Cafe Adanus

Reviews

• Imbri S.

  star star star star star 11 June 2026

  We love lamb, which is often a difficult meat to find on menus here at home. Moreover, it's difficult to find a good piece of lamb that retains its essential lambiness after the chefs intent on showing their prowess by balancing the lamb flavor right out of the dish. The quest for a good dinner brought us past the confusing signs at Anatolia/Cafe Adanus and in to try the varieties of our favorite meat.
  
  The interior includes a pretty stripped-down, modern open kitchen, where you can watch your plate full of tastiness come together. The farther you get from the grill, the more little touches of Turkish heritage dress the house. Cafe Adanus is family owned & operated, and they put lots of love into every meal.
  
  So far we've tried the leg of lamb Kebab, Adana Kebab,  Iskender Kebab, Imam Bayildi, Falafel, and Hummus. Every last bite of every dish has been mouth wateringly brilliant. The real standouts have been the Imam Byaldi, which defies explanation but haunts my dreams and has me waking up with cravings, and the leg of lamb kebab, which remains the most perfect pieces of lamb I have eaten to date. Raz leans toward the spicier Iskender and Adana, but one just cant go wrong with the lamb at Cafe Adanus.
  
  O! And save at least a little room for after dinner sweets, the Bak-LOVE-ah is wonderful, especially if you're in on the weekend and the chefs are experimenting with flavor!

• Safiya N.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 27 May 2026

  Today was the last time I step foot in this restaurant. I was a frequent customer (at least once per week) not because the food is amazing, just because I wanted middle eastern food. The salad was always awful, no dressing nor salt. Rice was dry and bland. (would give the food 3/5 at most).
  The service was always below average, especially with the register. Yesterday, the owner got mad that I ordered food through  grub hub and asked to switch rice for fries because he couldn't charge me extra for that. This is not how you treat your frequent customers. I always tip well, I never mind being over charged for substitutions. If you appreciate your customers, you wouldn't even mention to them that you are annoyed that they switched rice for fries without you being able to charge them.
  Bad business model. One of the reasons why customers stopped going to their downtown location.

• Howie K.

  star star star star star_border 26 May 2026

  You'll notice something... amiss? about the signage at this restaurant. In big, blazing lettering, there's one banner reading "Anatolia now open" and another on the front door clearly labeling it Cafe Adanus. The menus say Anatolia. What gives?
  
  "Oh, everyone is asking about this. It is a... disagreement. I named it Adanus after my home country, it is a beautiful place. But my husband, he is the chef, and he insists we must call it Anatolia."
  
  First of all, the woman was kind of adorable, so if you're wondering why I'm reviewing this business listing rather than the Anatolia page (you can find it on Yelp, the accumulated rating of the many years it was downtown), I just liked her. And she's gutsy. I vote Cafe Adanus, guys.
  
  There isn't much for me to contribute about the food, I found it similar to what Anatolia offered: safe, very vegetarian friendly, fair prices, delicious eggplant. The venue is sparsely decorated and I found the small plastic kids kitchenette, along the wall, endearing as well; I believe I watched a young boy pretend to cook up his own mediterranean feast while I feasted. This is a good addition to an area that, let's face it, could use plenty more colorful dining options.

• Jamie K.

  star star star star star 18 May 2026

  Really solid meal with great portions. We got the chicken kebab plate and the spicy ground lamb plate. Both meats were juicy and it came with salad, grilled tomato and chile, and pita bread. They gave us baklava at the end and omg it was the bomb. Probably the best baklava I've ever had. Thanks for a great time!

• Heather V.

  star star star star star_border 18 May 2026

  We came in excited about a Mediterranean restaurant on the Westside of Albuquerque and we were not disappointed.  We started with the Falafel, which is the best I've had. It came with pita and hummus. Freshly made by the owner and servers husband.
  
  I ordered the Chicken Shish Kebab and it came with pita, rice and cacik (yogurt sauce). It was very good and freshly made. We heard the meat sizzling!
  
  My husband had the Adana ground lamb and enjoyed the many flavors on his plate.
  
  We also got Baklava and it was so good! Crunchy on top and throughout with a wonderful sauce.
  I don't have any pictures of the meal because we ate everything!
  Check it out!