Ms. Wally’s Cafe

This place recently closed and reopened as the uptown café & bar, still the same great food with some added indian dishes.
I ate there yesterday and had the best lentil soup I have ever had at a restaurant, spiced with cumin and vegetables and rice thrown in. The ideal dish to warm you up.
unlike the prior owners these guys deliver. The new# is 510−652−1051

***CLOSED*** :*(
Driving down San Pablo today I saw that Ms Wally’s Café is now Uptown Café & Bar serving Indian & Mediterranean food
From the reviews sounds like the owners of the previous Indian place before Ms Wallys are back. I’ll have to stop in and see if Ms Wally might still be on board handling the Mediterranean. .. there were good comments on the Lentil Soup at the new place. ..

Sign stating closed a few days ago without any further explanation. The philanthropic side of me recos that one would phone before coming over.
Mine wasn’t the only crestfallen face the other day looking befuddled in front of their very empty space on east side of San Pablo.
I’d really feel for the patron who came out of his/​her way to try.
Her hubby’s place a few blocks south saved the day.

Rinky, Anna and I met here for lunch today. When we three arrived we were the first people in the restaurant and had our choice of tables. The restaurant is roomy w/​high ceilings and lots of light. The walls are painted in a pea soup green and tangerine that looks better than it sounds. Next door, connected by a couple of broad doorways, is a bar w/​a few tables. I like Betty H’s imagined backstory for the genesis of the restaurant. It is much roomier than Wally’s and has tables and chairs that lend themselves to comfortable conversation.
The menu is only two sides of a legal-​size piece of paper, but it offered so many choices the three of us took a long time to decide. Our server was very, very patient. Eventually we decided on the eggplant rolls w/​labneh, walnuts and pomegranate sauce, the lamburger lunch special w/​sweet potato fries and a soda and pomegranate chicken. At first we wanted the chicken gallette, but there was enough for only one and it fell apart on assembly, so we went for chicken over rice, which came w/​a salad. There was another salad, which probably came w/​the lamburger. There were crepes on the back side of the menu, both sweet and savory. We determined to share one or two sweet ones for dessert.
Before the food arrived we were served complimentary bowls of slightly peppery lentil soup. In addition to lentils there were rice and finely chopped vegetables. Very tasty. The other dishes came out and we each took portions of everything. Anna and I split the lamburger while Rinky had the soda and we all shared the fries, which were very tasty, as was the lamburger. The eggplant rolls were very flavorful. The labneh was more garlicky than I’ve ever had. The chicken, rice and salad were also flavorful. There was nothing we disliked, although I could have done w/​a skosh less garlic in the labneh. The balance between the yogurt and the garlic was too heavily weighted toward the garlic. There was a lot of food and we were too full to try two dessert crepes. We decided to split one among the three of us. We chose one w/​custard and chopped pistachios because it sounded unique and interesting. We could get nutella or chocolate and coconut, our other choice, anywhere. It was very good and we were glad we had chosen it. Now I have to introduce Alan to Ms. Wally’s.

(See my update too)
You know the restaurant maxim, «Eat in a crowded restaurant» or the inverse, «If it’s empty, stay away.» Well with Ms. Wally’s, that couldn’t be more wrong! My guy and I have eaten there twice — once for breakfast, once for dinner — and we were the only ones there *and it was fabulous!!* If I hadn’t been a (Mr.) Wally’s customer, I probably wouldn’t have even thought of going into Ms. Wally’s.
Last night, wonderful mate and I had very fab moussaka and — yikes! — these incredible egg\plant roll-​ups with walnuts, labne and pomegranate sauce… ooooohhhhh. Along with the wonderful lentil/​rice soup (slightly spicier version than at Wally’s) and great salad dressing on the salad. «Must…go…back…must…go…back,» she intones while slobbering.
And Ms. Wally and staff are lovely :-)
Signed,
Not A Friend Or Relative of the Wallys
11÷8÷10 **UPDATE**
Seven of us in the family took my mum out for her birthday last Thursday, to Ms. Wally’s…oh. my. god.
Angelina (or is it Angelica? well, otherwise known as Ms. Wally) and her mum (and wonderful server guy) made us and our mum a perfect celebratory meal. We sat down and she recommended a very affordable spread. We all were so happy! The kibbeh! The chopped salad! The rice and falafel! They treated us like guests in their home, taking care to give my 86-​year-​old mum special attention. I want Ms. Wally and her mum to be my new sister and aunt. BTW, they make, hands-​down, the best falafel in the Bay Area.

