Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen — Restaurant in Palo Alto

I came to this restaurant with my wife to try Mediterranean food, and sadly we were not impressed with the quality of the dishes. I would say it was average to say the least. Dry and cold lamb, the salad didn’t appear to be fresh, a disaster. If you get your meal served cold, you know the restaurant is mediocre.

The men’s bathroom was starting to get out of control in terms of how wet and how smelly it was already. This is a big no no. Pay more to whoever is responsible to keep bathrooms clean. Minimum wage won’t do it anymore, as it should be.

To the service part: our waiter was a guy who either has no training on what a professional customer service looks like, or he was simply too comfortable with us. This is no street food pal, you work at a restaurant so do yourself a favor and play the part. In any case, disappointing. Our waiter only showed up at the beginning to take our order, then he brought us two drinks, and of course he paid us a visit at the end to charge our credit card. No water in between, no concern for anything, just another day at the job I guess. His colleague, a lady with visible signs of having a recent nose surgery, did all the good work for him. She’s the reason why we’re giving this thing two stars.

By the way, when we asked for the check, the waiter came with no invoice showing a breakdown of our order, you know, basic stuff. He just showed up in our table bringing with him the card payment machine, and then he waited right there while staring at us, for me to basically confirm the tip. And yes, this place is using this ridiculous system of charging customers on the spot. No space, no time for nothing else other than feeling the pressure of having to tip this guy for a below average food and service. I picked the lower end of the suggested tip, and of course, he was visibly not happy. These people want to have it both ways. They want you to tip them really well, then add another tip on top of it (suggested in the final receipt), all while giving you a mediocre experience, plus the attitude, plus the indifference, plus the entitlement. This is the result of having low standards, unhappy, underpaid and untrained workers, and nothing to lose mentality.

We’re not coming back to this place, that’s for sure. Life is too short for crappy Mediterranean food, and a baby man with no manners taking our...

My partner and I went to this location Thursday 11/9 and we were incredibly impressed by everything, food, service, promptness and, even just the general friendliness. Before we left a server recomended we come back the following day for lunch. We did indeed return the following day and had a very different experience. Friday afternoon was quite busy when we arrived which didn't bother us much, we waited a few minutes and then were seated. They never brought us menus but I had no problem grabbing some from the front as I mentioned it was busy. The service wasn't terrible at first just seemed a bit busy and duly tired. I had to be a part of a zoom call that was scheduled and due to the timing it crept up to just before the food arrived. I eventually had to step out and by the time I came back into the restaurant it was calming down and a lot less busy. We waited to interact with our server but didn't see much of him, a different employee came by to check on us and brought over a different server to help us who we asked for another beverage and some bread. Neither ever arrived and probably 15 minutes or so later our server came by to ask how everything was, we asked him for the drink and bread which did arrive very quickly after but that was the last we saw of him. We finished our entire meal stacked our plates, waited a while, then I went up to see if I could procure our check. The food was just as good as the day prior and definitely was the highlight of this visit. The host/bartender said he would figure out who our server was and bring by our check. That gentleman who was at the front and working the bar was incredibly friendly and great at customer service, back to what we had received the first night. Upon leaving he made eye contact and wished us a good day. As we walked out the door our server did not look our way in the slightest but did extend some pleasantries as we exited the building. I struggled with leaving a review as the food was really quite delicious and everything Thurs. was so fantastic but I myself work in the service industry and when I mentioned the trip to my employer he expressed that if that had happened where I work he would have really wanted the feedback. I can genuinely say the food was amazing but the service...

Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen has a lot going for it visually. The indoor and outdoor patio seating is beautiful, with warm colors, lots of lighting fixtures, and plenty of potted plants, creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the food and service didn't quite live up to the ambiance for me. Our server was pleasant enough but inattentive. He took our order, brought the food, and then only reappeared when it was bill time. We had to flag him down for water refills.

We started with the falafel appetizer, which was a bit of a disappointment. The falafel itself wasn't as crispy as I would have liked, and the flavor was overly salty. On a brighter note, the side of fries was huge, easily enough for 2-3 people to share. They were crispy.

For my main course, I ordered the chicken kebab with rice and mixed greens. While the portion size was decent, the price felt a bit high for what you get. The dish consisted of seven pieces of chicken, a plate half-filled with greens, a watered-down tahini sauce, and rice that still had a bit of a crunch, indicating it might have been undercooked.

Overall, Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen gets 3 stars from me. The atmosphere is lovely, but the food and service could be improved. With a little more attention to detail on flavor and execution, this could be a great spot for Mediterranean fare...