Zankou Chicken — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I’ve been driving past various Zankou locations for at least a decade now, but this was my first time taking the plunge. It’s not that Mediterranean isn’t cycled into my regular diet; my hesitation was more so with the chain Mediterranean restaurant concept, which didn’t sit well with me. However, there was a coupon for 20% off at this location only, so I passed by two other stores to get to this one.

I ordered online, and everything was packed well and bagged for pickup when I arrived. The chicken, pickled onions, salad, sauces, and freshly made pita bread were all consistent with my expectations. I was a bit disappointed that my order for extra pita bread wasn’t freshly made; it came pre-packaged, and it was the same brand that I could’ve picked up at the grocery store.

The locations I had passed by previously were new in appearance; they seemed brightly lit and well maintained. It was a huge turnoff when I walked in and encountered a heavily trafficked floor and fluorescent lighting that appeared simultaneously dim, like a few bulbs were missing or broken. The trash can by the entrance was full, and the napkin station was dirty. While I waited for the cashier to finish a transaction with another customer, I observed that the floor behind the counter was littered with food that had been swept into a line of debris around the prep area. The equipment didn’t appear to have been wiped down, and the kitchen was visibly grimy.

Besides the cashier, there was one employee cooking; another one was washing food in a sink towards the back. I watched the cashier make the unsanitary move from conducting a transaction at the register to handling food and utensils without so much as a spritz of hand sanitizer. Moreover, there should’ve been an additional employee cleaning and making sure that the restaurant maintained a hygienic atmosphere.

If a restaurant is going to have an open kitchen, its leadership must accept that the kitchen will be subject to constant scrutiny. I get that it was half an hour before closing time and that the store had probably seen heavy traffic that day, but I have higher expectations for sanitation at the day’s bookends. Near closing should be a time when an employee is going around mopping or wiping down tables and chairs. Instead, there were about four men waiting for orders at tables that had stains and bits of food on them.

This location didn’t impress me as the kind of place where I would ever want to sit down and eat. I had to do a bit of bargaining with my OCD just to keep the order and resist the urge to cancel before the cashier brought the bag over. It took a bit more inner negotiating to let go of my fears enough to consume the meal. I settled on microwaving the chicken to get rid of any surface bacteria. I would order from Zankou again but never again from this...

There Is something wrong with this Zankou Location. It was Understaffed, Only two people working, It was Super Super Hot. Like there was no AC in the place. Standing next to the register for the 10 min wait while the only cashier took a phone order before he could take our order in line. It felt like standing next to Hot Lava since the Stand Up roasters are on full blast. I feel really really bad for the people who work the register being cooked alive the whole time.

The place was a mess with people's trays of unfinished food and such left on the tables and next to the trash. This isn't the restaurant's fault but rather the customer who is selfish and doesn't know how to properly cleanup after themselves.

The service was very nice, the only guy at the register was trying really hard to please everyone but him on his own you could see he was struggling and sweating bullets since he was in front all that heat.

Forks, napkins and drink lids were not restocked.

Tables unwiped and food bits all over the floor.

If I was not already a passionate ZC customer to other locations since 1992, I would of hated my experience if I was a new customer to ZC and happened to walk into this one at this time.

I know for a fact that ZC does not franchise so If you guys read this. Please Save this place. and the Location on Ball in Anaheim needs a refresh as well and needs to look nice and Clean Just like the ZC on 10760 Riverside Dr, North Hollywood, CA 91602 So far is the Best over All! Clean and new and great customer service, consistent food servings and fast.

Enjoy...

I went in on Monday and ordered 2 rotisserie chicken wraps. No tomato's, no garlic sauce with hummus instead. I was bringing them to my mom to have dinner with her at her nursing home. We go to eat our wraps and the chicken was so dry my mom couldn't even chew it without choking. Mine was so dry, I finally gave up and we threw them out. We couldn't even eat the pita because there was almost no hummus on the bread. It was a total waste of $13. Not to mention that it was so small, a $1 burrito at taco bell was bigger. I left my mom's nursing home at 9:30 and it was too late to call Zankou. I emailed the corporate office with photos of my receipt and the tiny sandwich. Tuesday I got a reply informing me that they can't do anything about the Tarzana location because it's not a corporate location. So, I called Tarzana and was told that I should have saved the sandwiches. I could not carry them around my mother's nursing home for 4 hours. Then I was told that they would have someone call me.. no one has called. SHAME ON YOU ZANKOU TARZANA. this is NOT the 1st time you have served chicken jerky before. I was once told to come in before 6 PM for the best quality meat. I was there before 4pm. Rotisserie is the juiciest that's why I bought it for my elderly mom. Instead we got tiny dry chicken jerky and no one cares. How very disappointing on so...