Fida’s Cafe

I really shouldn’t knock a mom-​n-​pop spot in a bank building, especially one bearing the name of the wife presumably. And they are a low-​key couple, not chatty by any means but then again, you can tell there’s a natural rapport to this working couple that transcends words. Even to me, I guess, because they didn’t utter any ice-​breaker phrases to me like «How can I help you?» or «Yes, it was made this morning.» Nope, I was left to my own devices to make out their menu on the chalkboard. It became clear to me soon enough that Mediterranean fare was their specialty, so I ordered the $ 5.95 Lamb Shawarma which I took over to one of their random café tables as workers came buzzing in and out with their to-​go lunch orders.
It was rolled in a thin piece of rather flavorless lavash wrap rather than pita bread, and while there was an abundance of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, the lamb was thin and rather paltry by comparison (photo:
). It may have come from a spit at some point bu when exactly was anybody’s guess, and there wasn’t anything like tabbouleh or hummus to evoke any foreign land. The saving grace of lunch turned out to be the side salad of red onions, tomatoes and cucumbers mixed with a creamy tahini sauce (photo:
). In hindsight, I wish I just ordered that with maybe a grilled eggplant sandwich, something I could sink my teeth into. Alas, that may wait for another trip to see Fida and her husband. Maybe I’ll rate a throat clearing in my direction to acknowledge my presence.
FOOD — 2.5 stars… despite the bargain price, there’s nothing sadder than a lacking wrap but the fresh veggie salad gave me hope
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… just corporate café set-​up
SERVICE — 2 stars… say hi to FiDi Fida for me
TOTAL — 2 stars… lackluster Mediterranean seems a pity to have for lunch

Sam and George are a great wife and husband tandem, but their prices are pretty steep. Their food selections are robust, but the quantity/​quality factor is not the best.

Went here today for a quick lunch … Service and staff is super nice but I didn’t come here for good service I came here for a quick lunch and it was just awful me and my body order lamb shawarma but we got lamb in burrito rap not good at all when I tried it I want to ask them why in world would you do that to shawarma also asked if they have eggplant they were out but did offer hummus not my choice… Please owners if you will read my review fix it you will have better reviews and of cause more business but for now you only get one star for food and 5 star for service… Avg 2.5 star.

This place is so disgusting. I just bought 2 hard boiled eggs and had to throw them away because the egg whites were so rotten they had the texture of ricotta cheese when I cracked them open.
STOP TRYING TO POISON PEOPLE! #ruinedmymorning

I haven’t tried anything besides their bagels (ONLY $ 2 W/​CREAM CHEESE BTW) but the two people working are so nice! Wonderful customer service! A bagel for $ 2 around the financial district sounds unreal but it’s sold right here!
The woman works really hard and tries to make the food as quick as possible during the morning rush! It looks like she is doing a million things at once and still manages to get everyone’s food hot and ready! She literally remembers everyone’s order if they are regulars! KUDOS!
They will not accept card under $ 5 so bring cash if you plan on buying something small!

What you want for five bucks in The Financial District
A miracle
Some sandwiches suck and some are hella tasty
You figure it out
The Schwarma is not bad and The Salad is fresh and the sandwiches are one of those things that are hit and miss and preferences
Their beef is real and tasty
the old man and lady are hard workers and present most of the day
They arrive at 4am and leave a half hour after closing
BRUTAL HOURS so give them a break

The one time I decided to come try this place was my last. The old couple there is super friendly and funny but I can’t just give them my money without good food in return!
My first, last, and only visit here. Always pass by this place. One day decided to try it. I looked at the counter, everything looks good. I decided on the lasagna. Next thing you know, nice lady pops it into the microwave… for 5 minutes… even then, my food was only warm. Deal breaker. Sorry. never coming back here.

I have never thrown away lunch after 2 bites but I did today. To watch my other co-​workers do the same says a lot. 1 star is way generous… They microwaved the meat for the Gyro’s and the Sharwma… nasty lettuce and flour tortilla as the wrap… its was nasty in bite one and full on lost urge to eat on second bite.
I don’t care how affordable the meal is, crap food is crap food. We will not return to this place. I would rather go to McDonalds than here. There are a ton of food options here in the FiDi this is not one.
I would not feed my dog this food.

Best customer service and beat food in a reasonable prices
Family owned deli, it is very clean and organized store, i would love to eat there everyday

If you aren’t paying attention you could walk right past this place! One of the first spots I went for breakfast when I started working in financial district because it looked like a quick choice. It’s family owner (which you have to appreciate) and the food isn’t expensive. It’s good for breakfast or even a quick lunch if you’re looking for a pick up. Although they so have seats it’s a small establishment with few tables. Id definitely come here to read a book and eat a sandwich.

The first time that I have ever thrown a lunch that I paid for into the garbage.
That bad. I’m a little piggy, too, so if I throw lunch into the garbage… I don’t understand how this place does stay in business. Its criminal.
I got the Gyro. There’s a neon sign advertising it on the front of the café so I thought it’d be decent. So wrong.
Yes, the lady seemed very stressed with three people in the café. As cute as the husband and wife team may be, they were arguing while trying to ring up my order — I can go home for that. Then the man rang my sandwich up as $ 6 when it is clearly advertised on the menu for $ 5.50. I didn’t say anything … his tone with his wife had already intimidated me.
Imagine how robbed I felt when I got back to my office and found that the whole thing was inedible? So gross. The meat. sheesh, I don’t even know. No Tzatziki or sour cream sauce to speak of. that would have, at least, masked the nasty processed blandness of the meat and wrap. I actually don’t even understand how something so simple could have been so disgusting but it was.

