bottle of Spanish wine (and were very full) for under 100 bucks. 3 of us
Overall this place is a hidden gem in Dallas off Greenville just go there and you won’t be disappointed. If you are I suspect they’ll give you the same money back guarantee — 5 stars all the way

The food and ambience is really good!
The service needs improvements for large groups

Ultimately, I thought the service was really slow and the food was nothing I’d drive an hour back to Dallas for. The main saving grace would be the general ambience and live music they had at night (but, we unfortunately got seated near an exceptionally loud party of 15+ people).
Also, for parking, we had to use the valet services, so be prepared for that if going on a weekend!

A wonderful fusion of Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine.
I came with some friends in search of some good food and I wasn’t let down.
I really enjoy the atmosphere, even though its a really small space. The night I was there they had a Spanish guitarist playing at the bar. The outdoor patio is well lit and sets the ambiance for a good night. Kudos on the interior and exterior decorations
They serve everything in Tapas, so my friends and I ordered a lot of things and shared it. We ended up getting regular hummus with pita bread, chili pepper hummus, falalfel, a sweet potato, dolmas, and pirashki. The chili pepper hummus and pirashki were definitely the highlights of the meal. The pirashki have a nice texture and have a great bold flavor on the inside. The chili pepper hummus is a little spicy, but its quite addictive after several bites. The pita bread had some chew, but it was quite soft and moist. The falalfel had great flavor but I wish it was crunchier. Albilad I think makes the best falalfel in town, but Izmir still has a great foundation in flavor. The dolmas were also good, but I wish it wasnt so chewy for the grape leaves. The sweet potatoes were nothing special, but I still enjoyed them even it was simply steamed. The regular hummus was good, but the uniqueness of the chili pepper hummus outweighed it halfway through the meal.
I will definitely eat here again, although it can get pricey fairly easily (especially if you’re ordering drinks on top of that.).
Rant Thats Relevant But Not Really
(I still think if House of Gyros was at this location, maybe then that restaurant would be recognized for its brilliance. but until then, this is a great spot for some Mediterranean food.)

Amazing staff, owner and food. This local restaurant has definitely attracted everyone so the only down part is it always seems so busy.

Café Izmir is a little hole-​in-​the wall on lower Greenville Ave in Dallas. They are an established business and have been here for many years. Their Greek food is very, very good! The hummus is creamy and freshly made and the pita bread is served hot. I only wish the hummus was warm and hot cold when served with the pita bread!
They serve a very delicious Turkish Coffee in the most darling teacup. It’s so delicious! Never had anything like it before! The ambiance of the restaurant is wonderful as they have little white lights hanging around the porch windows and the lights are dim. Definitely a place to try!
One thing that was a bit annoying was we were left to wait for our check for over 30 minutes without anyone coming by and we weren’t able to grab anybody. I was wondering why the check wasn’t just dropped at the table after the coffee was served? This was my only complaint. Oh, and be prepared to pay $ 5 for valet for them to drive your car 20 feet.

The falafel roll was pretty tasty; I wish the falafel could have been more crunchy. The Greek salad was wonderfully dressed and a nice companion to the falafel roll.
Make sure to order a side of hummus and tabouleh! The tabouleh was one of the best I’ve ever had!

Hummus pita, saffron chicken kebab, lamb rolls, falafel and freaking hot tea… delicious

TL;DR best Mediterranean restaurant around… But what kind of Unilocaler would I be if I didn’t rave about a few dishes first?
Hands down drink of choice is sangria. I don’t care if you’re more of a beer person; just get the sangria, OK? I can’t conceive of a situation where you go to a place like this and don’t order hummus, but just in case you’re one of those… don’t skip it! The meats are tasty but not unlike anything you’ve ever had before. The exception is the pomegranate shrimp. If I didn’t know the name of the dish, I wouldn’t have guessed pomegranate because the fruit flavor is subtle, but it’s definitely noticeable and gives it a unique twist. Dessert was all great (I think our group tried pretty much all of them), but go saffron gelato for something different and amazing. Wrap it all up with a turkish coffee, and you’ll have done it right.
A couple last notable things… There’s a Spanish guitar player on the weekends who loves it when you can’t help but dance a little. Makes for a fun experience. A couple downsides: Parking is $ 5 valet (but understandable for the neighborhood), Price (not crazy expensive but if you’re on a budget and starving, not as much the place to go). Crap I just realized I forgot to eat one of the dolmas…

