(m.) 'LOCAL MEDITERRANEAN GRILL' (Montebello Mall) — Restaurant in Montebello

Pandemic review: early lunchtime 11:50AM

At first I was scared of the price because malls are known to be extra expensive but it came with more food than I expected. The lady was nice but seemed busy because she was the only one working the front. She said my order would be done in about 15 mins and it was done faster than expected. This business was not busy when I went there for lunch. There is indoor community seating for the food court (which is a big wide open space) with granite tables everywhere. Covered outdoor seating is available in "The Patio" area.

The chicken plate was delicious. The chicken was cooked very hot but was still tender and juicy. They aren't scared to fill the container with rice.

I'm disappointed it didn't come with hummus but I guess more and more Mediterranean places have been cutting cost making the inexpensive chickpea side.

The tomato and chili were roasted very nice!!!! The underside of the chili was black. I could taste all the complex sugars in the tomato breaking down to make it sweet, and it was easy to cut with a fork while still having enough rigidity to have some structure to hold itself together with pieces of rice.

The cucumber salad was decent. Light sour and oil taste to help balance out the savory meal.

The flat bread was soft and warm :)

Overall, this place exceeded my...

There is no way in hell this place only deserves 2.6 total stars based on all of the recent reviews. Their food is THE BEST FOOD in this mall and in all of Montebello if you like mediterranian food. The chicken and beef kabobs are absolutely delicious! They are very flavorful and grilled to perfection, Never dry. The plates are served with delicious basmati rice, fresh cucumber salad, a perfectly grilled tomato, grilled jalapeño and pita bread.

I've been eating at this location for over 23 years. There's a reason they've been in business for so long. Anyone who leaves a bad review about the food or service has no idea what they're talking about. THIS IS NOT MC'DONALDS folks! All the idiots that complain about the wait time need to understand that the meat is not cooked until you order it. And they sure as hell don't want to serve anyone raw meat.

If you want a good quality meal, be patient and allow the cooks to do their thing and dont be an a-hole about it. If you got attitude from the staff it's probably because your a 'b' or an a-hole to start with. In 23 years of eating here, i've never had a problem with any of the staff. So stop posting stupid reviews about this place!

This place is AWESOME!, the food is AWESOME! The staff works hard, and anyone who gives it a bad review needs to stop...

There was a 1 cm strand of hair that my daughter found in her rice platter. It was tinted red with blue ends, same as the cashier’s hair color.

Before discovering the hair, we had a bigger reason where zero stars seems more fitting:

We opened the rice platter and there was a grey color on the grilled tomato. Not charred black like the rest of it but grey. Looking closely, it was fuzzy mold.

We showed the cashier and lady in charge and they asked if we wanted another tomato. We said no. They asked what we wanted. Well, usually in cases like that, we’d be offered something specific but nope, nothing. Well, a refund at least partial would have been appropriate but really, the food preparer’s reaction was not one of concern or even surprise. It was almost as if she knew the tomato was moldy when placed on the cooktop.

Needless to say, the rest of the meal was not enjoyable and felt un-kosher, especially having found the strand of hair.

We are never returning here. The food (lamb/chicken wrap) was not tasty (except maybe the koubideh). Worse, customer service is not...