The old lady running this place is bat-sh!t crazy!!! I was perusing my options & looking at Unilocal reviews, & she proceeds to think I’m up to no good for whatever paranoid reason because I wasn’t ordering right away. She loudly says, «If you don’t buy, you can’t look!»
Whiskey.
Tango.
Foxtrot.
RUDE!!!
Good thing I didn’t buy anything, because it looks as if they buy all their reheatable products at COSTCO anyway. Not mention they station their daughter there to always make it look like she’s doing college homework. Nice staging, guys!
Never. Again. Please go out of business.

We ate here on the run to an appointment we had, the place is small, attached to some business building (no bathrooms FYI), the cooks were super nice, so was the guy ringing us up (maybe a family operation), but the food was sooooo reheated frozen. oh man it was bad. I got the falafel pita sandwich, the wife had the crab cake sandwich, I hate frozen site bought stuff, I could’ve bought it and made it myself for cheaper… I was disappointed, I see little restaurants like this and really want to be wowed, and this was just not it… Family seemed nice, food was not…

I am giving them two stars because they couple running the stop was nice… although the woman was very stressed even though there were 3 people in line.
I’m not a terribly picky eater. There are things I like more than others but when it comes to salads, it’s really hard to screw up a greek salad. Fida managed to do just that. Fairly sure it was the foulest thing I’ve eaten since summer camp. The «lamb» is brown plastic, the lettuce is crap iceberg, no cheese, and a few canned olives.
My coworker also got a sandwich and a very upset stomach about 3 hours later.

Always have your phone with you! At all times, at all costs! If you leave it at home or at the office, it is useless to you and you can only blame yourself if you can’t Unilocal a restaurant in advance. (Man, I’m starting to sound like my parents)
Don’t let the glass storefront on busy California St fool you, this place isn’t that good. The lines at Sushirrito and Mixt Greens were too long, longer than normal and my adventurous feet continued to walk to where no man has gone before (well, at least this man) I walk past this Café everyday to work and there seems to be lots of people going in and out of the café, so it has to be decent, right? Nope!
The café is operated by a husband and wife team, a huge bonus in my book. The food, on the other hand, was bland and dull. I had the falafel pita. The veggies were fresh and good. The falafel was nuked in a microwave and very very dry. The pita bread was very dry and would fall apart when I picked it up.
One star for the husband and wife team and one star for the veggies. If I only had my phone with me, I could have avoided this blunder.

There were these neon lights and hand-​made signs on the front, and people wading inside, so I decided to enter Fida’s where I got the gyro sandwich and a bottle of water.
The wrap was rather average, and I wished that there was more meat inside. I find it funny when people say that they’ll «do» their food, evidenced by the hipster-​femme with purple hair in front…“I’ll do the falafel… do you have diet dr. pepper?, okay, I’ll do that.” hehe…

Love this place!
The husband and wife that run it are so sweet and really care about their customers. Their gyros are great or you can walk in and pick up fresh fruit, snacks, or drinks. I love sitting in their window seats and watch the busy bustle of the financial district pass by. Not to mention it’s right across the street from my workplace so I am a regular customer. Love you, Fidas!

I wandered out of the office today hungry and looking for lunch with no real destination. A few blocks down California I found Fida’s tucked into a lobby of a large office building. There were a few people in line so without Unilocaling I crossed myself at the door and decided to take a chance. (Just kidding, I’m Jewish)
I ordered the falafel sandwich. I was offered pita or wrap, and picturing in my head deliciously toasted lavash, I said wrap. My falafel ended up in a tortilla, so that was a mistake…
However, beyond that obvious problem, my falafel was delicious. It wasn’t too spicy for my wimpy taste buds, was full of actual falafel instead of lettuce fluff.
Price for the falafel was totally reasonable and the woman making the food called me honey. I will probably be back.

The people here are very nice. But the food is not every good.
I tried the lasagna and a cup of split pea. Lasagna was like eating school cafeteria food. It was bland and the cheese in it seemed like a cheap creamy government issue cheese. Gross. The split pea soup was ok, but very salty.
I try and give every place a couple of chances so I went back a few days later to try a breakfast burrito – it was pretty bad.
The burrito was gross because you could tell that they had used yesterdays hard boiled eggs in the burrito. The eggs were chopped up and mixed with some chorizo and cheese in a premade burrito. While this practice is efficient and probably saves them some money on eggs, it doesn’t lead to a very good breakfast burrito.

I came here earlier in the week by recommendation. Someone told me that they ate here pretty often, so I figured, «What the hey?» Now, my experience here could be a bit biased, as I had falafel a few days before at a place rated as the top restaurant in my city. It was great, and the hummus tasted like mashed potatoes.
So when I came here, I wasn’t sure of what to order. I got the quiche and salad, and then I decided on the lunch special. But since the woman was already working on my quiche, I got both.
These people are really nice and make it so that you’ll get your food ASAP; very beneficial for the hungry soul!
I really liked the quiche, abeit it could use a little more flavor. The salad was okay, but I never really considered myself a fan of vegetables. The lunch special was falafel with hummus, pita bread, some rolled up picked stuff, and some green stuff (You can tell that I’m no expert on Mediterranean food). The falafel was a bit more dry than I was used to, and the hummus was really good, but didn’t live up to the mashed potato-​hummus that I had. Nevertheless, it was cheap and was a good value for my meal.