If you are in the Lower Greenville area and are craving Mediterranean food then make sure to stop by Café Izmir. It’s the perfect restaurant if you are with a group looking to share a variety of different tapas as they have something for everyone. I highly recommend ordering a large baba ganoush because it is some of the best I have ever had! Also, the hummus and falafels are top notch! But seriously you just can’t go wrong here!

Shining star that sets the bar for the competition quality, service and flavors. Even though it is a tapas restaurant, there’s nothing small about their small plates. Glad I came,
Saffron chicken kabobs were juicy and offered very bold flavors to wake you up.
Their hummus truly lives up to their claim to be the best. So smooth and creamy. Snappy seasonings keep you coming back for more.
Beef pirashki was a delightful grilled flatbread that reminds you of a blend of food that you have had across the global cuisine space. It’s like a cross between an egg roll, burrito, and fajita.
Stellar service. Shout out to my girl Sristi, who made us feel right at home. Smartest and most aware staff I’ve ever had the pleasure to have been served by.

The food was great – classic mediterranean food. The chicken kebabs were nice and spicy, and the hummus was perfectly garlic-​y. Even the grilled vegetables were very good.
Even though the food was great, the service was just SO bad. Our server was overly energetic and tried to completely oversell us on everything – I felt like I was being sold a used car and all of the bells and whistles. (The oversell made sense when we found out when we got our bill that 20% tip is automatic for parties of our size.) And while the cold appetizers came out quickly, the main food took about 30 – 45 minutes to come out after we ordered.

We came here again on Saturday night and it was SUPER busy. We waited about 45 minutes to an hour, but then again, what do you expect at a popular place on a Saturday night in Dallas?
Beau and everyone at the restaurant were super nice to us and kept giving us updates on when our table would be ready. They were great in making sure we didn’t need drink refills as well as making sure we didn’t want a snack while we waited.
Overall, you just can’t beat family service at this restaurant. They are so incredibly nice and patient and this is why I will be a forever customer.
Thanks Beau!

Ummm, best hummus I’ve ever had. And the saffron chicken? TOO GOOD. TOO JUICY. I didn’t really like falafels before, but now I do!
Definitely have a try at this place. Cozy little restaurant on Greenville Ave. They’ve got Tuesday HH specials. Staff and service are all super friendly. The food is amazing. Come here and celebrate with a group of friends. Or enjoy an intimate date with your special someone.
YUM. YUM. YUM
(P.S. I’ve seen construction on a second location opening soon in downtown Dallas!)

Popped in here on a whim for lunch. I was the only customer in the place since I came in after the lunch rush.
Bottom line: This place is on point!
The hummus is amazing, the falafel sandwich was great and came with a nice side salad, all for $ 6.99.
Topped it off with a super thick and tasty Turkish coffee.
Awesome restaurant for sure!

I am totally revamping my review to give my experience a 5-​star rating. I stopped in for lunch today and had a wonderful experience! Met the owner, Beau, who was very charming and hospitable. We had fantastic service from our server (I didn’t get his name but he remembered me from last time). He was top notch! The hummus & pita bread is sooooooo delicious and garlicky! I ordered the coconut shrimp tapas and my friend ordered the falafel tapas plate which came with more humus! The coconut shrimp came with a wonderful marmalade dipping sauce but I actually preferred the taste of the falafel and will order it the next time I stop in. The enclosed patio dining area was full of diners and seemed to be the most popular area to sit. Seems like it would be a very romantic setting for an evening visit as well! They also play really cool, hip music which adds a great vibe to the whole dining experience. This is a great place to come for lunch or an evening out on the town.

