Café Zaytoon
209 E. Canon Perdido St. (Santa Barbara St.) 
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Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805-963-1293
| Consistency is key---and in that respect Zaytoon falls woefully short. With a bit of luck, one may be treated to reasonably good Middle Eastern food and friendly service. But all too often, we’ve suffered through confused meals and service so poor it becomes insulting. The menu has all the usual Mediterranean suspects: hummus, falafel, shwarma and grape leaves. And there are occasional glimmers of culinary triumph---like the smoky, flavorful baba ghanouj, which is consistently good (in spite of the changeover from house-baked pita bread to store-bought). On its best nights, the restaurant is a festival of hookah smoke and belly dancers; lively patrons indulge in the exotic atmosphere, sitting beside fountains and under heat lamps on a lovely outdoor patio. But when your server is the one smoking the hookah, it puts something of a damper on the dining experience. |
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