Aladdin Cafe

They offer indoor and outdoor seating. They have a lot of seating available in both areas. They serve Mediterranean/ Middle Eastern style food. Alcohol is served here if you want a drink. Pitchers are available! The food is expensive and tastes ok. Considering it's in IV, I suppose the price isn't that crazy but it would definitely be on the upper end of the price spectrum. The hummus was delicious and I received very generous portions with my plate. The salad seemed fresh and crispy. The rice was good, beware it comes with a lot of oil (if you care). The pita bread that was served seems like it was heated and not made when ordered, which is a shame because I love fresh bread with my Mediterranean food. I can tell because the cut edges were stuck together and kind of hard when they arrived, hinting to me that they are probably pre-cut as well :( The downfall of the plate comes from the priciest part of the dish that should be done the best; the chicken seemed dry like it was pre-made and kept heated. Considering the time to make my dish was incredibly fast, I suspect this was the case. The chicken should not be shredded, it dries the meat faster and, to me, it seems cheap by skimping out on portion size. Sure it covers more area to give the illusion of a lot, but I prefer for nice cuts of meat that are juicy and fresh from the grill. If you are the manager or owner of the business, I suggest you fix the chicken. For a plate that has a total over $15, I expect the meat to be cooked (not heated) when it is ordered. Fire up those burners on the huge stove I see, take advantage of what you have available. 805 Kabobs, which would be your main competitor, cooks my food when I order it. I can hear, see, and smell my order being made which makes me more hungry and excited when the food arrives! 805 costs less and I can clearly taste the difference in the meat. I don't expect kids at UCSB to be as critical, or have the capability to, since most of them are lucky to have never worked in a kitchen before. I can't completely complain since one of the kitchens I've worked in was for a semi-celebrity chef that paid well. But fix your dry chicken!

Here's the thing .food was good, beer was cheap .What bothered our group was that when I ordered a hookah for the table, they said the one person in out group couldn't even be remotely associated with our group. They had to sit at a different table than us. So we split tables. Fine. Our friends came and had a Woodstock's pizza, and they said they couldn't even be here. They were gonna buy beer and be a customer, but noooo. So we refunded our hookah. We couldn't refund the food we ordered, and they made us put it in the Toto box ourselves, cause they "already started to put it on the plate" Bottom line, not remotely accommodating of potential customers. Not a way to run a business .

This place was amazing! My husband and I where looking for a good place to eat and luckily came across Aladdin's! The food was SO good, flavorful and fresh! We ordered the combo meal for $24 and man was it worth it, so much food! We eat out all the time and love to find new places to go from fine dining to quick eats and this was I think one of the best places we've tried here in the goleta area. My husband runs restaurants and we really take food seriously, the staff was on point, the kitchen super clean food AMAZING omg the beef, chicken, lamb was soooo flavorful and cooked just perfect! We will be coming back for sure! Thanks for a great time out Aladdin's Eatery!!! See you soon!