Koko’s Mediterranean Cafe — Restaurant in Pasadena

My research group at Caltech has a weekly science meeting. We are a group of about 11 and we give the group lunch. I have for 2 years picked from about 4 restaurants that we like and ordered lunch. One of those restaurants has been the Mediterranean Café. I order the afternoon before and pick up lunch at 11:30. I ask my group to pick from the menu before I call. This week I spent the day getting orders from the café and called to order. I spoke with a man who said he was the owner but would not tell me his name. He said he wouldn't make 11 wraps for me because he was busy at 11:30. He also said if I wanted to order dinners he would do it. How crazy is that? He won't make 65 to 85 dollars from me consistently but would do it for more money. He obviously doesn't realize that my group has luncheons for big crowds on a regular bases and uses local restaurants. And his obvious greed is so crazy to me I can't even believe he did it. Not to mention, I have ordered this same lunch there about every 4 to 6 weeks for 2 years. I am so flabbergasted at his response and rudeness. I will never go there again and will certainly never use it for any event. I even asked if I came in to the building at 11:00 and ordered the wraps would he make them and he said no. So beware, when you go into that restaurant you might be told you aren't spending enough. Shame on you mr. I don't want to tell...

I NEVER leave reviews but this was so amazing I just had to. I ordered yesterday from Doordash. I usually have terrible luck ordering food and something is missing or cold or nasty. This order this was perfect! Well wrapped, still warm, and everything was there. I left a note explaining it was my first time ordering and received a hand written note back explaining how to differentiate between lamb and beef (it even had a smiley face 😊)

Now to the food… put it like this, they aren’t open yet but my next order is already sitting ready for me to checkout on Doordash! We had the lamb, chicken, and beef kabobs and a shawarma wrap. All the meats were moist and sooooooo flavorful 🤤! Everything was really flavorful even the rice and little side salad.

But the star of the night was the hummus. We as a family hate hummus. I started to ask them to sub it but I didn’t want to be difficult and I am so glad I didn’t. It was so flavorful and creamy. I wish I could have recorded my son’s face. When I gave it to him he a hmm look on his face 🤨 and as soon as he started eating, it switched to a grin 😄 his first words were “They’re on to something!” Needless to say they devoured half my plate! (If u have boys you know how it is) I’m ordering a 16oz of the hummus today!

If you are like me and read reviews before trying a place, believe me this place is amazing!! We will surely...

This place is epic. Fastest service. Probably one of the busiest lunch places in Old Town Pasadena, given its size. It's pretty cheap (below $10) for the meals, and every meal selection comes with everything you can possibly want in Mediterranean food. The only drawback here would be the dine-in option and the lack of seating that ensues. Can't fault the place for being so popular.

-=-Beef Kabob-=- This is practically the only thing that I get here. I've heard the chicken and shawerma were good, but why mess with those when I've already settled for my favorite. The beef...it's juicy and never dry. Your beef kabob plate comes with 2 skewers of all the meat you'll need, rice, salad, hummus, pita bread and epic garlic and hot sauces.....Emphasis on the "Epic Garlic". Eating here for my first time made me realize I was not a vampire in this, or previous, lifetimes. It's just so garlicky good. Good enough to disperse conference rooms and turn away prospective clients. Just do it, and overdo it....it's worthhhhhh it! I'll be back again to ruin yet...