Pita Hot — Restaurant in Fullerton

Best takeout spot in OC for Mediterranean/lebanese/mid-east food.

I’ve almost never had a bad experience with Pita Hot, I’ve been coming here for damn near 10 years! This was the first place I tried real authentic garlic sauce and if you like garlic you will want a tub of this stuff. I don’t think they use mayo, just garlic, oil and maybe lemon.

My favorite meat is the lamb, I don’t really care much for the other meats such as beef, chicken, kefta, shrimp, or the lamb chops. I believe they use leg meat which comes out very tender/clean tasting.

My favorite sides are the red cabbage and sumac onion. I tried recreating this at home but I can’t quite replicate Pita Hot’s! I might be able to come close with the meats, but Pita Hot gets my money with the sides!

The rice is pretty good too, it’s true Lebanese style with pieces of fried vermicelli. I also like getting a side of fries to dip in hummus or the garlic sauce; amazing Lebanese fusion right there.

I haven’t tried it in a while but the hummus and meat plate with beef is amazing. Minced steak type beef on top of hummus goes unreasonably hard, perfect for low carb.

Pita Hot is a true mainstay for Fullerton, Fullerton college/CSUF, and North OC in general.

It is a family business and I noticed that there is just the same lady working the front and I believe she is the owner. I can tell she is a bit exhausted because the restaurant business is long and grueling, I hope she finds the staffing she needs to maintain this business because it’s one of FEW (I’m talking 2-3) last good affordable takeout spots in the area.

The interior is a bit worn down and dirty but the food makes up for it tenfold.

EDIT: Unfortunately, as of March 2025 the Pita Hot in Fullerton, CA has fallen in quality.

It’s like the grill they were using was running out of fuel because my meat was missing the “char” marks. The meat was also very chewy because of the quality. For sumac onions they replaced the red onions with just yellow onions or something. The red onions make the dish and there should be no substitutions for this one. The sumac onions which is usually amazing, tasted off due to the change in types of onion.

Also, they increase the size of the container which is not a good look for them cause it looks like they are giving you less food.

The staff seems to be very low in morale and if any of you guys are reading this you need to relaunch your passion for this business because Pita Hot is a favored place by many in the area. This area is a food desert when it comes to good ethnic food, not some white washed Cava or chipotle.

Do not think I will be coming back...

It's OKAY. I don't live around this area but every time I'm in a new area I have to try Med. food (love it so much, looking for the best) The flavor on the meat and chicken are just ok. The rice has no particular flavor, the med. salad side was whatever and the hummus was not that good. Overall didn't really like it and would not come again. This may be one of the best in Anaheim/Fullerton area but if you've been to zankou's or gaby's in LA or GEORGIE'S in covina those are way better. The best one so far is Georgie's (I have travelled from LA to covina just for it)! Anyways, the food was not bad, portions were worth the price, however taste is wasn't, expected more from such great reviews.

OH YEAH, and no garlic sauce ?!?!?! THAT'S THE BEST PART! every other med. place I've gone to has..., idk if I was supposed to ask for it (i ordered take out) but regardless other places always put it in the container without me asking so I assume they don't have it here....

and as others have mentioned, call ahead, wait time was...

Excellent food. Really the best falafel and rice I’ve ever had.

We passed by Pita Hot a few times cause it’s next to our yoga class. Glad we decided to give it a try. They have limited vegetarian options — just falafel plate and vegan kabab plate. I highly recommend the vegan kabab plate which comes with eggplant, mushroom, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc made in the same way a kabab would be. You get to choose two sides — definitely try the baba Ganoush - which is simply amazing!

The only one thing I’ll say is that the lady who takes orders and serves in the front is either extremely overworked or just plain really really does not enjoy what she does. It like drains your energy just to talk with her for the two minutes when you’re ordering.

But if you can get past that (or order online on their website) then the food is...