Haight district eatery with Middle Eastern fare, friendly staff and a spiritually inspired decor.

by Contributor

Rust-colored walls, colorful pillow-topped banquettes and tapestries in shades of orange and gold create a mystical ambience in this small Haight Street restaurant and bar. The bi-level dining room is filled with dark wooden tables, where casual diners nosh on Arabic cuisine. Falafel and hummus dominate the menu, which is also populated with shish kebobs and maza, including Baba Ghanoush--grilled eggplant with garlic, lemon, tahini and olive oil--and feta cheese pie.

03/22/08

Ignorance and bad service

by kacenka

I used to like this place a lot , but not anymore. I tried few times, but I am done. I used to work in a restaurant business, and I can understand that customer is really not always right, but this experience was ridiculous. Mess up our reservation after two confirmations. Not letting us know tha we can't order some items even when we order them. Service showing up every 40 minutes. Undone food. Unprofessional manager who is trying to seat his friends at our table, trying to hurries us up out of restaurant. I am sorry, but this is unacceptable and very dissapointing. I liked this place, but I will never come back or recommend it to my friends.

01/13/08

A nice getaway

by lizd25

This place is so much fun for a big group. Belly dancing, nice drinks, hookahs... atmosphere is so lively! By the end of the night everyone is laughing, dancing and having a great time. The food is pretty good, falafels are amazing. Go with an open mind and it will be amazing.

07/19/07

Absolutly Terrible!

by hanslo

I will never ever eat in this place ever again.....

Terrible neighborhood and atmosphere. The food was OK but not great.

Our server was rude and he didn't want to open our wine bottle we brought with us - I paid a cork fee

for a dirty look from our server. May I remind him a tip is for good service ONLY, I left him nothing.

• Cons: Dont get mugged on your way in.

05/27/07

Keep walking down Haight, not worth it

by lettersss

The service is awful, some of them are well-intended servers/bartenders in a overly crowded place but others like the bouncer are just plain rude. If you want to go for the food,which is not the best mediterrenean in town, go before 8 or expect to wait and have an unpleasant time. If you want a hookah place I suggest Marrakesh, if you want a bar scene any other place on haight street will do. This scene is overdone and not that fun

• Pros: Art on the walls, music, cheap hookah
• Cons: Service, overcrowded

02/26/07

Badly run place will ruin your experience

by beanchild

Not worth it anymore. As a long-time resident of the city, I have been here many times. Each time it gets less and less worth it, and now I am done. Friend came to town, wanted to show them a good time, made a reservation for 7pm (early!) one week in advance. Called to confirm that with only five people, we could still get the cushioned window seat, gave them a credit card to hold. They said it was fine. Plan was to slowly enjoy ourselves, drink, eat, spend some money, see the dancer, smoke a hooka for dessert. Got there, was told they won't guarantee the window table, instead put us next to the bar. Waitress was unable to describe most of the dishes. By 830pm it was totally packed to the brim with people, undoubtedly a fire hazard at the most, and at the least extremely uncomfortable to us. The crowd was so packed in it was like a wave of people at the ball park, that actually pushed itself into our food more than once! One of them spilled red wine on my vintage grey suede coat, permanently ruining it, which was stashed inside our booth. The dancer was great, but kept getting bumped into. Two more highlights: After all that, no hookahs allowed at the tables until the kitchen closes, which on the weekends is midnight; and at 930pm we were asked to leave by the hostess because other people were waiting for our table. Are the owners this stupid?!! Take care of the people sitting at the tables, and tell the others to wait outside. Or don't overbook! LAST THING: Food is not great, and that is the clincher if I am going to put up with all this other drama. As a huge fan of Mediterranean cuisine, I highly recommend La Mediterranee any day over ruined vintage.

12/02/06

great hookas, terrible service

by charlenav

ok, this place is a lot of fun, i will give it that. they have hookas and belly dancers and middle eastern food that is sometimes hard to find.

but....

the service is terrible. you have to wait up to 45 mins for a hooka, and you can never, ever get them to change your coal. the middle eastern food is really not that good if you are familiar with it, and the waiters a rude.

i suggest drinking before you go so you are lessed annoyed with everything.

good music though

10/19/06

This has becom my favorite place ever!

by caitlinrm

I have been here twice since I first discovered the place. The atmosphere is awsome. At the bar there is hookah. The food was delicious! and very reasonable in rates. Kan Zaman has a fun atmosphere, there are belly dancers, and for birthdays the announce to the whole restaurant with a drum and the whole restaurant sings you Happy Birthday. I had a wonderful experience here and have been reccommendeding it to people ever since!

• Pros: food, atmosphere, pricing
• Cons: may be a wait for a table

09/05/06

Good Food, Miserable Service

by maryanny143

I was really excited to try this place out. Getting there on a Saturday night, however, proved to be a strained experience. The host/hostess, servers and bartenders are about as rude as you can imagine. Though there were open tables, we were seated in front of the door... meaning that People were constantly falling over us, spilling on us and thanks to the gusts of wind, we were freezing the whole time. When we asked if we could sit at a different table, they said that we could, but that they would "kick us out in 3o minutes." Additionally, service is incredibly slow and the servers are constantly annoyed. In all fairness, it probably isn't all their fault since the place is so small, you are rubbing up on strangers no matter if you are eating or at the bar.

The pros? The food is GREAT and there is live belly dancing on Saturday nights. The hooka is good too. Also, prices are very reasonably.

Still, expect to be despised by the waitstaff, receive your food an hour after ordering and be cramped the whole time.

Sidenote - I also went on a Sunday afternoon at 3:00 for a late lunch. It was empty, but the service was still rude and painfully slow!!!

08/25/06

A belly shaking experience!

by lisahazarika

Kan Zaman has a sultry Arabic influence written in every inch and leads you to a place afar!

Situated in a corner, this place has a small area with tents, dim lights and faces of the locals from the African and Saudi Arabic countries pasted on the walls. The crowd is buzzing and the atmosphere is filled with all forms of laughter and shouts with the Arabic music in the background. Reservations are not taken for less than 6 people and especially on a Saturday night, the wait for a table could be REALLY long.

We were introduced to this awesome joint by a couple-friend of ours, and we thoroughly loved it. After a little wait, we got the table. Started with the 'Spiced Wine, which is a must for everyone. There was Baba Ganoush, which was delicious with the pita bread. The entrees had a variety of choices and I had one of their specials of the day- which was chicken wrapped around spices...it was heavenly. The shish kabobs, lamb dishes and everything else were awesome. Ended with a few not so tequila shots and some classic hookah smoke, which was served at the bar!

The best part was definitely the belly dancers who stole the show with their moves and shakes. The balancing act of the swords on their head was commendable. A place with entertainment, good food and a hookah/wine bar- can you ask for more!

• Pros: Belly Dancers, Hookah bar, Mediterranean food
• Cons: Small space, parking on a Friday/Saturday night!