Chello Grill — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Sadly Disappointed. I live in Rio Rancho and drive 20+ minutes each time to eat here and spend about $20+ a person each time and I love the food so much that it never had bothered me. The last few times I’ve been there I’ve been noticing this female working there and everytime I see her she always looks very stressed and not comfortable to run her position which makes the customers also feel uneasy.

January 18, 2025 I went inside the store to pick up my call in order and I notice the whole staff at the front register all communicating with a homeless person and the chef I believe the older gentlemen was sitting and eating on his break. I’m not sure what the situation was but the girl I believe her name is sally which she said to be the shift manager, she kept yelling from corner of the register talking over her cashier telling the man it’s $2!!! Whatever the story was she should’ve handled it respectfully and calmly and had her employees step aside while she dealt with the situation.

Now to the real complaint. As I am a loyal customer I had received a free baklava reward which was said to not expire by one of the employees last time I was there which was about 2 weeks ago. Cool, since it was not expiring I said let me use it my next visit. So when I was there picking up my order yesterday I asked to apply that reward and was told that it was no longer in my account. I was sad and asked if there was some miscommunication somewhere because I was told it wouldn’t expire. The cashier was kinda confused on how to handle the situation so I noticed sally standing there next to him at another station so I asked if she was the manager and she said yes so I explained my problem to her and asked if she would honor it since i was told the reward wouldn’t expire. She then says no she can not since there was a paper stating they expire after 30 days and I told her I was not aware. She then pouts and says well I’m going to have to call my GM if you really want it. I was like okay can you please call and I apologized and said I don’t want to cause a lot of problems only if it’s an easy fix. She then goes to the gentleman ON HIS BREAK and asks him the policy and he even stated he wasn’t aware of them expiring in 30 days and sally re assured him that there was a paper on the wall stating it. Ugh I’m so frustrated at this point because all of this over a baklava!! The free baklava wasn’t even the problem it was the miscommunication and the discomfort I was feeling throughout the process. ( I can here the conversation because again he is on break sitting down and she is speaking to him basically in the same room as us ) she then walks back annoyed and slams her hand on the table and picks up the phone and makes a call. The GM of course told her to honor it and she then doesn’t even say a word to us and just starts walking to package the baklava instead of reassuring us that everything was okay and that she will take care of it for us and apologize. Just the whole process on how she handled it was not okay. Chello grill please fix this. I don’t want to loose you guys I...

Update Will not be eating here, food is still good I imagine, but was treated rudely without cause, even if it's not the whole place, I won't eat where I'm treated badly. We tip well and spend a lot of money there, just that one interaction made us decide to never eat there again. Was just very rude for a simple mistake.

Update I have eaten here for 2 years and the food has never been bad.. I've never had a bad meal.

They also have great vegan vegetarian and gluten free, options and customization.

They mixed up dressing for me because I am lactose intolerant

They listen to suggestions and have provided nothing but the best in food and hospitality.

Seriously delicious food.

It's really hard to just order something small here They have the options, but I always order way more.

I always get their large salad just so I could eat it later.

I suggest ordering extra Mast o Khiar.

The only suggestions I have is to do specials or other crazy stuff... Can you imagine a deep fried gyro or falafel sandwich? (Like a chimi?)

Green Chile yogurt marinated kabobs?

Or more fries ( some of the stews would be good with fries) still think hummus fries and also more veggie kabob options are a good idea.

A pita pizza could also be delicious (basically a flatbread pizza but use stews, other sauce options, feta and kabob veggies, top with mast o khiar and shirazi 🤌💋) gluten free could be more like a quesadilla .

Their online customization is also excellent.

Overall It would be unfair to give them anything but 5 stars.

The only other thing is, I wish they didn't use styrofoam (maybe switch to cardboard or other containers &\or paper &\or foil?), but most of their food comes in reusable and disposable plastic containers and we get good use out of em.

Old review: Delicious and fast, wish they did falafel sandwich* and fries online, needs more vegan options and gluten free desserts. They do have gluten free & vegan options though. I am lactose intolerant and celiac, but I'll risk it for cucumber yogurt sauce! I can have goat cheese, but most feta is part or all cow milk these days. Also*.. they do feta fries, why not gyro and falafel fries?🥰😋🍟 I get the fries with yogurt sauce and Shirazi .. delicious... Also fries with some of their stews would be phenomenal. Wish the veggie kabobs had more variety, and they offered other dips. They could do hummus fries too.

*Edited for...

Chello Grill is a Persian-Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant located in the Pavilions at San Mateo complex next to Einstein Bagels.

They focus on sandwiches, bowls, kabobs, and salads. They also have gyros; those are a Persian version of a gyro instead of a Greek gyro that Chello calls the “traditional gyro”. They also have a New Mexican-inspired version of a gyro where the meat has been cooked with green chile and comes with a side of green chile yogurt aptly called the “New Mexican gyro”.

I ordered the traditional gyro, which comes with sliced lamb meat, two tomato wedges, and then a blend of diced cucumber, tomato, and onion in a folded pita. Had parsley been added to the diced vegetables mix it would have been considered their Shirazi salad, which one can also order as a side. I added feta cheese for an upcharge. The gyro came with Mast-o-Khiar, a cucumber yogurt dip, on the side. A Greek variation would be tzatziki, which is more common with gyros in America. I added french fries for $1.

The gyro was almost tasteless. I actually ended up just eating the lamb slices with pieces of feta and discarding the rest of the dish. The Mast-o-Khiar didn’t add anything to the meal. The fries were fine, but I would have preferred them with more salt. I guess $1 for those was fair given how forgettable they were.

The cutlery was plastic and the ketchup for the fries was in ketchup packets, which gave the meal a cheap feeling even for fast-casual dining that didn’t seem commensurate with the pricing.

Overall, a surprisingly flavorless meal for an interesting sounding restaurant (Persian-Mediterranean!). I wouldn’t recommend...