The Kebab Shop — Restaurant in Seal Beach

First off I want to be fair and say the food was fine, the ingredients looked fresh, the portion of the wrap could easily be shared by two people, and the staff was nice.

Some restaurant concepts can be annoying, and something that starts in a frustrating way is not usually going to get any better.

When you order your food there's a two dollar up-charge for extra sides/toppings (it wasn't clear), so we paid it for fries and hummus. When we got our food it turned out the hummus and fries were in the wrap. Since this was not what we wanted, my wife took her wrap back and ended up having to pay 10 dollars more for a full side of fries and a full side of hummus. The nice lady in the kitchen said the restaurant does not allow the portion that would've gone in the wrap to be set on the side. This didn't make any sense to me, I just left mine with everything inside to not be a bigger pain to the staff.

As I ate my wrap I thought the chicken was kind of pink. I've had issues with bad chicken in other restaurants but I didn't want to become that annoying couple who complains about everything, so I just ate it. Like I said above, the ingredients seemed fresh enough but the overall meal was just not as flavorful as I'm used to with shawarma or gyros. In contrast to that, the falafel was annoyingly spicy.

Since I'm all-in on complaining now, I'll add the AC condensation was dripping on me and I hit my 🤬 knee on the leg of the high top table I was sitting at. I was laughing to myself by the end of the meal about how something that begins annoying usually just doesn't get any better. Haha.

In conclusion, the food was okay, not as flavorful as I'm used to with this type of restaurant, the staff was nice, and ordering has this annoying gimmick that may cost you ten dollars extra if you're not...

I had such high hopes for this place. At first glance it hit all the check marks; local to SoCal, fusion of Mediterranean style and San Diego, rising success in Cali, Texas, and Florida, and interior looked upscale and well maintained.

I ordered a chicken doner plate and spent just a bit shy of $20 and it was just the saddest Mediterranean plate you could hope to get. The chicken was well seasoned but lacked any roasting or charring to give it that depth of flavor, the fries were good and not too salty, and the tabbouleh had the tiniest pieces of diced tomatoes.

I honestly thought they had a radical hot take on tabbouleh when I couldn't find the tomatoes, but they were there hiding in the bulgar.

But what really upset me was the portion size. I paid $4 more than a chicken wrap, but somehow ended up with less food.

The food is decent and palatable, don't get me wrong. But it's not $20 good. I'd be fine with the portion size if quality was better. I'd be fine with the quality if I got a bit more food. But I got neither and the whole experience had me wishing I went to Massis instead.

Service was great, but it's not something to dote on when it's an upscale version of fast food. And no one's coming here solely for the customer service.

At the prices they're asking for the food they're serving, I don't have high...

Bright, airy restaurant that is larger inside than appears from outside. Plenty of parking in the shopping center lot, although you may have to walk a bit when all of the eating places are crowded. Typical SoCal ordering set-up with menu board above the order station. Make your choices, pay, find a table, and wait for your order. You can get your self-serve drink and condiments while you're waiting. Service is generally good with some enthusiastic staff. Food is very good. We shared a chicken schwarma plate with hummus and pita. We added on sides of another hummus and pita. Note that hummus and pita count as 2 sides here. The hummus was good and generous. The pita was grilled and was that lovely fluffy Greek style pita. The schwarma was tender, tasty, juicy, and covered in drippings. I wasn't into spicy, so I got the OG garlic sauce. Deliciously subtle. Prices are reasonable for these days. I noticed another store closer to where we live....