Week 159: Tahini and Siamo Napoli
- elenalilamartin
- Jan 25
- 4 min read
Week 159: January 18th-24th, 2026
Okay, I thought there would be more time between trying Finjan Coffee last week and trying Tahini, but I actually went to Tahini the next day.
While I am a CAVA enthusiast (I achieved CAVA's highest loyalty rewards tier of "Sun" status immediately when they first released the rewards program), I love pretty much any Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food and was intrigued by Tahini after visiting their sister coffee shop, Finjan.
Due to having relatively low spoons remaining after a day of errands and cleaning, I wanted to get takeout and enjoy Tahini in the comfort of my home. It was probably easy to order ahead online, but I figured it wouldn't be too busy there, so we just decided to order our takeout there and wait. Ordering in person and waiting in the restaurant for our takeout also gave me the opportunity to take some mental notes for writing this SNEW, which is always a plus.
We used the big touch-screen kiosk at the front to order, which felt a little silly after I realized we could've just ordered at the register... But anyway, I ordered a half rice, half salad bowl with shawarma chicken. I also got one chicken sambusa. While we waited for our food, I noticed three different families that seemed to be of Middle Eastern descent enjoying a sit-down meal. I think it is always a good sign when you see people of the same culture and background eating at a restaurant with a specific cuisine. To me, that is a sign of authenticity of the food and flavors.
Our food came out pretty fast, so I didn't get many photos of the inside of the restaurant and didn't take many mental notes. We drove the quick 3 minutes home and settled in for a chill night.
Overall, I was happy with the food from Tahini. The sambusa was super delicious and wasn't dry, like some others I've had. My boyfriend said the food was just CAVA in a different font, and we order CAVA pretty much once a week, so I feel pretty confident in being able to compare the two. Overall, they are very similar, but I think the Tahini shawarma chicken is way better than CAVA's grilled chicken. While I haven't tried Tahini's falafel yet, I don't think it would be hard to beat CAVA's criminally rock-like, dry falafels. Now that CAVA took their shawarma chicken off the menu and replaced it with the fan-favorite sweet potatoes (which I love!), I feel happy I can get similar shawarma chicken nearby at Tahini.
While I think these are two distinct business models, as CAVA is more of a Chipotle-style DIY builder, and Tahini is more simple, there are similarities in price range and offerings. I will say, CAVA is slightly cheaper by about $1 per equivalent item, but that is likely because they are a larger company and can afford lower prices.
The Tahini Mission Valley location's Yelp Page is here if you want to check it out. The @eattahini Instagram is also cool.
The new eats didn't stop at Tahini this week, because I also went out to dinner with my burrata-loving bestie, Syann, at Siamo Napoli in North Park. Siamo Napoli is on 30th St, right across from Coin-Op and Leila (see Leila from Week 154!), so it is in a very popular location.
I was really glad Syann made us a reservation because it was BUSY. If we hadn't had a rezzy, we would've had to wait at least an hour and a half for an open table. Thankfully, we were sat immediately in a cute little area in the back of the restaurant. There was a funny interior wall with a window that was decorated in a nautical theme, which I thought was silly.
The art style of the menu was fun, and it had a wide variety of options. They even had an entire "Mindful Menu" page at the back for plant-based and gluten-free options. I thought that was a nice, surprising touch, especially for an Italian restaurant.
I got a sangria and enjoyed some bread with marinara and pesto dips while we chose what to get. There was no question we would be getting the burrata as an appetizer, as Syann and I are big burrata girlies. I ended up ordering the "Gio's Famous Chopped Salad," because I got kinda full on bread and burrata and didn't think I would fully enjoy a whole pasta dish.
After trying Syann's pasta, I regretted my salad decision a little, but I still enjoyed it. I don't think I've ever had a salad with pepperoncini, salami and garbanzo beans, but I liked it. It did kind of feel like an "everything-but-the-sink" type of dish, so next time I think I'll try something else.
Our server at Siamo Napoli was this older, bald Italian man with an accent and a lisp. I think he may have been the owner or the manager. He even had a full tracksuit on, and didn't take any notes when he took our orders. I was impressed by his ability to remember multiple table's orders before going back to the kitchen. He was a sweet, funny character and I was quite entertained. The Siamo Napoli Yelp Page and @siamonapoli Instagram are linked if you want to check them out.
BONUS: Here are some gifts I put together this week. One is for a friend's 27th and is blue-themed, and the others are for my boyfriend's little sister's 13th birthday!
See you next week.
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