The Kebab Shop — Restaurant in Austin

Hey Guys, I'm sad to report that everyone at our table had something to gripe about. As a group of three, we ordered two wraps, a kebab plate, a side of falafel, and two carve fries even though we asked for one (I'll explain in a bit). Let's start with the plate which came with the least amount of criticism. The grilled chicken kebab was delicious, but the side choice of tomato & cucumber salad tasted soggy and bland. It looked as though it were made the day before. It was gross! The side of falafels?! Well, just as they look in the picture uploaded dry and hard as a rock. As for the wraps, quite stingy on the meat, and could have been mistaken it for a vegan wrap. Ask for extra meat, it may work but will come at an extra cost.

The 'carve fries' are delicious! We only wanted one serving but got two (yes, still paid for both). The girl behind the counter seemed distracted and inattentive. As a group, we were quickly deliberating whether or not we should get two servings of carve fries or not. Perhaps, it bothered her that we didn't completely know what we were going to order?! In the end, we decided to get a single serving. I remember looking at her and saying 'we'll just get the one serving for now, and if we need a second, I'll just come up and order it.' She verbally nodded too. Anyhow, she still ordered two. HA! I should have checked before paying what I was being charged us for, but the mistake worked out to be a blessing in disguise because we all preferred the fries to our meals anyway.

They've won awards in San Diego? Well, take that with a pinch of salt because it might be the only Kebab shop over there.

UPDATE 1: After my comment above, I reduced my initial stars rating of 2 down to 1. Why? Because the owner suggested I contact them so they can 'make things right' after my first scathing review more than a month passed without them contacting even after eluded to the fact they would. So, I edited my post to reflect that and make people aware the owners didn't contact me back or make things right! Just letting the people know by calling out people who don't hold their word.

UPDATE 2 After my initial post, and update. The owners eventually did contact me and have offered a voucher as their way of making things right, and explained it's a new location and some staff might be experienced? Anyway, we'll see how the next...

My wife and I went during the gratitude giveaway weekend and boy did we feel the love! Line was out the door. We waited over an hour but it went by fast and was worth it!

Everything about TKS feels like an elevated version of the doner kabab/ over rice experience. Let's go through the categories-

Service - Very welcoming and filled with positive vibes from the employees and co-owner Wally and his wife!

Ambiance - Open kitchen concept. It's very well lit with upscale fixtures, wood tables, clean lines and felt like a very cool spot to have a meal at.

Ingredients - Felt like clean eating. Usually, the "doner meat / over rice" falls under our "cheat day" when we are looking for something greasy to eat to take our minds of whatever led us to "cheat" in the first place. However at TKS, the food just felt fresh with quality ingredients and isn't greasy or oily at all. The same is true for the sauces - They felt clean to the point I had to dump 2 whole white sauces into my rice to get it to mimic the oiliness I am used to at my usual places!

Per their website, the carved chicken and lamb/beef are halal at the Austin location.

Portions to Price ratio - Both the wrap and box starts at $9 which is similar to other places. In fact, the box is slightly cheaper by $1 from some more established "over rice" places in the Austin area. Portions are great. The wrap is thin but super long and I was struggling to finish the Box near the end. But we are not heavy eaters and your mileage may vary.

Taste - So this is where I ding it a little bit but with a caveat. Don't expect "Halal bros/guys/gurus/corner/insert noun here" because compared to those, taste falls short by a lot. You can try to drown it with all the white/red sauces you want but it never quite reaches that level of flavor. And I think that's okay. Because if I were to categorize TKS, it would fall under a healthier category rather than the NY Halal cart food space.

TKS is for people who wants to have wraps/ over rice options but also wants to eat healthier. Therefore expectations should be adjusted accordingly. So keeping that in mind, it's tasty enough. With that said, I do feel the rice is super dry and could use a bit of oomph! The wrap bread is amazing though!

I would definitely recommend checking out The Kebab Shop and try out their various offerings. Overall a solid option for...

Hi I am going thru Austin this my first time here and I saw this place near Trader Joe's so I stopped to try it.

I like the parking lot has trees to park under for my dog. I saw they have nice outdoor seating too.

They are super friendly. people working there seemed happy.

I did have trouble ordering. Ordered the wrap for 11.75 that's the lowest price they had two other things to offer a bowl for like 12.50 and then something else for a lot more money haha. I accidentally upgraded to grilled chicken (1.50 extra) I thought she said "green" chicken so I guess I assumed that was the chicken option that's free with that posted price (there's two options that are free for the posted price the vegetarian and the first listed chicken) Then they have meatball for 1 dollar extra and I thought about that. I didn't even look at the others cuz I don't like paying extra .... but then she said fries are a dollar extra and why did I say yes? I guess cuz only a dollar.... but yeah that's meant for inside the wrap not actual fries on your plate. When I saw no fries and asked if I was also getting fries the guy immediately gave me fries on the side no charge so that was nice.

The food tastes good I really like the spicy green cilantro sauce and the garlic yogurt they are free and near by the drinks and you put them in little clear cups with covers. The red chili sauce was okay but I love the green cilantro.

They give a big big portion so bring a date and share. I had to take the leftovers with me to eat later maybe I'll add to this an update in how leftovers go..... Oh the bathrooms are clean and spacious too. Yeah all in all I will return when...