Al Azayem Restaurant — Restaurant in El Cajon

My quest for good food took me to Al Azayem in El Cajon, this particular Iftar evening. I would call the restaurant a quintessential Iraqi food establishment. You can order kebabs, shawarma, dolma, falafel, etc. There are an array of salads ranging from mayonnaise to eggplant to olive to fattoush and Iraqi, plus several more. I chose the Lamb shank entre, it came with rice and lentil soup. A colorful salad consisting of cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and yellow cabbage prefaced the main course. To my surprise, the tea I requested with the order was gratis.

The portions were abundant. The Lamb was tasty and dripping from the bone… The rice with vermicelli was delicious. The pricing was extremely reasonable and there was more than enough food for me to take home and reward the neighbor’s dog with a hefty lamb bone when I was finally finished with the excess. My visit to Al Azayem provided for a very pleasant...

The restaurant eating area is very small and crowded. The whole restaurant is dirty. The bathroom is very close to the dining area so you could hear people using the restroom and cleaning. The server (she) brought the soup on a tray and left it there for us to take the food off the tray. They brought us White Bean Soup and the soup looked like it was served by a kid. It was messy and all over the place. The people in the kitchen, since we stepped foot in the restaurant until we left, they were fighting and arguing loudly so we couldn't enjoy eating's our food. They got stressed because the had a lot of customers with a low number of employees. The employees when the exit the kitchen and enter back they dont wash their hands. For me and my family, this place was first and last time we...

First time at this "Taste of Demascus" style food restaurant not that great. I gave two stars for cleanliness, rice and salad, but taste is something else. Price was over $15 for lamb that was dry and overcooked - tough to chew and lacking and seasoned like beef; the Basmati rice was good, prepared and tasted authentic. I ordered the meal to go and got a tasty salad with my order. When I sat down at my place to eat, no fork, no sauce, no napkins, meat was really dry. To go means , not at home or the restaurant which implies I have no utensils in my pocket. I have eaten Middle-Eastern food all my life and this is not great. It's just that there are less restaurants like it in this area, but the quality is lacking. I will not be returning for overpriced...