Kebabs of Hayes Valley

Good deal, good variety, but why is the meat always dry?
Need to change meat quality or cooking method.

There is a reason I pay good money to eat out, I can’t cook.
I have been here on multiple occasions and have had several dishes — gyro wrap, adana plate, the salad, and the Alexander Kebab. The reason I rate this place so low is that it keeps getting worse every time I go back!
Last night was the final straw. I ordered the Alexander Kebab and was served a gloppy mess of meat, bread, and yogurt. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a meat connesuir and I could tell from the smell of the dish that it had not been cooked properly and had been left out for too long. I took a few bites and cut my losses. Despite barely touching the dish I ended up with a pretty bad stomach ache which is a telltale sign of poor hygiene in the kitchen.
I have had decent experiences here in the past but I get the sense that the management is not paying as much attention to quality and taste that they have in the past. Hope they can turn it around — but this place is off my list.

Meh

Worst Gyro ever.
Like, I actually worried ~ when I saw the presentation ~ if I’d get food poisoning. Then I took a bite, thinking I was being unfair, and it was just awful. Dry. Weird flavor. People who run the place seem friendly enough.

Came here for a weekday lunch. Food was really good, no complains there. I got the plate of lamb and beef gyro — love it! And the carrot and cabbage salad, i like a lot. Place was clean too.
The place was quiet, too quiet for me. I was expecting that for a location like this, businesses left and right, this place will be buzzing. Or maybe not… bums were every where at the city hall area, it’s turning people off.

Don’t love it and don’t hate it. The kebabs here did not leave much of an impression. Had the Kofte Kebab and Lamb Shish Wrap. Both tasted good but not as juicy as I would like. The flavors were just alright. The hummus could use a bit more olive oil. They could really do better with the side too. Fries and salad were both very mediocre.
Convenient location for a pre/​post show dinner. Food took a while to be prepared even though they weren’t that busy. Very reasonable price and clean décor.

i had a lamb and beef gyro and a greek salad. pretty goooooddd. the guy behind the counter was super friendly and very helpful.
(they also had beer which was pretty cool)
i willlllll b back! =)

Hayes Valley is an artistic, diverse neighborhood with a mixed income and ethnic population of peoples. Coming from the most segregated city in the nation, it was a tearful, hippy-​style moment for me, of getting choked up and talking about love and hope for the human race, after walking down a street filled with white, Latino, black, and Asian residents out in their yards, lounging, walking to the corner mart, and just living life. Wow, one doesn’t realize how segregated their city really is until they see Hayes Valley and consider it exceptional.
Walking down the street, I was caught off guard after turning the corner, and facing a large, towering statue made fully of rusted brown metals, of a tall, slender woman with her face lifted towards the sky, her hands raised to her heart as if rejoicing in the sun. Her long hair fell down her back in long metal chains, large hooks like conch shells woven through her braids.
I am a frumpy mid-​westerner from a fairly small, big city. to see art of this magnitude is cathartic in itself. And to be walking through a neighborhood and see art like this?! I was awestruck.
Turn one more corner and there is Kebabs, and a gastronomic experience of a whole new level. We walked in to see a clean, fairly new looking restaurant with the feel of a Mediterranean place suited for take-​out, yet offering seating that plenty of people have taken advantage of. One orders at the cash register, fast food style, and then takes a seat with a number, proceeding to wait for the food to be made fresh, and brought out to your table.
As we sat, we eyed the elaborate Hookahs surrounding us, and began to pine for strawberry flavored charcoal and long, drawn out puffs of smoke. We sat and eavesdropped on a group of Muslim intellectuals discussing Bush era tax cuts, the burdens of the financial crisis being placed on the poor and working class, and we nodded our heads in agreement while forming our own arguments in our heads…
And just as suddenly, our food was being served to us and we were digging in. I ordered the Adana wrap. It is ground lamb, cooked medium rare, mixed with spices, homemade sauce, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and all wrapped up nicely in pita bread. Served on the side was a small salad, and a serving of homemade, extra good, tear jerking, hot sauce.
San Francisco is where my love affair with lamb first took root, and I have yet to find a kebab place better than the one we stumbled upon, on our journey through Hayes Valley.
It is so hard living in Milwaukee, and having nothing that compares to Kebabs of Hayes Valley.

good but nothing special. i got the kofte kebab plate to-​go. the kofte was smothered in some kind of sauce with mushrooms remniscent of salisbury steak, which i didn’t care for. i wanted it plain. and what’s with these kebab places giving you a slab of bread? to their credit, it’s a nice warm huge roll but i kinda want pita when i’m at a kebab spot.
the rice pilaf was really good, but i’m a rice junkie.

Low-​key, pleasant atmosphere — fresh and delicious food!
Their Falafal is perfect.
My boyfriend noted that his gyro was delicious, yet not overly greasy like most he’s had in the past.
The women taking our order was extremely nice.
I’ll definitely be back.

What a great place! We had the Lamb Kebab, of course, and it was perfect. Two skewers of delicious lamb, very tasty rice, with carrot, red cabbage & lettuce salad.
In here you order & pay, sit down, & they bring you your food.
This is a very good little restaurant.

