Cobani Gyro & Kebab

Wow, this is as good as it gets! Great Halal Greek food, prompt and courteous service,
and the staff is polite, upscale, and a very quaint atmosphere to just go and sit down,
whether its inside or outside on the dining, just for a modest redux of old century-​styled
Greek food at very reasonable prices.
Just happened to stop by Cobani for a modest steak gyro plate, served of course, with
a small Greek feta cheese salad, and a sparkling bottled water!
The food on the menu is absolutely great, with a simple variety of Halal Greek dishes, that
will definitely suit the thirsty appetite.
Normally, I drop by for lunch on my lunch hour, to just kick back and relax, enjoying the
hustle and bustle of the busy streets on the other side of town in sunny San Mateo.
Perhaps the best on the house, is the Gyro plate, choice of salmon, steak, chicken, pork,
seafood and fish, and delicious lamb kebab, falafel, and rice and salad to serve you.
With a most scrumptious meal, gyros and kebabs are the thoroughfaire of the day, of
monton ajour, definitely to your sheer delight!
Cobani Gyro and Kebab offers free delivery and catering, for both house party and
office events. Have used them for catering for several office events and fashion shows,
at a one of a kind deal that one can always use for a quick scrumptious meals at very
reasonable prices.
Baklava and Rice pudding are offered for dessert, lentil soup being the soup of the day,
generally speaking a most memorable dining event to even take a date for a wonderful
outing on the town, located right in the heart of the business district of San Mateo!
ciao,

The food here is on point. We each had a combo plate and they were all good. The #11 was really good. Will definitely go back.

So so good! Everything tasted just right n meat mix plate was amazing. Great Halal food (not many out there) for all my Muslim brothers n sisters.

Im very familiar with the style of food and let me say its very delicious and tasty.
Absolutely recommend this place. Amazing and great food and environment!
Very friendly and nice people! Food is just fantabulous!!! Definitely coming back next time!!!

Food was tasty and presentation was good! Service was average. This place gets really busy! We got there around 8:00pm and they were out of some dishes. So I was sad about that. However, the dishes we did order were tasty and my daughters ate all their meat! This place is very noisy! So if you’re coming here to eat in peace… Go some where else. Lol.

Excellent Mediterranean food period. From wraps to kebab plates to salads, they have a large variety for everyone’s cravings. The prices are very reasonable. Falafels were the highlight for me — crispy on the outside and moist on the inside as it should be. Can get busy during lunch so give yourself an extra dose of patience.
Only gripe was that there was a line of about 5 – 6 deep (I was next to order) and the phone rang. She asked me to wait and proceeded to ask the caller for the order. I stood there awkwardly listening to her phone conversation. Of course the caller had a million questions and the cashier kept repeating «I’m very busy right now» but obviously the caller didn’t have a clue. Calls should be picked up by another employee while the cashier serves those who took the time to wait line. Why should a caller jump straight to the front of the orders? Makes no sense.
Otherwise, the food was … I would say excellent … but their operations need some fine tuning. I will, oh wait, I already went back … for dinner on the same day. It was that good!

Excellent Mediterranean food. We ordered the wraps for lunch and they were very tasty. Falafels are moist and the lamb and beef gyro were very tasty! They offer several combo plates with prices between $ 11-​$ 17. The wraps are $ 7.99.

Very good Mediterranean food in a pleasant neighborhood location. We come here often. The wraps and plates are excellent. Tasty, cooked to perfection, and good sized portions. Not cheap but not unreasonably expensive either. I would say the price matches the quality and quantity. Front counter service and self help to soda. They give you a number and bring the food to your table and clean up afterwards. Fairly efficient but not too friendly service. At least they are not rude so I would take neutral service any day. Good for lunch or dinner. Good for families too.

Going to take back my 5 star review. The food is still good but the service has taken a dive. The gal at the register with the rose tattoo was very rude on the phone and in person (pickup) as well. They also forgot an item but still charged me for it. Still a great (re:amazing restaurant) but their pickup service needs work.