ms. wally’s café is so novel unlike wally’s café which looks and feels like a truck stop café. ms. menu is more unscale with crepes, daily lunch specials, and mediterrean food combos.
art lovers can purchase hand drawn (to be classics) paintings displayed on the walls for $ 1000+.
music: instrumentals
sampling: lamb burger lunch special (8)
–lamb ordered medium rare, came out med. seems, rare wasn’t an option. lamb came with tomato, cabbage, garlic dip, ll on a large bun.
lots of lamb and whatever filling it was. no lamb flavor however.
–comped lentil soup: hot & spicy.
–with free soda
*soda was brought to table and displayed like fine wine. the waitress held it in both of her hands and asked: «is this ok?»
i saw it was hansen mandarin lime so i said: «ok»
–sweet potato fries., lots of it. not greasy, crunchy on outside. soft on inside. pretty good stuff.
leftovers:
–diverse menu: light fare, crepes, burgers, full courses, lunch specials
–patio dining available
–large dining area
–parking not a problem.
–friendly, leisurely service.

Well, I walked over to Wally’s with my dog. Tried opening the gate and it was locked. I went inside the bar and a patron sippin on a bottle of beer pointed out that Wally’s was closed on Sundays. I said «Damnit!» and my dog refused to leave… that is until the patron said Wally’s wife has a restaurant right down the street called Ms. Wally’s. She may be open on a Sunday. Just then, my pup stood up as though her doggie sense knew Ms. Wally’s Café would be open.
We took a leisurely stroll down San Pablo Avenue. Ms. Wally’s Café and Omg! Yey! She was open! My puppy wagged her tail at this news. We were invited over to the patio area where my lil pup could hang out, too. Complimentary lentil soup arrived. Spicier than Wally’s but still so good.
Service was quick and very friendly. I’m a neat freak so I deeply appreciated the cleanliness of the restaurant. Ms. Wally’s café has a completely different feel from Wally’s. It’s more feminine and has more of a family atmosphere. My chicken Gyro was yummy. Sweet potato fries were delicious. Price was excellent.
My friends, pup and I will surely be back. Soon.

Stopped by for the first time with some friends before our movie. It was early dinner on a weeknight so things were very empty. We had a great time though. Service was very friendly and down to earth. it had a very homey feel to it I thought.
It was warm, so we decided to eat out on the patio area. Looking over the menu, I was intrigued by several items I hadn’t heard of before and was eager to try them out if the rest of my party was feeling adventurous.
First off the complimentary lentil soup is wonderful. Even better than the one I had at Wally’s and on the next cold winter day I will be stopping by here to warm my belly with the soup. On to the food. We started with the eggplant wrapped feta with balsamic sauce. This was very different, but I liked it. I’m a fan of all things balsamic, so this was great for me, though I think it may be a little strong for some who aren’t as in to balsamic vinegar as I am.
For our mains we share mesa style combo with Lamb Kebabs and the Pastistio (sp?), a lasagna type dish with tomato/​meat sauce, greek style, served with salad. And they treated us to a full plate of their falafel. The food was excellent, like home cooking. lamb was a perfect medium rare, and i prefer the pastistio to lasagna because there’s no cheese (not a huge fan of ricotta) and the falafels were actually quite unique. Crisp outside, moist inside and with a hint of what we thought was cinnamon.
Service was very friendly and good. They definitely wanted us to know they appreciated our business and I can’t wait to return.

I like entertaining the thought that Mr.& Mrs Wally couldn’t agree on how to run a restaurant, so she said, «fine, just fine», I’ll open my own restaurant, and I’ll add some feminine touches, and decorate the patio to make it feel like French Bistro.
And I will make crepes just like they do in France. And I will name it,
«Ms Wally’s Mediterranean, Creperie & more».

Well Ms. Wally you served us well today.
When I called about outdoor seating, (so I can bring my dog) you warned me about how cold it was there. Thank you for that. I would have frozen my butt. As soon as summer starts, I will be sitting in that darling little patio with my dog.
But for today I sat inside of this warm inviting restaurant.
When we arrived today, you served me a Lentil soup that warmed my soul. Mr. Wally’s is a hardier manly soup, but your lighter version is just as tasty.