Food is great. Ever since they closed the deli the delivery is impossible to deal with. We used to order Izmir 4 times a month for delivery. Now we barely order at all because when you call they either put the phone down for 10 – 15 minutes or they have to ask and re-​ask for the same information every time. Is it that hard to get a computer system that pulls up the address when a phone number is entered? Tonight was the last straw. You’ve lost my loyal business of 8 years Izmir. You’re lost my business.
I spoke with the manager (Beau) about this situation. He was kind and courteous and agreed to address the issues of my concern. I have always loved the food at Café Izmir (some of the best in Dallas), but the delivery had just gone too far downhill for me to ignore. I’m going to give Café Izmir another chance to keep my business. The manager could have easily came back at me with a rude or snide comment, but he was professional and is correcting the problem.

4.5* stars for exceptional service, delicious food and a cute ambiance.
My boyfriend’s birthday dinner was a party of 14. Given how big our party was, I was more than impressed with how prepared they were. Our server informed us that he couldn’t split checks, so he recommended us to either eat family style or share a bunch of tapas. I appreciated how he anticipated our needs and provided us a solution that was beneficial to everyone. In addition to the warm hospitality, our server brought out my boyfriend’s birthday cake (that I bought) with their guitarist serenading my boyfriend — it was the icing on top of the cake. Afterwards, he offered to wash our cake pan. I couldn’t have asked for better service.
With regards to the food, I recommend ordering a bunch of tapas so that you can taste a little bit of everything. My favorites are the hummus (while some may find this too creamy or water-​y, I LOVE it), baba ganoush, chicken saffron, cabbage wrap, meat dolmas and lamp wrap.
In addition to everything positive I mentioned, I love how cute this restaurant is. Come here during the night to enjoy dinner under their covered patio adorned with christmas lights, which gives the restaurant a warm, romantic vibe. However, the best part and what really adds to the romantic appeal of this restaurant is the live guitarist serenading guests with his vocals.

I had a WONDERFUL experience dining here for dinner the other night. The food was fantastic, we ordered the hummus, eegra, grilled asparagus, sweet potato fries, and grilled quail. There were many more things I wanted to order, however, I wasn’t hungry enough, so I will definitely be back to try more.
The service was also excellent. Our waiter was very attentive and informative. I can’t wait to come back!

