Mayflower Cafe

We were in VA beach over Christmas eve and Christmas and looking for a place on Christmas day when most restaurants were closed.
Get straight to the point. Amazing food!!!
Healthy protein rich menu. Awesome Kabob platter. Try the mixed platter. Has the kidney for folks that appreciate and have an acquired taste. Other than that very cordial restaurant staff. The lady who served us was a darlin. The place was backed up since a lot of their staff was off for Christmas but singlehandedly she served everyone with a smile. What amazed me even more is that she asked for help and got one of the cooks from the kitchen to help her serve the customers as she came to realize that she was overwhelmed and that would affect the level of customer service. Shout out and kudos to her. Do what it takes to get the job done!!!
Overall a very pleasant and unique dining experience in a beautiful place by the sea. What more can you ask for when ’tis the time of year’ to be totally happy with your loved ones.
Happy New Year!!!

Friendly waitstaff, good food and nice menu. Soup, chickpea vegetable tasty. Salads fresh, Turkish coffee is a hit. I plan to visit again. Try it I think you will like it.

wed. night finds us back here once again. — one of us tried something new — Veggie Kabob — nice — others just had the split pea soup — we were lucky this wed. night.
Anastasia is the best — try her — you will not be disappointed. — if you like red wine, try the Annabella cab.

This is our favorite haunt. We used to live in the building and love the food so much. I compare every Mediterranean place to this restaurant and to be honest, it just isn’t fair. This food is meticulously prepared and made with fresh ingredients. Every time I am home visiting I have to stop in for the chicken sauté and oven fresh bread.

I tried Mayflower Café when I vacationed in Virginia Beach after recommendations from Unilocal!In trying to get there, it was bit difficult to find as it is located on a side street away from the main street. Anyway, I wanted to have something authentically Turkish and I decided to try their İskender kebab, which is basically gyro meat with tomato and yogurt sauces. It was tasty, but I thought their food overall was good. I finished my meal with a hot cup of Turkish coffee, which I recommend. It’s nice that there is an option for Turkish cuisine in Virginia Beach.

We love this restaurant and know how and what to order. Their food is Turkish… not Greek and this is why many people get dissapinted, like the tabouli (taste grassy to me v. the Israel), the yogurt /​tzasiki souce is also diffrent… with less cucumber and more garlic, not as thick. The soups are amazing and large size. Pita bread delicious: white or wheat with butter. Their rice is prepared with butter so it is not dry… delicious. Also, their feta cheese is mild, not as salty… and many feel the difference. I like the mild flavors so it works for me. Their servers are mostly Russians through the summer exchange program. Enjoy…

I got a small Greek salad to go and their spinach and feta pie. I love Mediterranean food however I really did not feel that this had a lot of flavor. The feta cheese was much lighter in flavor and the dressing was very oily.

This was a very pleasant surprise tucked away from the main street. It is cozy and has homemade food. The lentil soup was much larger than I had anticipated and delicious. The spinach pie was the best I’ve ever had. I love spinach pies and try then anytime it’s on a menu. The caviar spread and eggplant were quite standard but delicious. The fresh bread was fluffy and covered in black seeds (nigella). While I put them in my cooking at home, I never see those in restaurant food. The Turkish coffee was an excellent final touch. We shall return to try the many other dishes!
The servers were lovely and sincere and the owner/​chef came around to greet each table.
I find it hilarious that the bad reviews are for cheeseburger orders or similar. Who goes to a Turkish restaurant and orders a cheeseburger?!

Husband and I wanted to go and have lunch recently. No one else was in the restaurant eating when we entered and it felt extremely hot and muggy like there is no AC on at all.
When my husband and I walked in there was a server (i think it was the server anyway) cleaning off a table. We were given what we both felt like was an «evil eye» by the server and then asked in the rudest tone «Can I help you?» NOT a «how are you» or «sit wherever you like».
It made us feel EXTREMELY unwelcome. But everyone has bad days, I just wasn’t in the mood to overlook the service so we politely left before being seated.
I am a little curious by the reviews of this restaurant. I see where some have complained about the service as well. Others talk about how they love the food but don’t mention the service. Just wondering if some overlooked the service because they enjoyed the food. I love Mediterranean food and so far in VB we’ve been to Azar and that was outstanding!!! Hopefully we’ll make it back to Mayflower and at least try to the food.

My mother is Turkish and I’ve been eating Turkish food my whole life. It was a pleasant surprise to find a Turkish restaurant this close to the beach. The spinach borek and piyaz were delicious and perfect after a day at the beach. The doner (gyro) was excellent in particular because of the bread, which I believe is homemade. This will be a regular stop whenever I’m in VA beach.

