Lemón Zëst — Restaurant in Sierra Madre

I stopped at this restaurant upon returning from sledding at Mt Baldy.

IT IS INCREDIBLE.

Read my other reviews. You will see that I am a five star or one star person (rarely one-star but it happens) so if something stands out and is amazing I pause to share the news.

First of all, I am Persian and the restaurant is categorized on Google as Mediterranean but with kabob and salad Shirazi on the menu we know what the real situation is, until we order and start eating.

This is no ordinary Persian food.

It is light, it is healthy, it is perfectly paired herbs and spices that do things that I didn’t know Persian food could do.

From the sprig of rosemary tucked into our salmon kabob that made the rice so fragrant and inviting, to the beautiful lemons quartered on the sides, my daughter and I inhaled this food while eating out of the back of our SUV while we waited for the Upper Hastings lights to come on.

I also ordered yogurt with cucumber, pickled cabbage (torshi) and salad shirazi (of course) to round out the meal and every dish was incredible. No extra unnecessary fat to fool you into thinking it was flavor. Perfectly paired spice balances to lead you down the Silk Road, I am so happy I over ordered so we can enjoy this again tomm because ... I live 25 miles away ☹️.

They deliver for $2.99 but I don’t think the Westside is in the delivery range. And as we were leaving I noticed a carefully curated wall of white and red wine which left me nothing but frustrated as I was driving, we can’t eat inside and I need to know which famous cooking school the chef went to and get them to open a place closer to me!

Sorry no photos because it was dark and I was trying to eat without dropping our food on the ground. But everything looks like the website.

Thank you Lemon Zest for an amazing post-sledding meal. It was out of this world! 🌎 Looking forward to planning activities in that neck of the woods so I can have fluffy, perfect Basmati rice colored with...

I ordered to go so not sure how is it at the restaurant I heard it is cute , the beef Lula was very good , the chicken tasted good but too dry , meat wasn’t a good quality , salad is a désastre they just have a bag of those mixed green that they use on all kind of salad Greek salad Cesar salad and green salad which are very different then each other the only difference between the green and the the Greek is a tiny bit of fetta and few olives but that is not Greek at all they both should be very different ingredients specially the lettuce definitely should use heart of romaine for the Greek and dressing is different also we never heard of a Cesar salad with mixed green , and had the worst crouton. And didn’t even served hummus with the authentic Lebanese plate I had to buy a tiny container that is not even enough for one person meal for almost 8 dollars , total ripoff. Rice was good . So we paid $ 75 dollars for two plate each had only two skewer one had one skewer CHIKEN and one skewer beef Luka with supposedly the Greek salad and the other one a beef skewer and a beef Luka skewer with supposedly the Cesar salad and the tiny tiny eggplant container 2 pita bread one for each plate any other place I would have payed may be 50 with a good amount of hummus and a better salad but the kabab part is good . When we asked why it is so expensive they said we ordered a family meal , sorry but family meal do t come with two skewers a salad and a pita that is called a one person plate . Total ripoff , but again the food except the salad was not bad o can say average I liked...

Lots of vegan choices here with faux meats. I ate my falafel and fries. The fries were a light golden, crunchy outside fluffy inside, generous portion, but it costs extra. The falafel (about five in the wrap) was good, a little dry, but good chickpea flavor 5/5...but I wished the lettuce wasn't so "spring mix from a supermarket bag" and clubky chunky...I like to see more finesse...but the pita was the thick fluffy kind and the sandwich was well wrapped so you could hold it without too much falling out. I enjoyed the cute Sierra Madre ambiance inside...though I was kept waiting so long in the place i nearly left...about 12 minutes alone before someone emerged from the back, without as much of a welcome or greeting. Well, I was excited to be there at least. Anyway, no check ins from any server but I tipped the guy 15 percent anyway, and he did thank me for that. I ordered a beef and chicken combo with rice and the proteins were grrrreat 5/5. It survived the half-hour drive home. Suggestion: Ask to have the pita bread packaged outside the container. The pita was under the proteins...alas mushy soggy unrecognizable....not smart, sorry. So if you want pita that isn't mush, beg to have the pita on the side. One star less because of that decision to put bread on the bottom for a takeout order. My mom didn't get any pita 0/5 and that's a shame bec it was the...