MEDITERRANEAN MAMBA!
My experience with Café Izmir began with their catering, which consisted of many different flavors. From cous cous to lamb rolls to hummus and more, the tastes and flavors seem to dance on my tongue. The food overall was light, but filling, without any overpowering flavors. My first impression was that their food presentation was vivid and lively, with so many colors and different vegetables with their distinct flavors. Easiest way to imagine this is to take an entire buffet and stuff it into catering dishes. SImply wonderful.
And now, the glorious food.
The Food: LAMB ROLL LAMBADA. I tried the lamb roll, hummus/​pita bread, chicken kabob, saffron rice, roasted vegetables and roasted hot peppers.
Lamb Roll: HOLY. Don’t underestimate this lamb-​tacquito-​looking wrap, it packs a lot of baked leg of lamb and pico de gallo. It bursts with lamby goodness, without too much of the gamey flavor. The freshness and tartness of the pico de gallo balances the meaty lamb. The lamb roll is filling and is one of the top tapas that they offer. Make no mistake, if you like lamb, definitely try the lamb roll.
Hummus/​Pita Bread: TYPICAL HUMMUS AND PITA. There is not much you can do with hummus and pita, except to infuse strong and complex flavors. Here, the hummus looks literally like beige-​colored blended chickpeas without any additional color or herbs/​spices. The hummus and pita bread were plain compared to all the other flavors that Café Izmir had to offer (–1 star).
Chicken Kabob: Chicken goodness. Marinated and grilled in their spice blend termed Izmir spices. Chewy, but tasty. The spices gave the chicken a flair, even though the chicken was in between moist and dry. Overall, the spices gave it flavor and I live for the flavor of chickeny goodness.
Saffron Rice: Simple basmati rice with saffron-​infused flavor. Pairs well with the chicken kabob and lamb roll, as well as the char-​flavor of the roasted vegetables and hot peppers. Great palate cleanser and highly recommend over the pita and hummus.
Roasted Vegetables: BBQ VEGETABLES. Broccoli, bell peppers, and onions in a roasted vegetable medley. Drizzled with the perfect amount of olive oil such that the vegetables retain their natural flavors, as well as the gift that roasting provides them. Can stand alone as a solid dish and main entrée for vegetarians.
Roasted Hot Peppers: Spicy, tangy, and charred flavor that provide an edge to Mediterranean food. These peppers are serrano peppers, so they add a bit of unexpected heat, but really goes well with the spices and flavors of Café Izmir’s Mediterranean cuisine. The flavor is less intense compared to jalapenos and due to the roasting, but it adds a sweetness cut by spiciness. Wonderful.
The Verdict: THE FLAVORS KEEP DANCING.
Overall wonderful flavors and balances between meat and vegetables, and spicy, salty, and sweet. The lamb roll is a must try: light, meaty, and refreshing. I’d skip the typical plain hummus and pita, and go for their saffron rice and/​or flavored hummus. The roasted vegetables and hot peppers can stand alone as a dish, but they pair very well with the Mediterranean spices and dishes. Definitely try Café Izmir and you’ll remember the savory dance on your taste buds.

Finally found a good Mediterranean restaurant in Dallas! Warm pita bread with an amazing garlic hummus, the perfect start. I had the Lamb rolls, beef kebab, falafel and everything was really tasty! Home made Sangria Bottle just for $ 15 is a must! Finished with an amazing turkish coffee.
Ps: Sammy was awesome, definitely coming back soon!

My visit to Café Izmir made my weekend remarkable. The customer service is way beyond standard and far exceeds amazing. From valet to the door greeters to the wait staff to the bus boys. Absolutely amazing. And the food is 10 star delicious. They have the best hummus I’ve ever tried. Their saffron chicken kabobs and steak kabobs are delicious. The house made sangria is nothing short of delightful. I love the patio and the overall quaint feeling of this place. This will now be a regular spot for me. You can order the sangria by the bottle and if you can’t finish it, they cork it up for you and let you take it home. This is the best dining experience I’ve had all year, hands down.

Jamie and I had a lovely light supper here, her first time doing the Tuesday Izmir experience.
We had hummus, grilled veggies, eegra (tomato and eggplant blend), and a basket of sublime pita with a bottle of Sangria, a perfect light treat.
— hummus was creamy and flavorful, one of the best I’ve ever had
— eegra was a flavorful tomato/​eggplant dip, with a salsa-​like texture and a little kick
— grilled asparagus (also served with onions and okra) was a smoky delicious treat, prepared al dente
The service here is always friendly, cheerful, and prompt– you can tell that they’re sincerely happy to see you there– for real! :)
We’ll be back soon, for another fantastic goody orgy.

Let me start by saying this place has been on my list for yrs, I should have visted sooner as the food is FANTASTIC.
Everything we had complimented each other.
— Izmir Hummus reminded me of Israel
— Sweet Potato Fries — Could be the best in Dallas
— Grilled Portobello’s — Fresh and marinated well
— Grilled Asparagus — you can never go wrong
— Chicken Kabob — hearty pieces cooked to perfection
— Lamb Roll’s — A MUST
— Meat Dolmas — Good
— Grilled Quail — It might have best my favor. Its a toss up w/​the Lamb roll’s
Great service, good ambiance and worth going back