Beyond its battery of shishas—or hookahs—Cool Café wants to be a serious restaurant, and it almost succeeds despite an all-over-the-Med-and-more menu that includes pastas, sandwiches served on sourdough or wheat, and a bevy of crêpes in addition to the expected gyros and kebabs. Some of the less pretentious pastas such as the “Diablo” and “Milano” can actually be decent, though beware the use of bogus black olives. The crêpes are featherweight yet sturdy enough for the “Alaskan” (smoked salmon, capers, and dill havarti) or “Santorina” (kalamata olives—or not—pine nuts, sumac-marinated onions and spinach). The kebabs, including the “Soultini” combination of ground beef and lamb, are usually tender, well seasoned, and served with fluffy basmati rice.

But the effectiveness of Cool Café depends too much on a revolving door of undertrained personnel, some of whom are either too flighty or are totally ignorant of the food that’s being served. No one wants to hear a server say “I don’t eat that stuff” in response to the menu. One also doesn’t want a response that a plate of couscous is supposed to be the tabbouleh that was ordered.

Crêpe lovers nevertheless will revel in the dessert choices, whether it’s Nutella and blueberries melting into the warm wrapper or the house special with Mandarin oranges and caramel sauce. They’re almost good enough to make you forget the spotty service.