Walked in to see the menu and was about to walk out but decided to try it although there were so little reviews. I just wanted to say it was so good! Its really homemade food and the philly cheese was one of the best I’ve had. Picky friend got gyro and loved it. Hidden gem for sure…

After having lived in Virginia Beach for many years, I finally decided to try out this little restaurant located at the oceanfront. It happens to be restaurant week here in VB in which many participating restaurants in the area offer lunch and dinner specials so I decided, after looking at the online lunch menu, to give this restaurant a shot and boy was I happy that I did!
I ordered the red lentil soup and the Portabella pita sandwich. The red lentil soup was amazingly flavorful and just what I needed on a cold winter day. I haven’t had many soups in this area that have been that delicious!
As for the portobello sandwich, I am quite the mushroom Connoisseur and I must say this is an absolute must have! The Sandwich was made with sautéed peppers, onions, and cheese. I was especially surprised that the sandwich did not get soggy as is typical with mushroom sandwiches. In fact, I even took half of my sandwich home and reheated it the next day and it was just as delicious!
The sandwich was served with the choice of one of three sides. I chose the potato salad which is not like your usual mayonnaise or mustard-​based potato salad. It was an oil based salad made with roasted potatoes and spices!
If mushrooms aren’t your thing, no need to fret! The Mayflower Café offers a wide selection of options for my fellow vegetarians or veggie lovers. Needless to say, I will definitely be returning to this little gem!

We found this treasure by pure coincidence since we parked right in front of it. The food and service were superb! The dishes are a perfect example that good ingredients are what makes a good meal. Everything was fresh and of excellent quality. We had the Portabella mushroom sautee and the flounder stuffed with crabmeat. Both delicious! Our entrees came with a salad with an amazing herb vinegraitte and a delicious whole grain pita bread. We are used to quite a variety of food since we live in NY, but this tasty and balanced combination ranks high or our list. We will definitely come back here the next time we’re visiting.

Second time I’ve been here and the place is just as gross as it was a year ago. The bathroom alone should be grounds for condemning this place.
The food was meh and the service was even worse than I remember. Why I did this to myself is beyond my comprehension.
The owners of the apartment building has thrown a boat load of money into refurbishing the building into this Art Deco theme and it’s about time. But they need to totally gut that restaurant, improve the menu just a little and hire some shiny happy people.
Totally disappointed. The upside is the menu remains ethnic offering dishes my grandmother used to make.

Great local find. Great food at very reasonable price Great service too. Will go back often

I love the Greek salad here full of feta cheese great price, very tasty and healthy food. Nice small quiet place. Customer service is great make u feel like home.
I usually Oder to go but sometimes it’s nice to go there and eat.

What a pleasat surprise! Had two fantastic dishes, Portabello suate with Lamb, and Lamb Chops. delicately seasoned, and served to the temp we asked for. Service was a little erratic, as the one server was working all the tables, but for a small step down location, it was a minor distraction. She was very clear with the ingrediants and very pleasant in spirit, despite the work overload she was dealing with.
Check the menu carefully, some items a re fair priced for a beach location, some were a bit over the top. Have the coffee, it is wicked smooth

Stopped in to try some Mediterranean food for the first time. The gyros over the pita bread and yogurt was delicious. Flavors went together really well. Super tasty! I recommend trying if you would like a tang of yogurt with the slight spice of gyros.
The lamb crock was a little dull. Could definitely use some spices to enhance the flavor.
But the service was excellent and friendly. They give huge glasses of wine which is also a bonus.
I recommend trying out this little café.

We came for a late lunch and hubby was determined to eat since he was really hungry. We sat by the front window and there was a plant on the window and the windowsill had little gnats around it and the sill had lots of ANTS on it. Hubby didn’t mind so we stayed.
I had french onion soup because I was cold and it came out piping hot and bubbly. It was OK — would have been quite good but it was very oily (not just from cheese, but throughout the soup).
Hubby had a gyro platter that came with croutons and a yogurt sauce and fresh tomatoes. Concept sounded good and looked good mostly but was very oily and tasted very strongly of smoke — so much so that we wondered if they’d used liquid smoke. Ruined the taste of the gyro meat.
The salad that came with it was good, though. Simple but fresh. No ants that I could see :)

A colleague recommended this place and we recently stopped in for lunch while down near the oceanfront with some family. It was a nice experience. We were immediately greeted when walking in and the service was attentive throughout our meal. We started with some hummus and to be honest, I was the only hummus fan in the group. And to be even more honest, I am not sure I have ever had good hummus. So, my comparison point might not be fair to freshly made hummus. It was good, not great, at least according to my virgin hummus tastebuds. My wife had a bowl of black bean soup that was tasty.
As for the meals, I had a gyro sandwich. Great. Best gyro meat I’ve had in the area. It came with a delicious tza… tze…tzit, whatever the hell the sauce is called. Tzatziki, just so you don’t think I’m a complete simpleton. The bread wasn’t traditional pita but was very good. I definitely would go back for the gyro. My wife had a ziti alfredo that just wasn’t quite right. Not sure what was missing but it didn’t hit the mark. My mom had a portabella mushroom sandwich that was quite good, while my dad had a pastrami sandwich that he seemed to enjoy.
The food is fresh and though not everything was a hit, the gyro itself is worth going back for again. It was great. Overall, I personally enjoyed the trip and will be back.