Greek & Persian Restaurants in San Diego: Cafe Athena, Sadaf

Cafe Athena in Pacific Beach is still open and still one of the city’s best-known Greek restaurants. Sadaf, the Persian restaurant, now appears in listings only at a Gaslamp Quarter address. Apollonia, the Greek bistro near UTC, couldn’t be confirmed as open in 2026. Below are the details on each, plus other Greek, Persian and Mediterranean restaurants that were confirmed operating in 2025–2026.

Quick status: the three old favorites

Restaurant	Cuisine	Where	Status (Nov 2026)
Cafe Athena	Greek / Mediterranean	1846 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach	Open
Sadaf	Persian	828 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp Quarter	Open (per current listings)
Apollonia Greek Bistro	Greek	8650 Genesee Ave., UTC area	Not confirmed; call ahead

Cafe Athena, Pacific Beach

Cafe Athena has been on Garnet Avenue, Pacific Beach’s main commercial street, since 1990. It’s a casual Greek and Mediterranean restaurant with a full bar, and it handles everything from weeknight takeout to birthday and rehearsal-dinner groups. In San Diego Magazine’s 2026 best restaurants list, it was runner-up for best Greek restaurant.

What it’s known for. The house specialties lean traditional: saganaki flambéed with brandy at the table, moussaka, lamb-stuffed eggplant (papoutsakia), keftedes and rotisserie gyros. There are separate filo pastries, spreads, stone-baked pizzas and a kids’ menu, plus vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. See the full lunch and dinner menu on the restaurant’s site.

Happy hour and catering. The website lists a daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. with small plates and cocktails. Catering covers office lunches through larger events, and the current catering menu is a PDF on the site, dated November 2025. Contact: (858) 274-1140 or info@cafeathena.com.

Hours and parking. The restaurant’s site lists Sunday–Thursday 11 a.m.–9 p.m. and Friday–Saturday 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m., but check before a holiday visit. Garnet Avenue street parking fills up on weekend evenings, so allow time to circle. The restaurant sits near the Lamont Street cross street, a short drive from the beach. Our Mission Beach and Pacific Beach guide covers what’s nearby.

Sadaf, Gaslamp Quarter

Sadaf is a Persian restaurant. Its current listings, including its Uber Eats page and the halal directory Zabihah, all point to 828 Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter. Zabihah shows new photos posted in 2025 and lists daily hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Delivery platforms show slightly different closing times, so call (619) 338-0008 to confirm. If you remember a Sadaf in another neighborhood, current listings show only the Gaslamp location.

What to expect. Sadaf serves classic Persian food: charbroiled kebabs such as koobideh (ground-meat kebab) with rice, plus stews. It offers dine-in, takeout and delivery. According to Zabihah, the restaurant says its chicken is halal but other meats are not, and it serves alcohol.

Catering. The old page ranked for “Sadaf catering,” but no current catering offer could be confirmed. Ask the restaurant directly about large orders.

Apollonia Greek Bistro, UTC area

Apollonia was a Greek bistro at 8650 Genesee Avenue, in a shopping center in the UTC area. Food blogs covered it around 2010, but no official website, current menu or recent news turned up in November 2026. Its status is unknown, so call before you go. If you’re near UTC and want Greek food, Cafe Athena in Pacific Beach is the nearest confirmed option.

Other Greek, Persian and Mediterranean restaurants open now

All of these appeared in a 2025 or 2026 source.

Mezé Greek Fusion, Gaslamp Quarter

At 345 Sixth Avenue, Mezé was San Diego Magazine’s 2026 Critic’s Pick for best Greek restaurant. It’s a bigger, louder night-out spot than Cafe Athena, with flaming saganaki lit tableside, a lounge and bar, late-night food, weekend brunch on the sidewalk patio, and private rooms for large groups. Details are on gaslampmeze.com. It makes an easy dinner stop on a Gaslamp Quarter evening.

Olympic Cafe, North Park

Olympic Cafe, at 2310 University Avenue in North Park, won the readers’ vote for best Greek restaurant in San Diego Magazine’s 2026 list. It takes online orders through its Toast page.

