Yafa cuisine

Amazing and fresh food! And the employees are exceptionally nice. The ambience is amazing and very friendly.

I came here after visiting family nearby. It's located facing the street, sharing the building with an Indian grocery store. I got the double Arabic combo ($26.99) to try the chicken and beef shawarma. It comes with a box of hot French fries and sides of hummus and pickles. The portions were a good size and I had plenty of leftovers to bring home, the meat was tender and juicy. It was seasoned well and the wraps were cut into smaller pieces that were easier to eat. The lady was nice and the order came quickly.

Small place but great food. Be careful my auto navigation took me into the Arco when this place is right next door but different parking. Patio area is bigger than inside and next to a busy street.

My second time here, the first was last year, and I had a falafel wrap on the Flatbread, as well as some pastries. I enjoyed everything then and had been meaning to return. That overdue day came finally because I had to buy some spices at the adjacent Indian market, plus I was hungry after a morning hike. A nice gentleman greeted me and took my order. 8 wanted to try something grilled, and the Tawook chicken (kabobs without the veggies) plate seemed perfect. He said it would take between 10 and 15 minutes to prepare, so I got comfortable outside on the patio. Before too long, he came out with the food and doubled back with a napkin dispenser, too. Very thoughtful, and I really appreciated the hospitality. Beautiful presentation! The Basmati rice is cooked with a mild spice, and the pickled with olives were equally delicious. I love their hummus, too. The added touch of cooked, whole garbanzo beans and drizzled with a first-rate olive oil. I've read here on Yelp that it's an estate oil from Ramallah. Outstanding flavor. If I have one criticism, it's that the chicken was cooked at tad too long.Otherwise, excellent. The extra pita bread made sure that my leftovers had something to keep them company. I also liked the garlic sauce with its creamy texture and balanced garlic flavor. I've been to other restaurants where I dreaded being in public on account of massive amounts of garlic.I'm looking forward to trying Shawerma and other things in the future.

Best falafel place in town, these taste like the ones you eat in the Middle East which is rare in Southern California. The falafel wrap will fill you up. This is one of the rare places that you will find diet 7up, for real! The people here are Generous and nice. Although the inside is not wide, however they have abundant places to sit and eat outside. I recommend this place for Falafel and humus.

My review's early version (monday) was posted without my stamp of approval (so sorry). Twitchy fingers, I guess, plus Yelp blocking my attempts to edit. So finally, here is the more concise version I'd prefer.We were actually heading for a Filipino restaurant when we realized it was actually a catering business. Our lunch plans were shot. So we did a quick turnabout and noticed tiny Yafa quietly waiting to be noticed. We are big fans of Middle Eastern cuisine, but it was their excellent Yelp ratings that made us extra curious, especially since they have not been open for a year yet. Yafa is a small dining establishment located not too far from UCR (Univ of California, Riverside). There are 3 or 4 tables inside and more seating on a small patio but with little shade. They are very friendly and clean. The food is Halal. They may offer a limited menu, but prices are quite reasonable. Everything we tasted made my heart sing.They have a vegetarian sampler platter called the Yafa Veggie Platter. You get a nice serving of hummus, babaganoush, 4 freshly cooked falafel, 2 stuffed grape leaves, warm pita bread, and a variety of pickles and olives. And what a treat this was! The babaganoush was smokey and perfectly delicious, the hummus was topped with whole chickpeas, drizzled with rich, imported olive oil, and sprinkled with sumak. There were 4 beautifully made, tender but crispy falafel (made with chickpeas, etc) that were so tasty, it convinced me I needed to bring more home. I felt the same way for the grape leaves. They were some of the best I can remember. We left clutching additional side orders of falafel, babaganoush, and grape leaves because I simply couldn't resist.We also ordered a hummus appetizer topped with beef shawarma (a small order). The small is actually quite big. There is a very generous serving of beef on top of the hummus, which is then topped with fresh, toasted pine nuts and parsley. The sliced beef is not highly seasoned (a surprise to me since many shawarma can be heavy on spices, especially cinnamon, which I dont like), just simpler, tender, and good. Another winner! Falafel pita. The fun part of ordering a pita sandwich or wrap is the huge variety of goodies you can choose to add to it or not. The sandwich was then drizzled with a creamy tahini sauce. The extra goodies include several kinds of pickles, fresh greens such as parsley, mint leaves, cilantro, sliced onions, cucumber, and tomato. I cannot even pretend to remember them all, but if it had been my sandwich, I would have needed a wheelbarrow to bring it to my table. I am quite excited to find Yafa. We have traditionally headed for Anaheim's Little Arabia district for the best Middle Eastern food, especially falafel. Yafa now has me thinking twice. It is just as good, maybe better, and much closer.

We decided to come for a quick bite while we were doing a job in the neighborhood. We saw this place on Yelp and decided to give it a try. When you walk in, it definitely feels like a mom and pop spot--we were greeted warmly by a woman and a younger lady, presumably her daughter. The menu was a little confusing at first but the lady behind the counter broke it down for us. We ended up getting one chicken and one beef plate since each plate came with two skewers and a side of 6 falafel. Each plate came with two pita bread, pickled veggies, hummus, and the meats on top of basmati rice. This was served with a side of tahini and garlic sauce.Thoughts on the food:- Chicken was well seasoned, but very slightly undercooked as we got to the middle of the skewer. We felt the texture change and the transparency difference from the rest of the chicken.- One of the two beef skewers was still a little raw inside indicated by redness.- Falafel was Restaurant Depot brand most likely. They were dry and they came out room temperature when we got them.- I wish the pita was warmed up when they served it to us- I think they meant to play music but they accidentally started playing ambient fireplace noises while we ate which was hilarious. They realized 10-15 minutes in and changed it to music.- The hummus was great and had chickpeas- The basmati rice was topped with I believe crushed almonds? Which was a really nice touch.- The pickled vegetables were great and broke up the richness of the meats.Tl;drWe kind of were sketched out by the undercooked meats, and the room temperature falafels. But I think it may have been a one off situation. Everything else was good and I want to support a small business. Might have to try this place again next time.

very clean establishment Iman (not sure if i spelled her name correctly) had the best customer service & kind for going out her way and giving me a water bottle since they didn't have water cups. not to mention the food was also very delicious

Amazing beautiful food food. The falafel was absolutely amazing and the fries were extra crispy. The service absolutely beautiful and great. Iman was great as well

service was really good. I got the beef and chicken shawarma and both tasted really good.