Urfa Bistro

Really good food, a cut above, plus good service, comfortable and pleasant ambience. Excited to have this option in the neighborhood, and expect it will become a regular haunt.

Pricey, small portions, slow service, mediocre meat. Not sure how it got 4.5 stars, I was expecting something much better. The bread and rice were good (rice was like a small ice cream scoop portion), but the meat was not juicy and tender. The restaurant was 20% full and it still took almost half an hour before our dishes came out … ON A SATURDAY for lunch. I guess there’s not many options in Los Altos? Come out to Santa Clara/​San Jose! The portions are twice as big for the same price or cheaper, plus meats are wonderfully seasoned and cooked to juicy perfection.

I liked their food overall, but the hummus we ordered via DoorDash was fizzy, indicating that it has been stored a bit too long or stored improperly?

Excellent Turkish and mediterranean-​style food. We enjoyed stuffed eggplant and tomato sauce lamb.

This place is amazing!
The falafel was probably the best I’ve had in years, and the spanakopita was so fluffy and delicious!
I ordered the vegetable moussaka (I had never heard of this dish, and wanted to be adventurous) and I was not disappointed!
It was an amazing meal, and I would recommend this to anyone who will listen!
As a vegetarian, this place is perfect. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend

Delicious food, very reasonable prices and friendly service. Urfa has that winning combination you look for in a neighborhood restaurant. Super casual and relaxed atmosphere. 2 chefs. One who specializes in the traditional turkish dishes on the menu and the other who takes care of most of the daily specials with a strong emphasis on seafood.
Perfectly cooked seafood and meat dishes and the most amazing Kunefe I have ever had anywhere. A must order.
This place will become a regular spot for my family!

This was on my to dine at list, but this happened to be our second choice due to Maltby’s being closed. Much smaller than I expected inside, and only a few tables left shortly after noon on a Wednesday. We got a table in the back, and it was soooooo loud my ears were ringing. The setup of this restaurant is terribly set up, as conversations echo crazy loud, and my coworker and I could hardly hear one another speak. My eardrums were hating me due to the poor setup of this restaurant.
However, the food is delicious! We got bread with olive oil, and unfortunately we did not get the fresh hot piping one like others did, but I enjoyed it regardless. My coworker opened dolma, and I do not like this dish, but I tried it, and really enjoyed it! With a squeeze of lemon, the flavors worked really well. I had 2 of the 4, they were really good!
I ordered the urfa kebab and my coworker ordered the mousaka. My past experience with mousaka was it it’s good, but too heavy from the bechamel sauce, but not here. It was really flavorful, eggplant and everything was super tasty. My urfa kebab was also cooked really nicely, the rice and bulgur accompanied it really well.
We didn’t get dessert as we were set on hitting another spot in the neighborhood, but would love to try their desserts in the future.
Great place, but would really love for them to work on their sound setting inside.

While downtown Los Altos is walking distance from my house, I haven’t been able to find a restaurant that I want to go back. This one, however, is a hidden gem, and I would definitely go back especially for its desserts.
Dolma ($ 6): 4stars. I personally prefer Dish N Dash’s dolma, but this one is fresh and flavorful too.
Urfa combo with no rice but more salad ($ 25): 4stars. Every meat were juicy and tender, as well as the veggies. I won’t order it next time though because it is an easy-​to-​make dish at home.
Baklava: 5 stars. loved it
Bread pudding: 5 stars

We came for late lunch on Saturday and place was almost empty.
Ordered Hummus for appetizer and Urfa Combo for entrée.
Hummus was amazing and it came with warm bread which was so good that we had to ask for extra. I was expecting pita bread, but actually we got a nice warm bread like you would get in Italian restaurant.
Urfa combo was perfect. Everything was juicy and just enough spicy so our toddler son could eat too.
For desert we ordered baklava and bread pudding. I liked baklava more since often it’s too sweet but here I could actually taste lemon and pistachios.
Service was a bit slow, but food was amazing!

