A gem in downtown San Jose-- MUST EAT THEIR BAKLAVA!! Cafe Eden is a spot around the corner from Santa Clara, on N First St. Simple enough interior and good for groups. Have tasted a number of items on their menu at this point. Shawarmas are flavorful with fresh, soft bread. Lamb Kabob is very tasty, especially if you like a sumac/onion flare. Colleagues say the hummus is good. And the manoushe always seems fresh. The salad can be a bit strong on the onion for some, but I like it. The claim to fame is the fresh baklava, though. Pistashio, but also cashew and walnut varieties that I never had and a awesome. The Mafroukeh was new to me-- nut past with sweet cheese/cream in the middle. Very tasty experience, though rich enough that I can't eat much. The charming owner also had us try pistachio blocks that was yummers. Definitely one to put on your list to try if around downtown San Jose for lunch.

We finally were able to make to San Jose to try this place. As many have mentioned, they have great food and superb service. Their chicken shawarma wrap has perfect flavors, the manouche was all eaten up by the group, and we couldn't leave without their famous Knefe. Truly everything was well prepared, the portions are generous, prices are very reasonable and the taste is a 10/10. They do offer parking reimbursement since this is located in downtown. The restaurant itself has a very large seating area too We will be back!

Wow! Absolutely loved this place! I came with a couple friends to break our fast for Ramadan and it exceeded our expectations! The cafe is having an open buffet for Ramadan from Thursday- Sunday. They are fully booked this weekend but try to catch it next weekend if you are fasting! The food was beyond delicious and there was so much variety to choose from. For only $30 a person, you can choose from lentil soup, sambosas, hummus, baba ghaboush, rice, chicken, kebab, potatoes, tea, dessert, etc. The restaurant is located in downtown San Jose, so naturally, parking sucks, but you can park at a nearby parking garage and walk to the restaurant. The staff were very friendly and the owner was telling me how they opened in October, how awesome! On other days, they sell manakish which are flatbreads with cheese or meat(so yummy) and knafe, a middle eastern cheese dessert. The place was filled with families and children, and good vibes! Definitely will be coming back.

Lovely staff and delicious food! Detailed breakdown below: **Service, 5/5** The staff is so sweet and made this experience really lovely! **Taste, 5/5** My friend brought me here for the Ramadan Buffet ($30/person, reservations required), and there was a selection of dried fruits and nuts, salads, hummus and garlic dip, pita, rice, and several types of meat. Everything was so tasty and the fresh salads and nutty dips balanced out the salty and savory meats so well! The meal also included tea, coffee, and a selection of desserts, including an assortment of baklava. **Other notes** Street parking in DTSJ is free after 6pm.

Came on a Saturday afternoon. They are located in downtown SJ and parking was luckily free for 90min in a a garage about 3-5min walk away. They were not packed with only about 2-3 parties waiting for food. Plenty of indoor seating and clean interior. Only 3 working staff and they were really nice. Food order took over 30minutes to be ready. 8/10 Lamb Lunch Platter $17 - serving size is pretty small, but lamb meat was great! Fattoush salad was really sour but they might have used too much dressing. The baba ghanuj was pretty good as well. It had great flavor and perfect consistency to pair with rice and lamb. 10/10 Pistachio Baklava- the best baklava I've had! On the sweeter side but still so great! The crust is flaky and pistachio filling is light. They had samples when I came but definitely a must get here!

Located on the corner of 1st St and E Santa Clara St. Be prepared to look for street parking or parking structures. Fairly large cafe with lots of seating. First timer here so it took a little while to figure out what we wanted but luckily the man at the register was super nice and patient with us. However, food took a while to come out. I ordered the lunch platter with chicken kabob, fries, garlic, with a side salad. The outer parts of the chicken was pretty flavorful but unfortunately was not juicy or tender. Even with takeout, the fries were still crispy by the time it arrived home. I had garlic breath for the rest of the day but so worth it - highly recommend getting the garlic spread, so so good! Also, had to grab a dessert to go with the meal.. baklava! - this may be the best baklava I've had in a while or maybe ever!

Great customer service, delicious food, and nice interior! I ordered the Baklava, Lamb plate, and sweet cheese. Parking isn't too difficult: the first 90 minutes are free at the ParkSJ garages, and there's plenty of them around downtown. I was impressed by the cleanliness and charm of the deceptively spacious interior. I could see myself relaxing with a drink here in between errands. I wasn't too familiar with the menu offerings but I was helped by someone seems to be the owner or manager of Cafe Eden. I was warmly greeted and he was very sweet, patient, and friendly. For my entree, I ordered the lamb plate with fattoush, hummus and bread. for dessert, I ordered the baklava and added an order of sweet cheese. The food here was incredible. Everything was well seasoned and put together with care. Nothing was left unseasoned. Everything was filling and tasty. My favorite was the baklava. The filo dough was crispy and each bite was as good as the last. If I'm ever craving it again, this would be my go to place. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience here and look forward to coming back.