Bandar, Gaslamp Quarter

Bandar, at 845 Fourth Avenue, is the other confirmed Persian restaurant downtown. It describes itself as Persian with prime steaks, charbroiled chicken and lamb, seafood and vegetarian dishes. It uses halal meats, has a gluten-free menu, and has been collecting awards since 1996. The restaurant’s website lists lunch specials daily until 3 p.m. and a weekday happy hour, and its OpenTable page shows reservations and reviews through September 2026. It’s popular for private events, so book ahead for groups.

Callie, East Village

For modern Mediterranean, Callie at 1195 Island Avenue (corner of Park Boulevard) is chef Travis Swikard’s restaurant, open since 2021. Its menu draws on the whole Mediterranean: share dips, Aleppo chicken and handmade pastas. San Diego Magazine’s 2026 list gave it both the Readers’ Pick and Critic’s Pick for best Mediterranean. When it opened, San Diego Magazine reported free underground parking for diners.

Middle Eastern options

The same 2026 list named Mal al Sham, Leila and Bosforo among the city’s best Middle Eastern restaurants. They’re worth a look if you want Middle Eastern food rather than Greek or Persian. Check each restaurant’s own listing for its current location and hours.

What to order if you’re new to it

Greek and Persian menus share a few ideas, like grilled meat, rice or bread, yogurt sauces and lots of herbs, but they eat differently.

Greek basics

• Saganaki: a slab of firm sheep or goat cheese, pan-fried and often flambéed at the table. Both Cafe Athena and Mezé are known for it.
• Souvlaki and gyros: skewered grilled meat (souvlaki) or meat shaved from a vertical rotisserie (gyros), usually with pita, tomato, onion and tzatziki.
• Moussaka: layers of eggplant and spiced ground meat under béchamel, baked like a casserole.
• Spreads: tzatziki (yogurt, cucumber, garlic), hummus and melitzanosalata (smoky eggplant) with warm pita make an easy shared starter.
• Spanakopita and other filo pies: spinach and feta, or cheese, baked in flaky pastry.

Persian basics

• Chelo kebab: grilled kebab served on a mound of long-grain rice, often topped with saffron rice and served with a grilled tomato. Koobideh (seasoned ground meat), joojeh (saffron chicken) and barg (thin-sliced beef or lamb) are the usual choices.
• Tahdig: the crisp, golden layer of rice from the bottom of the pot. Order it if you see it on the menu.
• Khoresh (stews): slow-cooked stews served with rice. Ghormeh sabzi (herbs, kidney beans, dried lime) and fesenjan (pomegranate and walnut) are the classics.
• Mast-o-khiar and shirazi salad: yogurt with cucumber and mint, and a chopped cucumber-tomato-onion salad, both good with kebabs.

Portions at kebab houses tend to be generous, so a group can share a couple of platters and a stew.

Tips for planning a meal

• Groups and celebrations: Cafe Athena, Mezé and Bandar all advertise group or private-event dining. Book ahead for a birthday or rehearsal dinner, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
• Dietary needs: Cafe Athena and Mezé both note vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, and Bandar lists a gluten-free menu. If halal matters to you, Bandar says it uses halal meats. At Sadaf, according to Zabihah, only the chicken is halal.
• Downtown parking: The Gaslamp has metered street parking and paid garages, and weekend evenings are busy. Our getting around San Diego guide covers trolley and rideshare options if you’d rather not drive.
• Before you go: Hours change seasonally and around holidays, so check each restaurant’s own site or call on the day.

Choosing where to go

• Classic Greek taverna, casual, near the beach: Cafe Athena.
• Greek with a night-out feel downtown: Mezé Greek Fusion.
• Casual Greek in North Park: Olympic Cafe.
• Persian kebabs downtown: Sadaf for a simpler meal, Bandar for a longer sit-down dinner or a group.
• Modern Mediterranean for a special dinner: Callie.

For more neighborhoods and cuisines, see our San Diego restaurants guide.