Cafe Nur, located in downtown Los Altos where the Crepe Maker used to be, offers a simple taste of Mediterranean cuisine. In its first month in downtown Los Altos, it has established itself a quick, slightly late-night (10 p.m. weekends, 9 p.m. weekdays) cafe.

Cafe Nur is a small restaurant, only seating 20 inside and 12 outside, but waiting for a place to sit does not seem to be a problem. The exemplary service was epitomized by the amiability of employees and the courtesy they showed to incoming customers. However, despite being one of the few people in the restaurant, the service seemed slow for a Cafe.

As an appetizer I got the Mediterranean Combination #9, which had small servings of hummus, baba ghanouj, eggplant salad, lobi, tzatziki, dolma, potato salad and tabouleh. Those who would rather play it safe should try the pita and hummus, but if you want to seek more of an adventure, the dolma (grape leaves stuffed with rice, pine nut, raisin, assorted herbs and spices) might be preferable. All of the items on the combination were all vegetarian and it is enough food for a meal.

Cafe Nur offers wraps from $7 to $8.25, souvlaki meat plates with salad, rice and pita for $11 to $16 and other Mediterranean specialties. It also has three kinds of mousaka (a layered dish of eggplant, potato and meat or veggie filling): chicken, veggie and ground beef. I tried some of the chicken gyro wrap and would not recommend it. There was simply too much bread in every bite which made it a little dry and underwhelming. On the Souvlaki plates, the rice and Pita were both delicious, especially when the two were combined with whatever other meat you had. The Lamb and Beef Gyros plate was incredible, and its thinly sliced meat went perfectly with the marinate and the pita. Both the chicken and lamb kebab were flavourful and tasty. For dessert, the Baklava and the Kadayifi were equally delicious. Baklava is a pastry filled with nuts and sweetened with honey, while Kadayifi has a similar nutty taste, but is stringy on the top rather than flakey.

The Cafe also serves breakfast foods with items like Greek yogurt with fruit and honey, waffles, pancakes, omelets and slices of salami with vegetables and fruit. As there are not too many places for breakfast downtown besides Rick’s Cafe and the Pancake House, this is a good option if you want to try Mediterranean style breakfast. While the cafe does have a lot of great options for takeout, it could be a much better atmosphere to sit down and eat. Cafe Nur is a small restaurant with walls that are practically empty. The restaurant is adequate for breakfast or lunch, but I would just get take-out if I were having it for dinner.

Overall, the Cafe has great meats and vegetarian appetizers in addition to friendly employees. Cafe Nur is a good addition to downtown Los Altos and adds more international and unique dishes for people.