The special Chicken Kabobs were moist and flavorful. I loved the marinade.
I devoured the rice with little surprises of diced carrots and peas. It made me think of my Grandma.
The Greek salad, OMG I want the dressing recipe, Please O’ please
Mr. H was quite entertained by his Lebanese platter-​tabbouleh, hummus, babaganoush, falafel, dolmas, olives & pita served in a sectioned plate. Great idea, nothing ran together.
Our choices were great for sharing. The dolmas were the best ever. And I really like the smokey flavor in the, babaganoush.
We will be back to try more of the great sounding dishes you have to offer, but I must warn you, if I ever open my own restaurant, I’m stealing Bob. He is an amazing server with a smile to die for.
Great food
Great service
Great ambiance
Great parking
Dog friendly
Did I mention great smile

I was totally convinced that Wally’s Café was THE BOMB Med Food but then I stumbled upon Ms. Wally’s Café and I think it’s really giving Wally’s Café a run for its money!
Food:
I ordered a Lamb kabob «mesa style» which comes with:
1) Lentil soup: YUMMY! It had this special spicy/​pepper kick to it! Love all the ingredients in there too! It was a hearty soup!
2) Hummus: Kinda bland for me, it could have been a little more flavorful, but it was still good.
3) Baba ganoush: THE BEST I’ve ever tasted! I seriously used to think that I just didn’t like baba ganoush because it doesn’t taste like much and hummus is way better but after tasting Ms. Wally’s Café, I now know that other people just haven’t made it right! This is baba ganoush at its best!
4) Dolmas: BEST DOLMA I’ve EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! I’m just going to leave it at that…
5) falafel: a bit dry, could have been better, but it wasn’t awful.
6) Tabbouleh: love the extra sour kick to it! Very delicious!
7) Pita: YUM! just the right amount of chewy and carb-​y texture! EXCELLENT!
8) Rice: I’m not a huge fan of rice… but this rice was bomb-​diggity!
9) Lamb Kabob: One word, DELICIOUS!
Service: Very friendly and prompt service!
Ambiance: cute little, friendly neighborhood restaurant. Heck, honestly with food this good, who cares what it looks like on the inside!
Price: The meal fed two people and it came out to be around $ 26 with tax and tip included. Not bad… not bad at all… :)
Overall: Ms. Wally can dish out a mean meal that will have you begging for seconds! I’m totally coming around for more! Sign me up!

Ms. Wallys gets 5 stars from me.
I recommend going on a Tuesday!
On Tuesday nights they have a kabob special that is amazing. For $ 11 you get some amazingly tasty lentil soup, a large Greek salad (complete with real feta cheese, cucumber, tomato, olives, onions, and large leafy greens), and generous serving of your choice of chicken, lamb, steak, or shrimp kabob all over a comfy bed of warm rice.
The chicken kabob came w/​2 skewers of deliciously seared cuts.
The servers were both extremely friendly and made this restaurant spectacular.

Walked in this place 15 mins before closing. Sorry guys! =P
The waitresses were nice and sat us down and were very helpful and came back enough times to check up on us to see if we liked everything and if we had enough to drink.
I ordered a «mesa style» plate on accident because that thing was HUGE! It was like a huge plate of appetizers. One of the appetizers was nasty but maybe it’s because I never had Lebanese food before. The hummus was delish though.
My main course came and the shrimp was delicious and extra BUTTERY! The rice had tons of cilantro, I could have done with a little less, but hey, that’s their style of serving rice.
Yummy! I might want to try their crepes someday.

I love the originally wallys so.
I wanted to like it this place… but sadly my 1^st experience was not great. I will go again and see if my experience is better next time and rate accordingly.
Got the Eggplant dish people were raving about…
it was OK. Tasted ok but slightly burnt. Too heavy of a dish.
Others got chicken kabob special — said it was good, but the portions looked pretty small. the original wally’s dishes seems to be far more generous.
The soup was too salty.
i really was excited too…

