Jerusalem Restaurant & Deli

Athena Grill was closed. I didn’t know they were closed on weekends so I decided to try this place out!
This place is very much hidden.
In the same parking lot vicinity as Vesuvios Italian Restaurant is the adjacent complex filled with Korean hot spots. The structure is like a Cul de sac and so you have to drive to the back end to find Jerusalem. Therefore, with no street view this place was hard to find.
I tried the chicken kebab plate and the yogurt cucumber salad. Persians also have the same yogurt dip and they call it Maust o Khiar.
The chicken was not bad but also Not the best I’ve ever had. The tomato cucumber salad was bland and the hummus was just ok. I have definitely had better of all these at other restaurants.
It’s a mom and pop restaurant– small and friendly.
I wish they had something that made my taste buds jump. Unfortunately, they didn’t.
I won’t be back because there are so many other restaurants that stand out and impress.

Good food in a good atmosphere. It’s stuck in the back of an otherwise Korean flavored strip mall.
The price is a bit more, but the food really does have a homemade taste.

Jerusalem offered up a mixed BAG OF falafel BALLS. On the one hand, their falafel was some of the best I’ve ever had. Crisp on the outside without being over fried with a lovely interior. On the other hand their $ 10.95 veggie plate isn’t such a bargain when you leave hungry. (And I’m known for eating like a bird.) Besides falafel, the combo came with tabouleh (I subbed it out for Jerusalem salad), hummus, baba ghannouj, pita, and salad (I don’t even remember the salad). Bonus points for allowing substitutions.
The hummus and baba ghannouj were fine but just fell short for me. I think it’s because I’ve been going to Gourmet Express a lot which makes the best baba ghannouj I’ve ever had and has nice garlicky hummus that makes every other restaurants’ hummus taste bland. The Jerusalem salad was okay but not memorable, consisting of tomatoes, cucumber, onions, and feta. If I return I’ll focus on the falafel wrap or falafel appetizer.
My husband got the $ 14.95 meat plate combo which left him satisfied but was getting on the expensive side (especially if you come for lunch). Basically his plate came with all the sides mine did, minus the falafel, plus meat in the form of skewers of beef, chicken, and kifta. He particularly liked the beef. I tried his tabouleh and it was fine… if you like tabouleh. I’ve had enough parsley for a lifetime and don’t need tabouleh again.
We arrived at 8:30 on a Friday night and were the only diners the entire visit. Service was a little awkward but the owners seemed very, very nice. There are often coupons for Jerusalem in The Metro.
Basically visiting Jerusalem, I learned to go back to Gourmet Express for their combo plates. They come with the excellent hummus and baba ghannouj I mentioned before, plus my favorite lemon garlic potatoes, and another side of your choice.
Not including places that I have on my Turkish, Persian, or Afghan lists…
Katya’s Israeli/​Middle Eastern/​Falafel/​Greek Rankings:
1) Gourmet Express, Milpitas
2) La Mediterranee, Berkeley
3) Holy Land, Berkeley
4) Shai’s, Kensington (closed)
5) Falafel’s Drive-​In, San Jose
6) Athena Grill, Santa Clara
7) Café Nefeli, Berkeley
8) Sinbad Mediterranean Cuisine, San Mateo
9) Armenian Gourmet, Sunnyvale
10) JERUSALEM, SANTA CLARA
11) Old Ironsides Café, Santa Clara
12) Daphne’s, Sunnyvale
13) House of Falafel, Sunnyvale
14) Olives Greek Café, San Jose
15) Krivaar, San Francisco
16) Pita Pit, San Jose
Turkish list:
Turkish Delights
Persian list:
I Heart Persian Food
Afghan list:
An Afghan Knit of Bay Area Afghan Restaurants