OMFG. This place is freakin amazing.
I got:
Eggplant dip appetizer (SO GOOD!)
Urfa kebab entrée (SO GOOD!)
Kunefe for dessert (SOOOOO GOOD!)
Go here please.

I am pleasantly surprised by my meal. They were able to squeeze me in despite being very busy. Service was also very attentive.
They served me with delicious warm bread and olive oil to start. I ate all the bread as it was extremely tasty. The menu had many mouth watering sounding dishes, but I decided on the lamb chops with pomegranate sauce. I thought it was very flavorful, unique and tender. It definitely exceeded my expectations. I believe that it is one of the best preparations of lamb I’ve tried in the South Bay, with the exception of Evvia (which costs 42 vs 26). Adjusted for the price, I still think this is a 5 star preparation. I would rank this lamb similar to DishDash in terms of taste/​price.
Last but not least, the bread pudding stole the show. It melted in my mouth and had the right amount of sweetness. It was topped with vanilla ice cream, bittersweet chocolate sauce and fresh blueberries. I can see the vanilla beans in the ice cream and tastes home made.

Their Iskender Kabob and yogurt drink took me back to my 2014 trip to Turkey. The lamb was cooked amazingly: great flavors and tender meat. The yogurt was fresh and had a wonderful hint of garlic. The drink was refreshing!
Their service was also very inviting. Even though they were renovating yesterday and were technically closed, for the «take out» that we ordered, they got a table in front of the restaurant ready for us, served it as a typical «dine in» meal, and checked up on us.
I will definitely be returning!

I had a good meal at Urfa Bistro, but my experience did not stand out among all the mediterranean options nearby. As another reviewer noted, many of 5-​star reviews are suspicious.
Their falafel was the one standout dish. This was easily the freshest and most enjoyable falafel I’ve had — bright green interior and satisfying deep fried crunch. Amazing.
The rest of the meal wasn’t of the same caliber.
Hot Appetizer Combo — Lamb ribs and spanakopita were okay (Evvia is my gold standard for both).
Game Hen w/​Mushroom Ravioli Special — My favorite of the entrees. The ravioli was the star and the game hen was juicy. The skin could have been crispier.
Whole Branzino Special — Slightly overcooked, nowhere near as tasty as Evvia’s. Also difficult to eat, as little to no bones were removed.
Braised Lamb Shank — Clean flavor on the lamb, tender, but I’ve had better.
The staff was nice about our party arriving late. Our waiter was friendly but very much the salesperson type. It was comical how much he raved about a bottle of wine. He also enthusiastically spoke of a couple that came in just for their Kunefe dessert because it was that good. Service was on the verge of pushy, but amusing enough that it wasn’t too bad.
Ambiance is casual and inviting. Good spot for groups. Prices are reasonable for the area and portions are generous. I would revisit and get takeout for the falafel.

I’m a fan. Small mom & pap with indoor & outdoor seating. Not too many places have that to offer so this is a huge plus for me. For a Turkish restaurant I was impressed with the vegetarian options and the creative touch to the menu. Some times restaurants like this could be a bit straight forward & boring with their menu… But they have plenty of great options from the apps to the desserts! Very good food, very nice waiter, and prices are extremely reasonable. No clue why one of the reviewers said it cost a lot. I was confused!

Pretty fancy during dinner, but pricy! It’s a small place so if you’re placed at the long cushion seats, max seating is 16 people unless you add more tables. It’s in Downtown Los Altos so parking is a hassle. I don’t know what dish is what since i let my aunt order. The octopus would have to be my favorite, but the lamb is also good. Not too salty, chewy or dry. It’s still fairly new, but with the nice décor and polite service, this is great for date night!
Octopus are in big pieces, but the salad was expensive considering it was just a few bites gor $ 12. Nobody checked on us, but Service was very attentive even though it was busy. Waiters replaced our mini bread plates too. Not something I needed, but ok. They have wraps, which is what my aunt wanted originally, but they’re only available during lunch. Was told it was to die for.
Most places don’t take amex, but this place does.

