Ali Baba Restaurant

Tika is the best. Basmati rice is delicious. And the babaganoosh is so tasty. And the service here is great. One of the best middle eastern restaurants in San Diego.

Do not judge this place before trying their food. Seriously best restaurant to go to for middle eastern food around here. Our server was great. The food tasted amazing. Everything was fresh, and the portions were huge. We are visiting from AZ and will definitely come back here. Wish we would have taken more bread to-​go! Thank you!

I recommend calling ahead if you are getting your order to go because it takes a while. I ordered a 2 kind combo with beef tekka & chicken breast tekka but they gave me chicken thighs instead. The pita bread is a generous portion and yummy, but the plates don’t come with hummus. The food is okay, but definitely doesn’t compare to King Kabob in Lake Elsinore. The meat here isn’t juicy and the rice isn’t flavorful. It would be better if the plate came with salad instead of just raw vegetables with no dressing. Last time I ordered a feast for 2 which is definitely more for 3 – 4. I would probably try a different place next time.

I live kinda far away from the location of this restaurant, even though I have had the chance to appreciate the wonders they prepare in this little in El Cajon city! Food is amazing and the
Varsity is spectacular, you would love it! Highly recommended!!!

Used to be a favorite. They use low grade ingredients. Only their bread merits praise. Garbage on enamel plates with old silverware. Try one of the many other Middle Eastern places on the street.

Who’s got the meat sweats? This girl, right hurrrrrrr. If anyone ever complains about portions size being skimpy here, then they’ve obviously got it confused with another Ali Baba. Jeezus. I can’t believe I lived literally down the street from this place for 3 years and never went. For shame.
So my pal Jenn had a Groupon for this place and invited Nette and I to this carnivore’s paradise. If you didn’t know, you must, I emphasize, MUST come hungry. Otherwise, your visit will be a complete and utter waste of time and stomach space.
That being said, there were 6 of us but we ordered the Feast for Five. They should rename it, the Feast for 10 and their mamas as it could easily feed a hungry army. It featured copious portions of meat: cream chop chicken, shawarma, beef kebab, lamb kebab, chicken skewers, tabbouleh salad and burghel hummus. Goodness! All 6 of our party attacked this plate with the hungry enthusiasm of bears coming out of hibernation and it STILL didn’t look like we made a dent at the end of our meal. We ended up splitting up and taking home the rest. And the naan bread is massive… literally the size of a pizza. I had to take a photo and compare it to the size of my head so you could visualize the gigantor proportions of each one. They also offer smaller portions for the not so hungry but I guarantee you will leave with a to-​go box. The food is fresh, flavorful and you will leave stuffed.
I’ll definitely return when I am in Woman Vs. Food mode! Good times, good food and good company.

I cannot say enough praise for this place. Absolutely my favorite restaurant in the San Diego area, and hands down my favorite place for middle eastern food anywhere. The service is amazing, so nice and so attentive. The environment is unique and authentic. And of course the food… the food! I love to find truly authentic food, and I think a good way to judge if the food is authentic is the customers. Definitely lots of Arabic speakers dining in there. Good sign.
So the first time we went, there were five of us and we ordered the feast for three. Stuffed our faces and still took home four chock full to-​go boxes. I mean, the price is right. The bread is fantastic, the hummus is perfect. The perfect consistency and flavor. The meat is fantastic and so plentiful. The veggies are also nice. I’d say the feast is the way to go so you can have a bit of everything. Totally worth it.
If you’re in the area and you dig middle eastern cuisine, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Bad service, i wait almost 35 min to get the food after i got the food no water nothing. i swear even the shawerma Sandwich is looks like from yesterday. I told her i want to return my order she said noooo. In America the rule if u didn’t like the food the have to return it.

Amazing food, the best serving, traditional iraqi food and friendly team love it. I highly recommended

I had a great meal at this restaurant, it was family owned so you know you’re in good hands. it was bit hard to find, but parking was very convenient. make sure you try their fresh baked bread it amazing.

I tried this place about 3 yrs ago and it was delicious, i been back every time i can since then.
I get the feast for 2 and its very tasty !!
They have me as a customer

Good place for some authentic middle eastern food. Food takes some time to come out. I always receive big portions of bread which I hate wasting at the end of the meal, so I take it with me lol it goes great with all of the left overs. Found it to be just a little pricey as well. I’m very familiar with Arabic food and prices and this place defiantly is on the pricier side. Would recommend the knafa for dessert.

