GYRO AND KEBAB aka chickeatah' — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

Finally a new Turkish restaurant that's fresh, quick and delicious. Chickeatah' opened a few months ago right by Sunrise and the western part of US-1 that connects to Broward Blvd. This is definitely not a date night restaurant, but it's simple, clean, modest, and serves some of the best Mediterranean food I've found this side of the Atlantic.

The menu has many traditional Turkish dishes, and some not so traditional ones like wings and pizza. We were definitely not there for that. The only employee there that wasn't Turkish or preparing the aromatic food in the open kitchen was the very helpful Elena who worked the front. She also brought out the food to the 5 or so tables they have there. She explained most of their customer base (and their 4.9 rating on Google) comes from the pickup orders.

Turkish people have phrase that translates to "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach." That was our group of four. We ordered way too much and took a bunch home. Everything is homemade. The babaganoush was probably the best I've ever had, as the smoked eggplant mixed seamlessly with homemade tahini and instead of being chunky, it had a yogurt-like creamy consistency. The hummus was fresh, and the lebni (thick creamy yogurt mixed with garlic, dill and walnuts) was eye-opening for my friends that had never tried it.

The dolma (grape leaves stuffed with rice, currants, parsley) was amazing. I've had so many that were clearly frozen and stiff that it was a treat to finally eat it made the right way.

Their soup of the day was red lentil, and it was fantastic. The earthy, vibrant spices and flavor in every dish were noticeable. The portions (besides some smaller appetizers) are huge as well and very affordable.

The Greek salad had the most interesting and absolutely delicious spice-and-herb-laden cream sauce I've ever had. Completely unexpected when you're just expecting a standard vinaigrette and something we all were marveling at.

The lahmacun (Turkish meat pizza) was the only slightly disappointing item on the menu as far as flavor, but like most hot plates it was prepared in the fire oven nearby.

The chicken kebabs and the adana lamb kebab were both outstanding. The colors in the pictures speak for themselves. I'm trying to remember where a restaurant packed this much flavor into each dish. There's so much going on, and it all works.

We were stuffed to the gills, and forgot we ordered Sucuk Pide (Turkish beef sausage). It was appropriately cheesy and dripping oils from the Kasar cheese (made from sheep's milk mixed some goats milk).

We should have saved room for dessert. I heard the Baklava is fantastic for those that have better self-control than us. We spent $150 between 4 people and ate for 2 days, so...

I'm editing my prior review, now that I've had a big meal at Chickeatah. STILL wonderful. Everything we ate was delicious and clearly home-made, including a Greek salad with very fresh, crisp lettuce and herbs, a couple of stuffed grape leaves, and plenty of tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta. Good vinaigrette. The little bread loaf with the salad was made to tear off two-bite pieces. It was yeasty and chewy and needed no butter to make it enjoyable. My friend had another kind of bread they make, lightly browned rolls with feta cheese inside, that would be divine with anything saucy you ordered. But ... l ate my dessert first, the only chocolate baklava l personally have ever seen. It was not too sweet, with good quality chocolate, and it was crispy-crackle-y, just like regular baklava. I now have a new bad habit, which is my biggest compliment to a food. The Lamb Adani was coursely ground lamb, formed around skewers into long, rectangular "burgers" and grilled until it was perfectly browned and cooked, but still juicy inside. Just like the photos show, a third of your plate will be an imaginative salad with various extra treats in it. The Chicken Adani looked great, too, but my friend ate it all, despite my giving him a big bite of the lamb version!

Chickeatah is a great find for anyone who is tired of take-out pizza, wings,...

It's the kind of place I like. It's a whole in the wall and it is kept very clean. The staff is very small, there were only two guys working. One in the front and one cooking in the back. It seemed like they did a pretty good job working together. For a small place, they had a decent sized menu. So we started out with an order off grape leaves. Not only were they stuffed with rice, but they were the biggest grape leaves I have ever eaten. They were also really good. What we ate? My daughter had grilled chicken wings. They were all a nice size. She got them plain and really enjoyed them. My wife had a falafel pita, other than it could have used some pickles she enjoyed what she had, too. Me, I had a chicken pita, and I also think it could have used some pickles. I did like that they served the sauces on the side. I like to decide how much I'm going to use or none at all, and it's a good thing. The hot sauce! I love hot, and this hot sauce was so hot, "I was scared of it." To finish it of we had a small piece of baklava. It was too bad they didn't have any chocolate baklava. The pictures of it looked incredible. So we had the pistachios baklava. We shared it, not only was it really good, but just the...