January 2016: The food is soooo delish! My goodness!!! The staff is super nice very attentive, always making sure your okay with your food and if there’s anything else you need. And it’s so nice that it’s a family owned and there young son helps out and the mom helps people seated and the dad does all around lol… Very casual place nice ambiance, the patio outside is super nice I think it’s lovely during summer. And oh make sure to leave room for your dessert, the bread pudding is to die for (it’s there family recipe).
*****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****
Feb 2016: This is our 2^nd visit to Urfa, coming here is 35mins from where we love and YES! It is worth the drive. The food here is delicious, and the serving portion is good. My plan was to eat small portion since I haven’t gone to the gym for few days, but I end up eating everything. So I said ok fine I’ll skip dessert, then dessert came I had one bite but nope I end up eating half of the bread pudding and Turkish kunefe it was so good! After our dinner I was so full that my tummy hurts when I walk. LOL my hubby had to help me walk to the car. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!!

This is the first time in a long time in which I was SURPRISED by a dining experience. And, given the five-​star rating, you know that it was a PLEASANT surprise!
Service: 5+++++++ star. Prompt, polite, generous (water AND bread re-​fill)
Food: I got the lamb+beef shish, and my boyfriend got the stuffed eggplant dish. The meats were JUICY, soft, and tenderly marinated. My boyfriend’s eggplant dish was also aromatically spiced.
We also ordered garlic truffle fries which were chunky-​cut french fries. They’re fat-​sliced– perfectly golden & crispy on the outside, buttery-​soft on the inside.
At this point (bread, fries, two mains) we were stuffed. I thought I was done with food at this point, but the server convinced me that I needed dessert!!! :) :) I first said no, then backtrack-​asked if they had baklava. Of course they did. The baklava was very interesting– instead of flat sheets, the sheets were rolled up like a spring roll. Delicious AND beautifully arranged.
I’ll note that Mediterranean food is a hit (rare) or miss (common) for me. This one was a certain hit.
All of that came out to be ~$ 48 after taxes. I thought this was SUPER reasonable for a very upscale date night location with delicious & aesthetic food in Los Altos. This is a place I can confidently say that I WILL BE BACK!

Friday night catch up dinner with a friend in Los Altos at this warm, casual eatery.
We ordered spanakopita, the grilled branzino and the Urfa combination plate.
Excellent flavors, especially on the Urfa kebab and the perfectly medium rare lamb chop. Grilled vegetables, rice, and bulgur were also tasty. No wonder the place was completely packed.
Our extremely friendly server Alex and the gracious owner only made the experience more wonderful. Treated to Turkish tea (I think the server was more than a bit captivated by my gorgeous friend) and baklava (the owner wanted to thank us for giving up our table to another party) as we sat talking and closed down the joint.
Will definitely be back! Warmer weather will mean the chance to sit in the back patio and enjoy the sunshine, and I’m looking forward to it.

Eggplant appetizer: This was fairly bland, and perhaps could have passed off as hummus had it not been for the small chunks of eggplant mixed in. This is eaten with the bread that is provided to everyone.
Urba combo: I found that this portion, while large, did not match the portion sizes at other Turkish/​Mediterranean restaurants. All the red meat servings for my night were cooked particularly rare. Perhaps future diners should clarify with the waiter their preferences when ordering.
The dining service also did not inspire much as the service felt occasionally very pushy. I felt my meals were interrupted, rather than accommodated when some staff would loudly and blankly inquire how things were. The place works, but I’m unlikely to return.

Good food (Turkish) but definitely not the best Mediterranean food that I have had. We had the hot appetizer combo, Urfa kebab, kofte, moussaka and the grill whole sea bass. All good. All tasty but the taste does not stand out.
Service is prompt.
Good solid option in the Los Altos downtown. 4 stars.