Found this place on Unilocal of course and decided to try it. The honey really enjoys Mediterranean cuisine so we’ve been here twice already.
Walking in the place is really cute and clean but there wasn’t that may people there for dinner. There is a small staff, 2 people strong. Walk in, sit anywhere and they bring you menus. They do take a bit to get your order but the food is worth the wait. We’ve had the meat plate combo special, lamb shawerma plate and lamb shawema wrap. They are all good!
The meat plate is my favorite! For $ 14.95 you get beef, chicken, and kifta, served with 2 falafel balls, salad, tabouleh, and baba ghannouj. The beef and chicken are juicy and flavorful. The falafel is some of the best I’ve had. Nice and crisp on the outside, still moist on the inside. The kifta is tender. The dips are my favorite! Baba ghannouj is great here! The Lamb Shawerma Plate $ 11.99 has thin sliced lamb, onion, and sumac and comes with rice or fries, humus, and salad. I have only had the rice and it was tasty. Pita bread comes to your table and you can ask for more. They put tahini and hot sauce on the table. The hot sauce is not that hot. It’s sweeter in flavor. The plates are really good and very filling.
The wrap however is a bit disappointing. For $ 7.99 you get lamb, tomatoes, parsley, sumac, onion wrapped in lavash bread like a burrito. It’s not that big and then you get two little pieces of pickles. Maybe I expect more since I go to Athena Grill and they give you a huge pita sandwich with fries or fruit for the same price. The wrap, though tasty, will probably not be ordered by me again. I will stick with the entrees or combo plates at Jerusalem.
The place is in the back of a strip mall on El Camino, plenty of parking available. The people are super nice and they come around asking how everything is and genuinely seem interested to hear you. This will become part of my regular rotation of places to eat.

Saw the cool looking Jerusalem sign from El Camino in the back of a strip mall and thought this could be a gem. Plus, for it being a couple days after Christmas what would be better than eating at a «holy restaurant» than after a holy day.
Anyways, all the standard Mediterranean fare can be found here (falafel, kebabs, etc). They didn’t have anything off the menu that looked specific to Jerusalem or anything which would have been cool to try.
I would of liked to try their food but after me and my friends were seated and waiting 15 minutes JUST to get our menus, we could of only imagined how long it would take to get our food. So… our hungry asses got up and went to 99 chicken instead. God forgives right?

Came here for lunch to take-​out and I got my usual lamb schwerma wrap and falafels. The wrap was OK to sum up. It was too big for the amount of meat they gave you but it was still delicious and tasty. I’d definitely order that again. As for the falafels, they didn’t taste too great. The outside wasn’t crispy as I usually expect from a decent falafel. Also, the red spicy sauce that they usually give me… it usually is super spicy and makes me sweat up a storm every time I dab some on my falafel ball. This time… no sweat… no tearing… no effect.
I thought I’d give this place a shot and with Yogurtworks nearby, it’s a decent option amongst the overload of Korean on El Camino.

Wish there was a way to give out ½ stars… Jerusalem is a new restaurant that has been open for about 4 months (according to the owners), and looks like that too. The interior is very clean and nice, and has that «just moved in» look and feel to it.
Looks like an older couple that runs the place, and they seemed to be pretty nice, as they kept checking up on us… Maybe I was just cranky from not enough sleep or something, but it was to a point that was a bit much for me. Granted, the place was not too busy, so maybe they were just bored. I figure that twice during a meal is sufficient to check up on your customers, and three times is OK, but more than that, and it just gets annoying.
Food-​wise, it wasn’t bad, but for the price paid, I would have expected a little something more.
Hopefully after a few more months, Jerusalem will start to attract more attentions because the restaurant is definitely good, but not quite great yet. I figure that over time, they will figure things out and make a fine restaurant.