I really really really wanted to like this place. They blew it. I like kebabs. This place is called Kebabs. It seemed like a match made in heaven.
I ordered a Kofte plate. 3 small pieces of ground lamb, a side of rice, a small salad (lettuce, carrots, pickled raddish), and 1 round piece of «pita» bread. $ 10.99. Great, we live in San Francisco, we’re immune to price tags. Eff that. At $ 10.99, I figured I had a large plate of food headed my way, but nope.
I’ll give them two stars, because the tragic part is, the food is pretty good. Not the best, but it’s stuff I would definitely eat regularly if it were $ 7 – 8. But I can’t justify spending $ 12 after tax on mediocre take-​out (and if we all just stopped paying it, prices would go down). High prices might be okay for great service and atmosphere, but charging me $ 12 for what I figure is about $ 1.50 in average food is an insult.
Oh, and when, in the process of overcharging me, you hand me a credit card slip with a Tip line on it… For takeout… You make me want to reach across the register and punch your nose.
It’s also worth mentioning that the pita is unlike any pita I’ve ever had. It tastes like they make it there, it’s really good, almost a little sweetness in the aftertaste. It’s just different. It’s thicker, and a little more chewy, ALMOSTTTT like a focaccia, but thinner than that.

I’ve been here a couple of times because I love Gyros and I REALLY wanted these to be good. They’re not. They are very bland and the bread they use for the wrap has a gooey floury taste. They won’t serve Gyros on pita, even if you ask.
The location is great and the staff is nice, not great, but nice.
I can’t imagine going here again unless they get a new cook.

I was looking for something light, so I ordered a greek salad with 2 falafels on the side. The meal failed to meet my «light» requirement, but I won’t fault the restaurant for my inability to stop eating when I’m full.
The salad was a large heap of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and very tasty feta cheese. I added two side falafels ($ 1 each) to try to turn my salad into a meal, but I overshot. The falafel was tasty but a bit over-​cooked; I like my falafel crunchy, but I don’t want to need a fork and knife to pry it open. The meal came with a large roll of crusty bread, which I personally like better than the pita bread that is typical of Mediterranean cuisine. Overall I was quite satisfied and quite full.

Worst service in the city. I once ordered a chicken gyro, waited 20 mins and then when they brought it out, they told me they ran out of chicken and hoped I was OK with beef instead.
True story.
I am never coming back here.

Have you been around this area? If yes, then you’d know there is no Mediterranean food. There’s Gyro King in the Civic Center by the BART station but it’s a tad below sub par.
Kebabs of Hayes Valley has plenty of seating. Their food is fresh and plentiful. A plate is definitely worth your $$ seeing as how large the portions are. You’ll leave full as hell and needing to unbutton your pants.
I LOVE THE BEEF & LAMB KEBABS!!!
Oh, the guys who run the joint are super nice too.

As our trip was winding down and we were thinking about the return trip to Portland, we found it.
I really hate it when you have to order at the counter, hence, minus 1 star.
The food was pretty good and I even told the server girl, that hottie little Turkish girl, that it was probably the best Falafel I’ve ever had. It was made from scratch, fried to perfection, crunchy, delectable. I would go back just for that. She was very good with the water and really tried to keep our glasses full. If they added table service they would get another star from me. Loved it.
Biggest detractor for be besides the lack of table service was the seating arrangement. The way the tables were set up, 1 or 2 people at the table are going to be staring at a wall. I opted to sit beside him rather than do that.
Oh yeah, I’ll be back next time I’m here.

Kebabs of Hayes Valley, it’s not you, it’s me… well okay, it’s also kind of you. I’m sorry, I don’t think we should be seeing each other again. Yeah, actually, it’s mostly you: amateurish falafel, overly browned and comically squirted with tahini. Disappointing kefta, small portions considering the prices (I know it’s Hayes Valley and capitalism is brutal, but come on). You tried, Kebabs, and I respect that; this little game of love that we play can be a harsh mistress. I tried too, but it’s time to move on. Don’t call me, please.
I’m serious.

I’m a fan of cheap gyros/​kebabs, etc, and the one I had here was pretty good (hence not one star). HOWEVER, when the guy taking my order made a joke about my eyesight (I was wearing glasses — WTF?), I realized it was amateur hour and these guys need some training before they serve the public.
I don’t think it was malicious, just dumb. And unprofessional. And as a fan of standup, I would love to see funny man on stage. That’d be a hoot.

Hurray for another lunch option in Hayes Valley! I was on my way to Arlequin for lunch and I noticed that the new Mediterranean place across the street had opened up. It turns out today was their grand opening.
The place was nice and the seats were comfortable. I ordered the Gyro Plate which came with a side of sheppard’s salad, rice pilaf, tzatziki sauce, and a loaf of this delightful bread that the person I spoke to described as ‘traditional Turkish bread.’ The gyro was surprisingly delicious and seasoned to perfection. It wasn’t the long gyro strips I’m accustomed to in other Mediterranean places, but rather, it was thin and almost «shaved» (for lack of a better word). I did notice that the gyro was quite fatty. You could taste the grease on your lips after taking a bite, and the meat would leave a pool of fat behind on my plate. The salad could have used some more flavor or seasoning but the tzatziki sauce was thick and creamy, and provided a nice cool, tangy compliment to the gyro.
My meal came out quickly and the total with tax and tip came out to just around $ 12. Other plates were similarly priced. Kebabs of Hayes Valley also had a number of sides for about $ 4-​$ 5 and most of their wraps went for about $ 7. The baklava they had laid out looked absolutely incredible and will definitely warrant a future visit.
I was torn between giving the place three or four stars, but it was their first day so I’m giving them the benefit of doubt, with the hope that the food will only get better from here on out.