Cafe Dahab

Everything I’ve eaten here has been great. I will admit that the service could be better and I only say this because while the servers are friendly there aren’t enough therefore the wait time is longer than I’d like. The ambience is very nice and feels authentic which is something I can appreciate.

One of the best konafa you can have. Must try it !
The place needs to be renovated by its actually a nice place. The servers are amazing and friendly.

It’s a nice Arabic place to hang out with friends and smoke hookah. Try the Arabic desert. Customer service get low when the place get busy.

Love the arabic food at café Dahab but new location on Sawtelle is not that great.

Love it here.
Amazing service and awesome vibe.
Good price.
And the food is amazing. If there is a problem they take care of it right away. Great customer service.

I discovered Egyptian food at this place that you will not find anywhere else! Their koshari is the best thing you will ever try. EVERRRRRR. It’s so good. I’d come here every day just to eat their koshari.

I absolutely love this place overall… The atmosphere is great along with the best service and the food is amazing. I have definitely recommended it to all my friends and they have become loyal customers ever since. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a great place to eat and relax with a family oriented vibe. Also a great place to have small private parties and they offer a great selection of hookah flavors…

I have no other Egyptian restaurant with which to compare, so I’ll give my overall impressions. I had the foul appetizer: so-​so; Turkish coffee: so-​so; kebdeh (liver), also so-​so. I was very hungry, so I was eager to love whatever I was tasting, but it wasn’t so. The portions were good, and my meal arrived within 20 minutes of ordering. The atmosphere gave an impression of improvisation, with mixed results — like they’re new at the food service game. I didn’t try hookah — not my cup of tea. The most unpleasant aspect of my entire dining experience was my fellow patrons: a couple of young women — one particularly talking in a loud grating voice; when they left (and I thought I might finish my meal in peace), they were replaced by an identical pair! There must be some attraction for young women to come and complain loudly while huffing tobacco — who can say?

Love it here!
Hole in the wall but amazing food and service!
All the servers are friendly and nice.

My partner and I were in the area, decided to check this place out on a Sunday night. Food was pretty good but unfortunately our appetizers (chicken sliders and fries) came out slightly cold. My advice to this restaurant. Get more staff! It looked like they had two female waiters for the entire restaurant. They were both nice, but super busy. Perhaps if they had more staff, our food would have came out warm. The combo plate was delicious. Chicken and Shish. Salad was bland. Unfortunately won’t be back anytime soon.

This is most definitely my favorite Egyptian restaurant in LA. Workers are very helpful and nice. Not one time have I went and been disappointed, atmosphere is very friendly and cozy. Hummus and koushri are Must trys!

Conveniently located near all the tasty stuff available on Sawtelle, Café Dahab offers a mellow, hole-​in-​the-​wall style environment for you and your crew to get your hookah on:
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+ The hookah bar has an abundance of dim lighting and plush cushioning, making it easy for patrons to unwind & kick their feet up. We had no trouble with snagging a table for four, and our group had plenty of room to unwind in spite of our table’s location in a back corner.
There are two large TVs mounted on the walls, and Café Dahab had an NBA game showing on the night that we visited. Due to the layout and setup of the hookah bar, you’re pretty much guaranteed a view of a TV no matter where you’re seated.
— While it was nice to have an abundance of space to ourselves, I couldn’t help but notice the general wear & tear of the hookah bar area. Though some might say that the aging tile and rips in the cushions added to the «off the beaten path» vibe of the place, I thought that Café Dahab could’ve certainly benefited from a little sprucing up. The upholstery and aesthetics seemed really dingy overall.
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+ I didn’t get the name of our server, but she was attentive and polite.
Per her suggestion, our group ordered a combination of sweet fruit flavors — White Gummy Bear & a second variety that I can’t recall. Her recommendation was excellent — sugary, relaxing, and a perfect follow up to the big dinner that we had just finished down the street.
+ The Café has a one-​drink mandatory minimum for hookah-​buying patrons (so expect to spend around $ 8 – 10 after tip if you’re splitting among a party of four). We decided to order up some tea, which worked out quite well in unison with our fruit-​flavored hookah.
+ Café Dahab doesn’t provide its own alcohol for patrons to enjoy, but you do have the option to bring in your own wine for a modest $ 15 corkage fee. While we didn’t get the chance to take advantage of this offer during our visit, I was intrigued; hookah & wine sound like a match made in heaven!
+ We came here strictly for a little hookah relaxation, so I can’t really speak as to the quality of Café Dahab’s food… maybe next time!
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While it’s neither the sexiest hangout spot nor the most premium hookah bar around, Café Dahab is a nice alternative to some of the more-​frequented bars/​lounges found on the Westside.