Been here twice, first time was to try their flat breads which were very tasty! The flat bread is made in house. When I first tried it tasted very fresh. We had the Veggie flat bread & the Zaatar+Cheese flatbread. Super tasty. If you haven't tried zaatar before this would be a great way to try it! It was my first time trying and I definitely enjoyed it. The spices were not spicy whatsoever. So no worries about that. The second time I got a chicken wrap and the chicken was perfectly seasoned! It was a very tasty meal. Service is good. The owner is very friendly & so is her dad! The first time we visited he was very welcoming. Explained the menu to us. The second time, the owner was in & she was very friendly as well! So happy to support local family businesses! The restaurant has plenty of seating! It's very nice inside. Clean and spacious!

I was new to Lebanese food but have been wanting to try it for such a long time. After staying in Paris for almost a month and being surrounded by Lebanese food, my biggest regret was not trying this cuisine. I stopped by Cafe Eden on a Friday around 10:30am. The place wasn't busy, which gave me the opportunity to understand the menu. I asked a lot of questions, and the employee at the register was nothing short of amazing for walking me through their menu and helping me with my choices. She provided excellent customer service, and she was just genuinely nice and friendly. I ordered the lunch meal including falafel, rice, baba ghanoush, and fattoush. Other than the falafel being a bit too dry, I thought that everything was tasty and flavorful. Also smothering the falafel in tahini and baba ghanoush made me not mind the dry texture after I kept eating it. I love baba ghanoush and thought that Cafe Eden's was great. I've never had fattoush before and was pleasantly surprised by the sweet pomegranate molasses dressing. Now let's chat desserts. They're made with semolina flour (sans phylo desserts like baklava), which reminded me of the texture of really good pie crust. I tried the Knafeh cheese, Knafeh Ashta, pistachio mafrouke ball, and a sweet cream filled cookie with pistachios on top (I don't recall the name, although this may have just been another type of mafrouke). Admittedly there were ones I enjoyed more than the other, which were the Knafeh Ashta and cookie, but I think it's because they were the sweetest ones. Knafeh cheese - This was best heated up. I had our food to go, so I popped this in the microwave for a quick zap to get the ooey gooey texture of the cheese. I did enjoy this, and I liked that it came with a side of rose water syrup. Knafeh Ashta - I liked this version better than the cheese one, because it's made with sweet cream. The pistachio dust was a nice touch. This comes with rose water syrup too. Sweet cream cookie - Loved it! I was all about that sweet cream. Pistachio mafrouke ball - I get it. The chewy pistachio outer green layer reminded me of marzipan, which I liked. The filling wasn't as sweet, but it was still delightful.

Eden Alive Pre-pandemic Café Eden was a restaurant that primarily served up tasty Middle Eastern food and drinks. But The 'Rona® changed all that as they had to close up shop due to all the usual reasons. But, like a Phoenix from the ashes, Café Eden sprung up again, but only this time, they've shifted their focus from not just Middle Eastern food, but also--thanks to a partnership with baking company Sweet Cheese--they now feature a bevy of hard-to-find Middle Eastern sweets, as well. **Disclaimer: I am of Middle Eastern heritage, so my critiques are definitely going to be a bit biased as I'm used to me mammy's food growing up. I know it's not fair to compare but it is what it is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯** The Good: *Interior is large, comfortable, and plenty of seating. *The two employees we dealt with were ridiculously nice and inviting. *Fast-casual restaurant (i.e., order and pay before you eat), which is great for quick lunches or meals before you hit the town. *Both housemade breads we tried, the Kaak and Pita, were truly fantastic! I even had to bring my mom some kaak, and she remarked that it was "almost tasted like back home." *Baba Ganoush is terrific with a perfect smokey and creamy texture. *We loved both the Chicken Kabob (Taouk) and Beef Skewer (Kafta). The chicken was sliced well and cooked perfectly, and the beef had a great flavor and nice kick with the heat level. If we had one critique, it's that we wish the beef were ground a little finer. *Manoushes (sic) were really great and cooked perfectly. If you've never had a Manoushe, it's essentially an Arab pizza/flatbread that's traditionally topped with za'atar (dried thyme & white sesame seeds) and olive oil or cheese. They have a whole slew of add-ons to customize your cheese Manoushe, including (gasp) pepperoni. -_- *The real reason we were drawn to Café Eden was their Knafeh, which is a dessert comprised of a sweet cheese (hence the name), topped with semolina and then covered in rose water syrup. Theirs is the Lebanese variety, so it's a little different than I'm used to, but it was still #fuckingdelicious. If you only try one thing here, then this should be it! The Meh: *I'm not sure if they're still doing outdoor dining or not anymore. They were during covid, but I didn't see any evidence of outdoor seating on our recent visit. *Hummus was a little too thick for our liking, but the flavor was good. *Fattoush salad is done in a different way than what I'm used (see disclaimer above), but I dunno... It tasted almost like an Asian-style sweet vinaigrette, and I could swear those are wonton chips on top?? 0_o *They no longer do beef/chicken Shawerma or Kibbeh. :'( The Ugly: *Lots of Local Outdoor Enthusiasts™ just hanging around our front, but that's to be expected in DTSJ. TLDR: Tasty Middle Eastern grub and even better desserts. Highly recommended.