Our first meal at Ms. Wallys Café last night was one of my top 10 food experiences of the year. Honestly. And we live to eat.
First of all, I loved the description of the heritage of the owner on the menu. Lebanese and French but raised in Mexico. How can you go wrong with that combination?
I knew it was going to be good when they brought our very first dish, lentil soup. It was perfectly, strongly spiced, and had just the right ratio of rice to lentils. I looked at my wife, Matzo, and said, «this is gonna be good». And. man, was I right.
We ordered a breton (buckwheat) crêpe with chicken schwarma. Holy goodness. The chicken was well spiced, nicely cooked and the filling, crêpe and sauce were all in the right proportions. We also ordered the Shrimp Kabob plate that came with baba ganoush, hummus, pita, salad, falafel, tabouli and dolmas. It was a crazy amount of food and it all looked SO good.
I generally can take or leave baba ganoush, but I could have eaten theirs by the bucket. It was smooth, creamy, not too bland, not too strong– Goldilocks would have eaten it all up. Hummus was simple and fabulous and heavy on the tahini. Salad was very simple with lettuce and tomato but delicious, with lots of oregano in the dressing. The tabouli was too light on the bulgur and too heavy on the liquid for my taste but, again, the flavors were just right. Our kebab came with 8 good sized, well spiced shrimp and a lovely rice pilaf and a white garlic aioli type sauce. Yum. Falafels were very good (Matzo is a falafel snob and even she said they were pretty good). There was a spice we couldn’t identify and when we spoke to the owner she said, «well there are 20 spices in it, so I can’t tell you for sure». TWENTY! We figured out it was cardamom. Delish.
Matzo has been to Israel, Greece and Egypt and at the first bite exclaimed that she was instantly transported back to the amazing food she had there.
The dolmas came a bit later, with profuse apologies for the delay. They were late because they were piping hot and just made! Again, YUM.
After we kissed her feet for such a delightful meal, the owner graciously sent us out a lemon and sugar crêpe (perfect) and two little pieces of baklava that was just right– not too sweet or sticky.
I can’t wait to come back with a group of friends so we can try more things on the menu and not be terrified by the amount of food on the table.
I will come back again and again and again. And probably again after that.
p. s. it’s the perfect place to go before a movie at Bay Street– service was quick, not too many people, close to the movies. You’re just going to stink like garlic, but that might mean you have plenty of elbow room.

If you wanted to make out with someone at the end of a date, I would not recommend bringing someone here. The semi-​raw garlic mix that they put in everything savory here is so ridiculously strong that it would generally nullify anything romanticals from happening.
We ordered the hummus to start, it was delicious and had the perfect amount of garlic and so ravenous were we when we got here that we ate a ton of it.
I immediately eyed the chicken liver and pomegranate galette which is a strangely enticing combination of two of my favorite things. I love chicken livers and I love pomegranate sauce but alas the garlic spread that they threw in the galette was SO strong it overpowered both flavors and made it sour with the sauce and horseradish spicy. I picked out the chicken livers to get the value out of it. In all honesty I was pretty full after the hummus.
For dessert we got the baklava and a lemon crêpe. Both were really tasty, but I was already so full that I couldn’t have much more than a bite.
Yay for the dessert and appetizers. Meh for the main courses and over garlic-​ing. Don’t get me wrong, I love garlic, but in the main dishes it was overkill.

I LOVE WALLY’s! So when my buddy told me that Ms. Wally’s opened up a café just a few blocks away from the original, I knew it was a must. Thus, we ventured here one evening to venture the good eats.
The first thing that strikes you is the ambiance — it doesn’t elicit the «hole-​in-​the-​wall» feel as much as Wally’s. It’s kinda got a romantic feel for it… candles and all. But, supposingly this place used to be an indian restaurant, so that kinda makes sense. There’s also this epic painting of the Bay Bridge/​SF Skyline (costs $ 1000+) that I wish I could have…
ANYWAY. The food:
1) Falafal Plate, $ 13ish:
— Massive falafels served with perfectly made greek salad + warm pita bread + hummus. The falafel texture was so good, and I love how they drizzle the tahini sauce right on top. However… it was really salty! I don’t know why =(. If they reduce the amount of salt in this dish, it could easily be my favorite place to come to for falafels!
2) Eggplant wrap, $ 8ish:
— Stuffed with gorganzola, basil, etc. and layered in this DELICIOUS creamy balsalmic sauce. The wrap itself was good, but the unique sauce is what makes this dish shine. I’d love to get a bowl of the sauce to just eat with pasta or drizzle over meats. Gosh! So plate-​lickin good!
3) Smoked Salmon Galette, $ 6.50ish.
— The galette (buckwheat crêpe) was a first time for me, and basically… it’s like a breadier/​thicker version of a regular crêpe. The idea of the galette was good — stuffed with smokes salmon, feta, capers, and crème freche. But ultimately, it was also really salty and a bit on the dry side. =(My friend says the more breakfast-​y ones are better (eggs, etc.), so you might have better luck if you get those.
4) Lemon Sugar Crêpe, Complimentary
— Sweet gesture and delicious! The crêpe was soft and delicate =)
Overall, I think the idea of Ms. Wally’s is super cute and creative, but I think there are some major seasonings that need to be adjusted.
[3.5 Stars]