Why haven’t I been here before? My wife and I have our usual go-​to spots for mid east food but for some reason, we decided to drive up to east El Cajon for Ali Baba’s. When we arrived, it was fairly busy but with minimal wait for a table for two. It appeared that mostly everyone around us was eating the same thing which was the feast meal. The menu only showed feast meals starting with 3 people. So we asked if there was a feast meal for just two and our waitress said yes. The salad, naan and humus came out first. Big mistake!!! We were non-​stop eating the naan and humus to the point where half the humus was almost gone and our dish hasn’t even come out yet! The naan was fresh, hot and huge! The hummus was extremely good! This should have come out in a larger bowl if you ask me… I’m just praying my wife doesn’t tell me she’s full already just from the naan and hummus.
Our giant platter arrived and it was huget! It had: 2 skewers of kabab, 2 skewers of chicken, 2 skewers of chicken tekka, breaded chicken, rice and burghul. All the meat was super tender and full of flavor. The chicken tekka was my favorite which had a lemony tart taste to it which I love.
After forcing ourselves to eat more than we should, we still had plenty of food left over. The feast for two can easily feed 3 or 4 people. And I would assume the feast for four would feed 5 or 6 people.
Service was good. It wasn’t attentive but raise your hand to get their attention and they will be right over. My wife and I love to eat variety, so the feast was perfect for us. And the best part, everything was about $ 40. We can’t wait to return!

The food was ok. The staff was friendly and courteous. Wasn’t the biggest fan of the food but it would be a good 2^nd option.

Hello EAST COUNTY RESTAURANTS! It’s Nette B. and I’m going to dine at your restaurant.
What can I say? FOOD WON!
A FEAST for FIVE meal please. OMG! The food was plentiful and we didn’t even put a dent in it when we were done. We were a table to Six and we ordered the Feast for Five along with a Roasted Whole Chicken. See photos!
With great reviews, our friends and I made our way to Ali Baba (my friend also had a Groupon deal). The server mentioned to us that the feast for five is a lot of food and the servings are huge so we probably won’t need the whole chicken but half would work. Did we listen? No! We ordered it anyway. At then end of our meal he was right but we still had a lot of food from the fest for five. It’s family style so don’t order too much.
Overall, this restaurant is on the older looking side but very well lit. Clean tables and servers were very nice. Definitely a hidden gem and I will return.

This place is a wonderful Mediterranean place I El Cajon, I had a Groupon so why, I been here a couple of times and it was good so I wanted to come back… I must have had a memory lapse and not remember how big of a portions u get, we were a party of 6 and we ordered the feast for 5 which included shawarma, chicken kabab, beef kabab, cream chicken, hummus, 3 pieces of big pita bread, we asked if we could switch for tabuleh versus salad and they said ok, it also came with rice, tomatoes, onions, turnips, and bulghul… I don’t know why we order a full chicken but we did… Everything tasted so good but we had leftovers for 3 people as well… I will definitely come back, the staff is nice. Check it out and try something new :)

OMG get the hummus.
My husband and I had seen this place several times and always talked about going. I wish we hadn’t waited so long! Everything was wonderful, and we will be returning!

Great service and tasty food! Beef schwarma was a little plain and skimpy and the hummus was very thin almost watered down for the price of $ 15 plate. The flat bread was huge and hot and amazing, tobouli salad was on point. The lamb and rice was delicious and well plated. Everyone that worked there were super nice and friendly and took great care of us.

Came with my uncle for dinner here. Not really a fan to me this place just seems dirty. I’ve heard a few stories about how dirty the kitchen is. To be honest the owner isn’t a good guy either so that just adds to it. The parking isn’t my favorite. It’s super small and crowded. On the weekends El Cajon Blvd people come down here so it gets super packed. Service isn’t on point I waited a while for the waitress to take a drink order. Food isn’t the best I had chicken kabob and it was dry. There are better places to eat at.

My boyfriend is a fluent Arabic speaker and found this place a couple of weeks ago. He raved about it so much that I had to go with him this weekend to see what he was talking about. In short, it was great! Definitely get the hummus and bread — SO delicious. We shared a couple of entrees (tashreeb and beef kebab) and had Arabic coffee at the end (which I HIGHLY recommend). Service is so friendly, too.
Definitely on our list of places to go on a regular basis. Shukran, Ali Baba!