Thanks to a review from Donna Y., I was able to find this hidden gem on El Camino not too far from my office. Meeting Ron L. and Michael C (despite Michael having very little time for lunch), we all set down to enjoy a great meal.
First off, the location. It’s a convenient location to get to, and the parking lot is fine, but finding the restaurant is a little tricky because you can’t see it easily from the street. Pay attention to the Falafel sign out front and you should be okay.
All the restaurants in this little strip mall seem new. Maybe they’re not, but at least Jerusalem is pretty new, open only 4 months.
Inside, the place is very simple, but very clean. The soda fountain is at the far end, and the seating area had nice mahogany colored low-​back veneer chairs, not unlike those you would see at a good café or cafeteria. And the place is obviously diligently kept immaculate. Though I didn’t check, I’m sure the bathroom is kept equally clean. It had the air of a place maintained by owners who really care about making a good impression. The place seems family run, and the two people taking care of us (perhaps husband and wife team?) seemed eager to please and checked up on us a number of times.
For their service and care in maintaining the restaurant alone, I want to give four stars.
But at the end of the day, it’s all about the food. We all ordered the same «meat plate» special. And though the concept is great, and the ground lamb and falafel was very good, along with the two versions of excellent hummus, I wasn’t too impressed with the beef or the chicken. Both tasted dry.
All in all, some of the food was really good. But I can’t see myself having a craving for their beef or chicken again anytime soon. I’ll be back here again some time to see if there are any changes to the menu.
Without a doubt, this place was A-​OK.
Oh…I forgot one small gripe.
The meat plate… was expensive at $ 15 and change. We had the 15% discount coupon and it was still between $ 17-​$ 18 per person. That’s a little high for lunch…

Going to this restaurant brought me back to the time when I spent a week in the Middle East not too long ago. The Jerusalem Deli is a fairly new place, being open for just four months. The place is impeccably clean, and you can tell the owners take pride not only in the service and food, but in the overall appearance of the restaurant. They are quick to lend their personalized touch, and want to make sure the diners are being taken care of. Their dedication is reflected in their attitude towards all customers.
The food was good, not great, and plenty. We all had the meat platter, which was a full platter of hummus, baba ghannouj, beef and chicken kabob, falafel, kefta, and tabbouleh salad. Everything was good, however the beef and chicken kabob would have been better if it were marinated in something, as it came out quite dry. Tahini and yogurt sauce, which was served at each table, helped add moisture to the meat dishes.
15% off discount coupons are available from their website, however it was not enough to bring the lunch price down to my bar of $ 10 per lunch. The meat platter was quite big (dinner size), and if they would take off some items to make it «lunch size» and charge less, I would be all over it.
I’d go again if others want to try it, but I’ll make sure I order something different next time.

I joined the falafel club for lunch and to resurrect my shawerma quest. I usually look for the vertical grills with shaved meat first — I didn’t see any of those here. The layout is a bit confusing. It’s barren inside and they’re standing behind the counter, so you figure that you go up to the counter to order. But then if you sit down, they come and take your order and bring you your food. They even have a soda fountain machine in the dining area — it looks like you can just serve yourself but if you dine in they fill your cup for you (weird).
I had the chicken shawerma wrap ($ 7.99). The chicken was sliced thinly (good sign) but it was very, very dry. Also I didn’t like how it was coated with an overwhelming amount of sumac. I like sumac but they just used too much of it. The wrap was mainly chicken and lavash — there weren’t enough veggies (lettuce, onion, tomatoes). There weren’t enough pickles. They didn’t throw the wrap on the grill.
I like how they brought tahini and hot sauce in squeeze bottles so you could add as much as you wanted. Unlimited soda ($ 1.50) was also a plus.
They also have deli sandwiches, kabobs, falafel, and salads. Their website has a 15% off coupon you can print out and use.
After lunch Steve L. and I peeked inside the Yogurt Works space (it’s not open yet) and talked about fro-​yo. Jerusalem Deli is in the back of the strip mall with Green Bakery and Yogurt Works.

Met Lolia S. and David P. here for lunch on a very warm weekday. I heard from Dan B. that this tucked inside a strip mall and could be difficult to find. New strip mall with a hair salon one side, a Japanese restaurant and a soon-​to-​be-​opening self serve yogurt shot (expect a review from Lolia when this place opens.
The waiter will seat you and give you a menu. They didn’t have a falafel sandwich, with the falafels stuffed between the pita. Instead they have wraps. Didn’t feel like a wrapped sandwiched, and really felt like eating some meat with some falafel.
David recommened the meat plate special, which consisted of two chunks of marinated kifta (ground beef), two chunks of beef kabob, two chunks of chicken, falafel, tabouleh, babaganouj, hummus, and of course, pita bread, all for $ 14.95. Everything was made to order and not reheated. The chicken was very moist, and not overly salted. Kifta was also moist, not dry. I was expecting the thick Israeli pita, but looks like the got the regular thinner version. For each table, they provide squeeze bottles of tahini sauce and hot sauce. Overall, pretty good combination plate, and everything was pretty good, and worth coming back.

