Tarbosh

You get a lot of food for the price you pay. The service and ambience were pleasant. The bbq chicken was good. The “tarbosh”, (second pic) which is like Canadian poutine, made me wish it had more sauce. Ok, gravy and cheese curds but that’s the Canadian in me. The mint lemonade was very good, although a bit pricey.

I was running errands in El Cajon around lunch time so I stopped by Tarbosh, a Syrian cuisine restaurant in the heart of El Cajon city. Restaurant was spacious with lot of tables a could host a lot of people and large groups. There were seats by the entrance and people were sitting there waiting for their food to go. Since I have not eaten Syrian food before, I asked a fellow customer for suggestion and she said to order the chicken shawarma combo and it would come with a sandwich. The whole bill came to $10.81 which was very budget friendly. So I ordered the recommended combo. While waiting, I walked around the restaurant. It has a bakery on site and lots of dessert available. Noted that most customers ordered food to go. There were only two small groups of people dining in. This restaurant should hire more help at the counter. One cashier was multitasking: taking walk-in orders,taking phone orders, packing the food boxes to go and answering floor customers questions and requests, fetching complimentary sodas for customers and checking with kitchen staff for status of orders. Poor cashier needs help. Also, kitchen should get more help to prepare food. It took nearly 45 minutes to get my food. After a long wait, I told the cashier I could not wait any longer. What irritated me the most was that people came after me got their food first. I was in fact the last person to get the food to go. One customer who was there earlier came back to the restaurant and when she saw me, she said you are still here. Cashier knew that I was not happy for the long wait but didn’t apologize but merely said they were very busy. I would have like an apology for the long wait and hope they do better to manage the lunch crowd. I will not go back to this restaurant simply it is unacceptable to wait 45 minutes for two sandwiches (wraps), pickled veggies and French fries. The food was okay but not exceptional to merit another visit.

The best Arabic food I have had here and the closest to back home! The falafel, the hummus, the zaatar and cheese manakeesh, everything was delicious! The owner is the sweetest guy ever. He gave us our coffees for free, and a free plate of falafel! Best service and best people ever. We come from Arizona to San Diego a lot, and we will DEFINITELY be making this stop every trip. Thank you! Update Under new management now and changed their name, the food is disappointing now :(

This is a Middle Eastern cuisine. including Syrian, Lebanese, and Iraqi. I believe the name is now Tarbosh. There are improvements. The service was great. It's a nice place for a family outing. It's Spacious. A lot of parking lots. A variety of dishes. A decent portion of food. I will be back again with the family for updates. Updates: As I mentioned above. The new add-ons and upgrades are very good. Fresh and delicious appetizers and more. You can reserve the restaurant for small parties or occasions.

the amount of delicious food you receive for your money feels illegal; the portions were enormous and seem like they are designed for sharing. I had the shawarma meal and my friend had the beef kabob, we ate off eachothers plates and there was plenty leftover to take home.