I had lunch here today. You order at the counter and they bring it to. I couldn’t tell you what language the owners were speaking but it was pretty bad ass like Russian/​Algerian kick ass mafia type of language. Loved it! hahahaha.
I ordered the gyro combo platter with lamd/​beeg gyro, chicken gyro, hummus, rice (which is substitued for double salad), salad with a home made lemony dressing, and room temp pita bread (i didn’t touch the bread so i can’t tell you if it was good).
The food was beautiful to look at! It was well presented on a platter with everything laid out beautifully. You eat with your eyes first at this place, definitely worth the four stars.
Beef/​lamb gyro — a little salty but good flavor and lots of it.
Chicken gyro — wonderful flavor I really enjoy this especially with alittle bit of the hot sauce on it dipped in hummus.
Hummus — how do you screw up hummus? You can’t
Salad — wonderful with Persian cucumbers, marinated red cabbage, tomato and romaine. Loved the fresh olive oil dressing.
Would I come back? Yes

I was in San Mateo one evening and wanted to try a new place while it being relatively healthy. Cobani popped up in my Unilocal search and I’m very glad I paid the restaurant as visit.
The menu was pretty extensive and was laid out above the cashier upon walking in. The staff was courteous but they weren’t particularly friendly when I came by. There was a lot of seating with some located outside. I think they also offer free wi-​fi. There were also large tvs so we were able to catch a Warriors game with dinner.
Our food took a bit longer to come out than I hoped. We had the garlic fries which were nicely spiced and I could clearly detect cumin. We also ordered the mixed grill plate and I loved everything on it from the salad, to the different meats, and then the pita plus hummus and tzatziki sauce. This plate plus the fries was plenty of food for 2.
I’d love to come back and also try their dessert!

The food at Cobani Gyro and Kebab is so good that I would go every week if I could. The comparison to other Mediterranean/​Turkish places I’ve been to is unfair because Cobani is just too damn delicious. On top of that, the setting is quick, unpretentious, and less expensive than full service restaurants (I’m glaring at you Shalizaar).
The shop is located off El Camino Real in San Mateo on 25^th. You can also order delivery if you live nearby. I’m a fan of the «order at the counter and we’ll bring the food to you» set-​up and it works very well here. The quality of the meats and rice is terrific; the portions are generous as heck. I’ve had the combo plate with lamb, beef, and chicken (my favorite thing here) and the chicken shish kebab plate. The salad served with the plates was not the typical afterthought one usually sees on some menus; it was delicious. The hummus they serve with the plates is fresh and creamy. Service is warm and fast. High five, two thumbs up, 5 stars, whatever, just let me eat this tasty food!

I’ll give this place 3.5 stars. I ordered beef and lam combo gyro plate that comes with salad, hummus and rice. Over all I think $ 12 is a little pricy for what it is for lunch, but it is good portion, and meet and rice were flavorful and salad was fresh. I even had a leftover. Last time I had a meat plate and that was better. A little more pricy but it’s worth it to get a real cut of meat instead of gyro. Healthier too.
I will come back here again!

I was looking for a good lunch spot near the San Mateo Event Center so I could stop by the Toms Warehouse sale after eating. The bf is on a diet so I was looking for something «low carb». And that’s how I came upon Cobani Gyro & Kebab.
We got the mixed grill plate for $ 18.25. This was perfect for two. It came with all their different types of meat (a great sampler plate), salad, hummus, rice, grilled veggies, yogurt sauce and pita.
Everything was delicious! My favorite was the gyro meat (the sliced chicken and lamb). The giants cubes of chicken were surprisingly not dry as thick cuts of chicken breast are difficult to cook thoroughly and having it stay juicy. The meats had a good char taste from the grill. I loved the yogurt sauce.
This place is definitely a bang for your buck!
Service was average. You order at the cashier, grab a number, find an open table and wait for your food to arrive. Food came out at a reasonable time, ~15 mins. I’m assuming there’s a wait time because the meats are grilled to order.
Overall, I had a great experience. This would have been a low carb meal if the bf didn’t eat all the rice and pita. But I guess that means it was just that good! We will definitely be back. I want to try their gyros next time.