I had a very nice lunch here with David P. recently. Though this place is a bit hard to find (in the back of a T-​shaped strip mall on the south side of El Camino) my meal was well worth the general angst of making 3 U-​turns on «the royal road» during the lunch rush.
The interior is sparkling and new. I was a bit confused about the ordering scheme at first, looking for the sign saying «order here.» Turns out you sit down to order from the waiter/​waitress. We both ordered their combination meat plate special, which featured a great variety of Mediterranean delights: falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, kufta kabob, chicken kabob, beef kabob, pita and tabouleh salad. Neither David and I wanted the tabouleh and asked if they could replace with a Jerusalem salad instead. Our cheerful, smiling waitress said it was no problem.
Cutting to the chase: my food was delicious and filling. The kufta kabob was outstanding as were both the hummus and baba ganoush. The only low point was the beef kabob, which was on the tough and chewy side. As expected from an Israeli/​Palestinian spot, the pita bread was thick and substantial, though maybe only a ⁷⁄₁₀ on the Israeli Pita scale (cuz there is such a thing). Total cost for my meal was over $ 15. This is a bit on the high side for lunch, but I don’t know any other place that offers such a great variety of items on one plate. I’ll be back to Jerusalem Restaurant, with hopefully less U-​turns next time.

I’m no expert on Middle East cuisine like Dan B. but overall, I would say its an all around good lunch spot. I ordered a combination plater and found just about everything to be tasty and well prepared. A key test for me was their baba ghannouj was on the chunky-​side with the eggplant flavors showing through the tahini dressing.
I think they are a bit too worried trying to be what they think people want instead of just being confident about the food they are serving. From the little I know about falafels, I believe that pita and not wraps are de rigueur in Israel and the pita tends to be on the thicker side. Jerusalem only offers wraps even though the pita they serve can be made into pockets. I was able to make my own pita sandwich combining their Jerusalem salad, falafel balls with tahini and hot sauce on the table. Call me lazy, but I would go out of my way to visit the place on a weekly basis if I could order it up that way in a pita.
I just don’t get their coupon challenges. I used one I found in Metro, offered it up as early as possible in the payment process and the guy still comes back saying he forgot to enter it properly. As it was for 15% off and that’s how much tip I was going to give anyway, we called it even. I was surprised to see others had problems using discount coupons for dinner. The coupon I used said nothing about when it was applicable.

So I was hesitant to try this place since the dishes are mainly lamb and thats what they are really known for. But I hate the lamby taste, since this was really a block away from the house i couldnt complain.
The place is super brand new with really clean décor and really friendly owners. They are the elderly couple and since it wasnt busy, they chit chatted with us for a while.
Okay so i ordered teh lamb shwerma with a side of fries and woot woot. I now have a favorite dish. I am now proud to sya that most burrito’s in the bay suck and I would eat a shwerma over a burrito any day. The humus was good and that white sauce in the bottle was good.
I am glad I came here and look forward to many walks here from home.
Thanks

I went to Jerusalem Restaurant a few weeks ago, looking forward to trying something new and eager to use the coupon that I had received in the mail.
It was a little hard to find at first. It is tucked away in the same strip mall as Green Bakery, which I think is the only business you can actually see from the road.
The restaurant is a very clean sit-​down place. The owner is also extremely friendly. However the service was a little slow.
We ordered the meat plate special and the veggie plate special. The food was pretty good but not great. We were also disappointed that the portions seemed smaller than the pictures. I could have used some more hummus.
I would consider going back again, mostly because when the owner said, «please come back!!!», the desperation in his voice pulled at my heartstrings. So I’d give it another chance and maybe ask for extra hummus.