The lunch special $ 6.99 hamburger is a bumb!!!
I was with my manager were going for the Indian place for spicy lunch but those turban guys were long gone. So I was almost ready to recommend her to go KFC cross the street, but she found out the new place is Mediterranean.
Mediterranean? I was like … It’s kind of girly food, isn’t it? well, i am a girly man so whatthefxxx?
Everythings are so girly these days.
cup cakes
frozen yogurt
crêpe
XLB
Mocca
red velvet
green tea ice cream
California roll
Chicken-​Karaage-​Ramen
Te-​maki
Age-​dashi-​dofu
diet coke
light soy sauce
and Mediterranean…
Mediterranean, the word is too long for me.
But the $ 6.99 hamburger was NOT girly.
It wasn’t light.
It was heavy.
It was a big fat ass greek wedding like shit.
The hamburger patty was mixed with sirloin and lamb with nice large size crispy bun.
The great fresh made garlic dip was awesome!
Hey Ms. Wally, You are awesome.
I’ll be back.

Wally’s Café is such a hit with me, I decided to try Ms. Wally’s. I was just as impressed with the food. Its a step up from Wally’s in terms of the décor and has a nice homely feel.
I had the Persian burger, which came with sweet potato fries. Only for $ 6.99. What a deal and it was so delicious. It was a beef and lamb burger and had this mayo-​salad filling thing going between the patty and bun. So good.
I split a banana, honey and cottage cheese crêpe with Marc. It was really tasty, but I think it would have tasted better had they used marscapone cheese instead. Not really a cottage cheese fan but it was still good.
Lentil soup comes complimentary. Marc ordered a chicken liver wrap and our total bill came to about $ 20.00 for the both us for lunch. We even got to meet Ms. Wally. She’s is such a sweet lady. She asked us how the food was and explained that her specialty is crepes, although her menu includes so much more than that.
Great value and great food to boot. Thumbs up for you Ms. Wally.

My new lunch spot. After finding out of Ms. Wally’s, I had to go. Ordered the chicken livers with pomegranate sauce galette and shared a crêpe with banana, cottage cheese and honey. Both were excellent.
Loved the chicken livers, just as good as Wally’s. For all you liver haters out there, you’ve got to give it a try. The galette was huge, as it filled the oval plate end to end. It was too much for me to finish.
The banana crêpe was delicious, as it oozed out cottage cheese. I played pirate, cutting into the crêpe at all different places, looking for pieces of banana’s. Breaking my dairy & banana free diet was worth it for this treat.
Service was slow on a Saturday, as there was only one server. But I can forgive this as I really enjoyed my meal. I have to tell my coworker of this new neighborhood gem and add it to our list of places to go for lunch.

I want to marry Ms. Wally and eat chicken shwarma and hummus every day for the rest of my life.
I’ve been to Mr. Wally’s many times and have enjoyed my meal there every time. And then today I read here on Unilocal that Ms. Wally had opened up her own restaurant so of course I had to run over there and see what’s up.
What’s up is that Ms. Wally is one of the nicest ladies I’ve ever met. The hummus is the best I’ve ever had. The chicken shwarma is sooooo tasty — tender, juicy and well spiced. Delicious!
And the prices are very reasonable — My meal was less than $ 10 and I have enough food for two meals. PLUS she gave me a complimentary sweet crêpe filled with a yummy custard! So good!!!
The only thing missing is an espresso machine… which is why I couldn’t give a full five stars… All I need is a good mocha to go with my crêpe and weekend brunch will be ON and crackin’… Either way I have a new weekend brunch spot for sure — even if I have to get my mocha somewhere else first!
I work right down the street, so I’m sure I’ll visit for lunch at least once a week if not more often. There are so many different menu items to try! I’m excited!
Yum!