Sophie's Mediterranean Grill — Restaurant in San Jose

We recently dropped by to grab dinner at Sophie's Med. Grill, situated in the now-bustling EV square. It's a nice addition to the previously empty section. Walking in, we were promptly surprised by how casual the restaurant is. Most of the service is on you; customers pick their own seats in the spacious restaurant, and all orders are taken up front. Preparation time for the food was short (~20 min), and there's a nice selection of options to choose from. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of all the food we ordered, but the pictures attached give you an idea of the portion size for the entrees.

The chicken biryani was a little disappointing because of how little chicken there was. Overall, it didn't taste amazing, but it didn't taste bad either; it was your run-of-the-mill chicken biryani. The lamb shanks (not pictured) and lamb kebob tasted great for the price. That "lamb-y" taste was drawn out and the meat was tender. While other restaurants may prepare lamb better, they'll generally stick a higher price on it. But again, it was surprisingly pleasant. The mashed potatoes side that accompanied the lamb shanks was average, so consider choosing another side if the option is there. The grilled chicken gryo plate had too much of the white and red sauce. Mix it in with the salad though to help reduce the strong taste. Garlic and regular fries were soggy; I wouldn't recommend them.

We're not a very big fan of the paper plates. If you're eating a dish with lots of sauce, like the lamb shank with mashed potatoes side, then the plate will get damp. This allows the fork to scrape part of the surface of the paper plate off. While I'm sure that this is a way for the owner to help keep costs low, I strongly urge the staff to consider switching to ceramic tableware. After all, using disposable tableware won't be a viable choice if the number of customers increases. How many paper plates and disposable cutlery will the restaurant go through? Also, there are little flies (gnats maybe?) present in the restaurant that occasionally landed in our food. Perhaps a good fly trap would be an appropriate investment. The restaurant is still new, so I'm sure they're still working out the kinks. While I would come here again, this probably wouldn't be my...

Found this Halal place while i was looking to go out for lunch. Menu is big but little confusing when they call themselves Mediterranean. They have a mix of Afghani and Mediterranean dishes on the menu and it is a big menu. In short I called in and ordered two wraps. one grill chicken and lamb/beef gyro. To be honest they did not taste like Mediterranean. they were more of a wrap than anything. I got the wraps to go and they were not easy to eat as it was full of sauce and veggies and things were dropping with every bite. If you really would like to order the wrap, i would ask them to go easy on sauce and veggies, or get the sauce on the side. I like to give a second chance to every restaurant, so i went there again the next day and I tried to order some of the plates but they said they are not ready, then I went for the Chapli Burger with fries this time, and asked them to hold off any sauce they put it on. There white sauce is more like a ranch rather than tahini sauce, as I tasted that on wrap and did not like it. Well coming back to Chapli Burger w/ Fries. That burger was something, juicy and delicious. It comes with onions, tomatoes and feedback to the owner is , instead putting a shredded onion and diced tomatoes, please serve it with full ring of onions and tomato as it will keep things intact while eating. The burger was the winner and that will definetly bring me back to get some more of that, on top of that I picked up a red sauce bottle which looked like house hot sauce but it came out to be spicy ketchup and that was soooooooooooo good. I did not have time to talk to owner at that time to ask what is that actually, but the burger and sauce were the winners. Restaurant is very clean, inside out and large sitting area. I would definitely recommend the place for large groups and I would recommend them to call them early. I hope owner see this review, understand, improve and I will change the star rating to 4 or 5 after...

Sophie's never disappoints with their fresh, high-quality Mediterranean cuisine. Their signature Grilled Chicken Gyro plates are always cooked just right, perfectly complimented with their signature white sauce.

For those who like the extra kick, the hot sauce never goes amiss as well. At Sophie's, you can tell that they truly care about all their ingredients and the dishes that they create. I've tried the Lamb Shank, the Lamb & Beef Gyro, and the Butter Chicken / Chicken Mehkani and I've ended up satisfied with each and every dish.

Though some may complain about the wait time, Sophie's doesn't market itself as a fast food place—it is a restaurant. Quality food takes time and care, and Sophie's definitely makes it worth to wait. They cater to both dine-in customers and to take-out, with additional options of ordering ahead through phone, their website, EZCater, Doordash, and a few other common platforms.

In terms of the environment and the ambience, Sophie's is pretty plain. It's a restaurant with a varied amount of tables and layouts to accommodate both large and small groups. There are a few TV screens set up for those looking for a quieter ambiance while still being able to keep up with the latest sports and whatnot. They do have a playlist that's stuck on the same instrumental loops over and over again, but eh, it's peaceful for the most part. I'm here for the food, not the decor and the setting.

All in all, Sophie's Mediterranean Grill excels at what it does—in providing high quality Mediterranean, Greek, Middle Eastern &...