We found this place because of my very good friend Karen S. (see her entry down below). Although I didn’t find this place as good as she claimed it to be, its still a pretty good place to eat.
My favorite dish at any Mediterranean restaurant is the Kifta (sometimes called Kefta or Kufta at other places). So of course I ordered the Kifta plate. It came with 3 pieces of meat over rice, vegetables, hummus, and pita bread. The meat itself was very juicy but was lacking in flavor. It had a little bit of spice in it, but not enough to make it stand out. The rice and vegetables were very tasty and i found myself eating that more than the meat. All in all i would eat here again, but there are other places that taste better for the same price. The rice plates are about 10 dollars.
The only advantage this place has over its competition is the family friendly atmosphere. As you walk in you are greeted by everyone in the kitchen (and i mean everyone from the cook all the way down to the busboy)

A nice family restaurant. I’ve actually been to Jerusalem and I have to say the food was authentic. As it should be since the owners are from Tel Aviv. Came here for a birthday dinner and we ordered Humus, Falafel, Tabouleh, and Baba Ghanoush as appetizers, shared the party platter and baklava for dessert.
Humus: Just Ok. I’ve had better but wasn’t bad.
Falafel: Crispy crunchy on the outside soft on the inside. These were really good, stick it in a pita, put some tahini sauce and you’re good to go.
Tabouleh: not sure why I didn’t have this in Israel, but this salad is really good. There’s mint and a hint of lemon which makes it very refreshing. Eat it with some pita bread, yum.
Baba Ghanoush: not a big fan of eggplant, but could actually hold this one down. Very similar to the Humus.
Party Platter: Consisted of grilled vegetables, Chicken and Lamb Shwerma, Cubed & Grilled Chicken, Beef and Lamb over rice. The Chicken was the best, nice and moist with lots of flavor. The Beef and Lamb were virtually indistinguishable to me but both grilled to about medium which is perfect for me. Had some Lamb sausage which was good. The Schwerma left a little to be desired. When I saw Shwerma on the menu I expected to see the big piece of meat rotating in the kitchen, but there wasn’t one. I remember looking through the restaurant windows in Israel and my mouth watering for Schwerma. Only ok here.
Overall stick with the falafel and cubed chicken/​lamb/​beef. Prices are reasonable and the restaurant seems to be run by a nice family. Would definitely visit again.

We were there for dinner on a Sunday night.
The «meat plate special» dish my husband had was really good. The chicken shawarma platter I had was okay, but not as good as the meat plate special :).
The service was very good also.
We will definitely be back to try some of their other dishes.

You don’t find too many Jewish focused delis in the south bay around here but it looks like JRD just popped up a month ago. The funny thing is even though the original intent was to get deli goods, we ended up doing the party platter since there were 5 of us. It comes with beef/​lamb/​chicken kabobs, beef/​chicken shwarma, hummus, falafels, tabouleh, and rice. Pretty good swath of food and for $ 60 for 6 people it’s a pretty good deal. If you look on their website you can get 15% off coupon to boot. Very friendly service but the locale might be hard to find as it’s in the very back of the complex. Definitely another good contender in the Mediterranean category for the area.

Great food, very clean facility, nice and attentive wait staffs/​cook/​owners. This place is pretty new. Strangely, it’s located in «Korean Town» part of Santa Clara. But, what a refreshing idea. I am happy to see a change of food venues, and welcome their quality food.
We had the «meat plate» special, Lamb Shwarerma plate while there. The food was a fresh as it gets. We even saw them making the Falafel from scratch. Very glad to know that the Falafel was made on premise, rather than some frozen prefried stuff. Very flavorful, light, and crisp. The Meat plate came with beef kabob, chicken kabob, and Kifta Kabob. All of which are moist, tender, and rich in flavors. The plates also came with humus, Tabbouleh, and more. Love them all. We cleaned our plates entirely.
The feel of the restaurant feels more like an extremely clean «mom n’ pop» store, rather than the fancier Café Artemis with belly dancers. What you get is that cozy feeling when you know your food are prepared with care and heart. We felt like we were treated as guests at family’s house.
Honestly, I am glad to see another small «Mom n’ Pop» restaurant that is able to deliver the quality, service, and value. It’s definitely a place worth visiting.
P. S. I also enjoy Café Artemis, but it’s a different type of restaurant.