The baba ganoush was very good as well as the falafels. The services was ok, but the place was not very crowded. I love myself some falafels but honestly with was a little over priced. Got only falafels, baba G and two ice creams and it was over 30 $$$

Best hookah the owner Jon is amazing. Makes u feel at home. He has the best personality. I will be coming back here for more than the hookah! Great vibes

The worst service
Got our food was burned
Our Freind send his burned steak back
We wind up going to diner else where

I went there on Saturday night, there weren’t many people in the restaurant, we had liver and quail, the liver was ok, the quail was good and grilled to perfection but the rice that comes with it, was not ok, the hookah was good. We finished with om Ali «desert» which was delicious :). I think the restaurant needs some renovation and more cleaning. It is not a good place for dating in other words.
The staff is attentive and helpful. One more thing, tips is included in the check.

Food here is on point! Felt like my moms cooking! And the hookah is just right! I definitely would recommend this spot to anyone visiting Santa Monica!

I didn’t like the place, the workers and I will never go there
but I will write an honest review:
What good about it:
excellent Location
and the way they present Fruit
what BAD about it:
Who work there are the worst, I ordered a Shawarma and I got it after 1 hour. They served us the worst service. and they are not welcoming.
the Food is not good, I smelled a bad smell of the checkin.
they don’t clean the tables, and remove the dishes.
don’t order a hookah because you will never get charcoal.
Don’t go to the washrooms, cause it’S just DISGUSTING
WHAT IS IMPORTANT: if you wanna pay seperate they tell you can’t because you are a group and each debit use gonna cost them.

Wow! Where do I start! I’m gonna start with service. It’s horrible! I’m not one to put bad reviews but my experience from start to finish was horrible. We were about to walk out when the appetizers came and I wish we did.
First off there was no one even around when we walked in so we sat ourselves outside in the patio. All tables were dirty so we just sat at one waiting for someone to come out and greet us and clean the table. So about 5min later a lady came out and says oh sorry I was cleaning another table and left the dirty dishes here but the table is clean. So the table was sticky with food pieces on it and you could clearly see that the table was dirty! She leaves comes back 5 min later and she asks what would we like to order. I got angry because we were never even given a menu or had the table cleaned. So she apologizes and gets us menus and takes our drink orders.
Now our drinks come and it was 6 of us and 3 of the plastic cups were chipped. Like do you not check the quality of your cups before you serve them to your guests??? And we had ordered 2 bottles of water and they had brought out 2 cups of water. We ask where are the bottles of water and she said that they had poured it into the cups for us. I think not. So we asked to have the bottle brought out so we can pour it ourselves into a cup.
So now our appetizers come out with some plates so we can share. I’m passing out plates and the first and second were clean then from there on they were dirty, stickey and had coffee grinds all over them. Obviously they brought us out some dirty dishes. We were so upset. We show them the plates and they take the plates back. The girl comes back with the same plates rinsed and wet! That was a sign, we should have left.
We had Shawarma sliders as appetizers that were ok. I didn’t care too much for it cause they use Hawaiian bread and it was just a bit too sweet for me. And we had ordered The Feast I believe that’s what it was called where it comes with 2 skewers of chicken, 2 of ground beef and 2 of filet mignon. We had asked for one extra skewer of each. And The Feast is suppose to come with rice and tomatoes and onions as it was pictured in the menu. Well the obvious happened. They forgot the extra 3 skewers and had barely put any rice that would even feed the 6 of us. So we had to order extra rice and wait for the other skewers to be cooked! She said that the amount of rice they had put for us is the full amount for the order so if we want more rice it has to be ordered.
I was so disgusted with seeing the dirty plates that I couldn’t eat. And the chicken was dry and most of the meat was burned. So honestly it was horrible. And to top it off they add an 18% gratuity to the bill.
Oh and I almost forgot. The woman’s bathroom has no running water! The sink was broken, well the handle to turn on the water. I couldn’t even wash my hands on my way out. And I tell the waitress and she’s like oh yes I’m so sorry it’s broken. So I was like where do I wash my hands and shes like I’m sorry we don’t have anywhere else here for you to wash your hands. Boy am I glad I carry handwipes and sanitizer with me. Just horrible. So not worth it.

This is a good place for smoking hooka but it also has a great looking menu. Even at 2 AM this joint is packed. they offer complimentary Backgammon boxes (tavla to some, Nardi to others). desserts are tasty as is tea. no alcohol as I can see. good music. and a nice staff.