Order first, then sit. But if you have friends with you, grab and save seat.
FOOD: Great! Meat was perfect. Tender. Salad was good portion. Main dish was a good portion as well. I ordered Lamb and Beef Gyro Wrap and Lam and Beef Gyro plate (#11). I like the wrap, but I think I like Shawarma more, just because I want more sauce. The wrap came with a good portion of salad, no hummus. The plate was good, it came with hummus, salad, and rice. Baclava for dessert; you get two slices for one order. Really good but too oily.
DRINKS: it’s a well/​fountain so serve yourself. They also have bottled drinks, so pick your choice. Also, just a tip, get your drink while in line so you don’t have to hold up the line when placing order and paying. They have free water from the fountain, but no warm/​hot water :(. BUT they have a selection of wine.
SPACE: pretty decent space, tables are not that close, still have privacy. They also have outdoor seating!
RESTROOM: It’s okay, not dirty, not a place you’d want to lounge either.

Good value
Style: Turkish & Greek foods.
Combo kabob, mixture of chicken, lamb and beef. If you choose dine-​in, you get a crisp side green salad with slivers of pickled red cabbage.
Décor: ok, big windows.
Customer service: courteous

A nice place in San Mateo on the 25^th street — finally a good Mediterranean (Turkish, I believe) spot in town.
It has an ‘order at the counter’ model, and they start to cook. They have a variety of choices — gyro meat (the one they cut from a rotating stick), ground kabob, and just marinated kabobs. We went for a mixed meat platter — it came with hummus, salad, and rice. Accompanied with a soup — we were not able to finish it all. Really a lot of food.
Don’t skip the dessert — the rice pudding will definitely make me come back.
The only note to the owners — I wish the place was a bit cleaner… one of the baskets they used to bring pita was a bit… well, not really clean.
Bathroom too…

I think that the food is top notch here. Love goes into this food. Take one look at the presentation and take one bite and you’ll understand.
Casual lunchtime joint. Friendly service — everyone has a smile on their face.
The plates are so beautiful you don’t even wanna mess it up!
I think it’s fantastic. I also think it’s a little bit overpriced for the type of establishment.
Despite that, you get amazing middle eastern, mediterranean food not far from SF!

Ordered online for a relaxing Friday night at home.
I was super excited about trying this place out with a beef/​lamb gyro wrap for the bf and beef and lamb gyro salad for me.
I literally went back and forth deciding whether to get a wrap or a salad. It took me 7 mins of staring at both items in my cart to decide how I felt about one or the other. I ended up going with the salad because I wanted to feel good in the dress I was wearing for an engagement tomorrow night.
Unfortunately as I started diving into my salad, I found chunks of white lard over all the vegetables and meat and I suddenly realized how much grease was covering my mouth. Curious to find out where the white chunks were coming from, I dug around more. Lo and behold, the bottom of the salad container was covered in hard lard.
Disgusting.
I called the place and spoke with the mgr. He had no insight into what it could be and why it was there. As far as trying to compensate for the inconvenience, he offered a free dish next time I come. No refund despite the salad being inedible.
Needless to say, I don’t think I’ll be back for that free meal. It’s also unfortunate I opted for a salad in effort to feel slim in my dress tomorrow as all I ended up getting was mouthfuls of lard :(
My speculation is that they must heat the pre-​cooked meat in lard to make it look fresh. I ordered to go so by the time I got home, the lard must have dripped to the bottom because there was so much of it and it congealed on the bottom of the tray.
If I knew I was going to be consuming so much oil and fat, I would have at least spent the meal on something worthwhile like a bomb ass burger! Fail.

What do you get when you have delicious food beautifully presented at reasonable prices? A 5 star joint thats what.
Ever since I found this place on Unilocal,we have eaten here almost every Sunday for the past 6 weeks and I have never been disappointed.
The food is seasoned and cooked to perfection. Most of the meals are served on wooden cutting boards which are aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. I do notice the little touches such as the grilled pepper and tomato, the splash of chili in the hummus, and the slices of beets in the salad all lend to the beautiful plating. Who am I kidding! They could serve it on a paper plate and they would still get 5 stars. The food is that good. They even pack their togo beautifully. They dont skimp on portions and price is fair at $ 13 a plate.
Order at the counter, self serve water and utensils. they bring out your food when it’s ready. If you are a carnivore and want to try a little bit of everything, get the mixed grill.
Overall LOVE LOVE this place!
5 stars!