Zankou Chicken — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Went there today 08/30/2023 at 3:45 pm with my 15 year old daughter who had appointment at children’s hospital, we were both starving, ordered food with Alice, asked for restroom keys which she handed to me. By the time we used restroom it took us 15 min. As I walked back to the front Alice was busy taking another order there was this young tall man with bleached hair wearing hat had facial hair mustache and beard I was going to hand him the keys from the restroom he then with rude tone told me to place the there pointing where. I saw food was on the tray so I figured it was our order and since we were in the restroom they’ve might of called our number 42 and we didn’t hear it. So I was going to ask him is it our food? He then with attitude with very rude tone told me to move and not stay there clear the way, as I wanted to ask if it was our order he repeated 3-4 times I moved and asked him what’s with your attitude change your tone when he replied to me : “ THIS IS HOW I TALK, THIS IS MY TONE AND APPLIED THAT HE WAS BORN AND RAISED HERE AND THATS HOW HE TALKS!!!” I told him I’m not stupid for you to keep repeating same thing then he rolled his eyes on me and said “THEN IF YOU ARE NOT I WOULD NOT HAD TO REPEAT SEVERAL TIMES FOR YOU TO MOVE” Shockingly I was surprised that no one told him not to talk to the client in such tone and rude unprofessional way. I asked for Manager and he said “IM THE MANAGER” I asked for his name and he didn’t give it to me. I asked another employee Alice to tell me if he is the manager and what’s his name she kept quiet probably was scared of him. I said in that case I will give them bad review for his unprofessional rude service to which he replied “ IF YOU GIVE ME BAD REVIEW YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR FOOD “ yelling at me. My order was $96.00 and I said you can’t do that my child is hungry and sick to which he told me “ ILL GIVE YOU YOUR FOOD ONLY IF YOU WILL NOT PUT A BAD REVIEW “ I MEAN REALLY IS THIS HOW YOU HANDLE YOUR CUSTOMERS . I asked Alice in Armenian language and he replied to me in English which thahere i knew he was Armenian 🤬🤬🤬 bad mouth bad service . He then pointed on the sign that he has right to refuse service to anyone and pointed his finger on me. He then said he will give me my money back tk give him the receipt and said agai if I will not put a bad review he will still give me my food no freaking way. I said to give me my money back. As he payed me “HE SAID GET OUT OF HERE I BETTER NOT SEE YOU HERE AGAIN!!!” I asked my daughter to give me her phone and took a picture of him since he refuse to provide me with his name and considered himself as a manager. I walked out and he was still saying bad words out loud even in front of my teenager and his other clients. Security was there and didn’t do nothing. I will take this behavior to the court for being treated bad for only asking if it was our order and if he called our number while we were in...

WARNING: Angry Armenian Alert!

Years ago, a friend turned me on to the Zankou Chicken restaurant in Pasadena, where I discovered the ambrosia from Nirvana that is Toum sauce (the garlic dipping sauce). Oh, and the chicken was pretty good, too. So, naturally, when my wife and I discovered a Zankou in our own neighborhood, I had to share it with her. Before entering the restaurant, I told her about my experience in the Pasadena Zankou, including how good the Toum sauce was--and the chicken wasn't bad, either--in addition to how standoffish and borderline rude the employees were. As she and I both had experience shopping in local Armenian markets, she was already familiar with the practice of the local merchants of making their non-Armenian customers feel as unwelcome as possible without giving them grounds to sue or call in a hit-squad of PC-Police.

As a result, we were prepared for the guy at the counter, who looked at us as if we were something scraped out of a bilge tank then left over a heater vent for a few weeks. While taking our order, he appeared putout, like we had simply ruined his day by coming in to give his business (which, incidentally, was completely devoid of other customers at the time--dinner time--which should have warned us) our patronage. I kept a close eye on the guy, as I suspected he kept throwing knives behind the counter and was just waiting for me to turn my back so he could plant one between my shoulder blades. As I was wearing my windbreaker, I kept my right hand inside the left flap, pretending I was fondling a gun in a holster. Apparently, my deception worked, for we made it out with not only our food but also our lives.

Then came the moment of revelation: All Zankous are NOT alike! Yes, the Toum sauce was just fine, but even it couldn't improve on about the worst chicken I have ever had. With properly cooked thighs and legs, I expect the breast meat to be slightly dry, but every part of the bird produced a prodigious thirst that a great lake could not quench. I've had sand that was less dry--SAND! This was something even a desiccated Egyptian mummy wouldn't try to gag down. To make things even worse, they must have forgot to season the bird, for it had virtually no flavor. I would have found more satisfaction from eating a tortilla filled with Baby Powder.

I would have returned the meal and demanded a refund, but I suspected the guy would be more than reluctant to turn over the cash and I wasn't in the mood to risk my life for the second time in one day.

Needless to say, I haven't tried anything else at this Zankou. Why would I? If chicken is their specialty, then everything else they serve must be even worse, if...

The service was so poor. I've never been treated like that by someone ever in my life at a food establishment. I was picking up an online order. After waiting in line I approached and told him the name. After he said it's not ready yet he walked away. I asked him what the estimate wait time was. He said that he couldn't tell me. But the couple before he quoted them 15 minutes. The only difference is they ordered right there on the spot so surely my time frame had to be less time. That's when the guy yelled at me "my adhd can't handle this. I can't tell you how much time it will be. I don't have time for this. I'll stop what I'm doing and wait for you to ask your questions." It was so loud and condescending. I immediately apologized and said that there was no way for me to have known that he had add AND that me asking a question would trigger that sort of response. There was only about five people in be store and they had all been taken care of. I didn't know that they were so behind on orders. I had walked in only a few moments ago. After telling him that there's no way I could know he has adhd he tells me "you should cancel your order." At this point I was shocked completely. He's actually the manager and I didn't ask to speak to the manager, he just flat out told me he was as if it was a power move. Honestly I wish him the best with his disorder and hope he finds a more suitable outlet. But working in this type of business might not be the best move if you just blow up on people randomly when things get stressed. I don't work there, I can't tell when things are busy. And me calmly asking a question doesn't warrant such evil and vile treatment. The way he yelled at me shook me and truly felt so threatened. There was something about his voice. And I've come here often and he's usually very hostile with customers but this was out of this world. Truly just so horrible. I wish the owner of this establishment would allow this man a bit of time off so he could focus on his disorder and not drive the business away. The man was a taller Hispanic man, balding with a beard, late 30’s. The kitchen staff was almost scared of him. Tonight he was wearing a beanie. So so unfortunate. Another review on his poor service mentioned that he’s the owner’s son. So honestly they know he’s being horrible to people and they truly don’t care. Let that...