Garni Kebab scores hits and misses
There are hundreds of kebab restaurants in the Burbank-Glendale area. This is one of them. Garni Kebab sits like a beacon at a fork in the road where Scott Road and North San Fernando Boulevard part company.
This family-owned restaurant is clean and friendly and offers both dine in and take out, with free delivery ($15 minimum order).
Pleasantries aside, the food left much to be desired. Let’s start with the lentil soup ($3.99). It had no flavor and it was mushy — like it had been sitting around for a long time. You usually can tell a good restaurant by the quality of its soup. This was not a good start to my lunch. I also ordered a side of onion rings ($3.99) that lacked seasoning and were over-battered. The taste was anything but that of a battered onion.
My main course — beef shish kebab ($9.99) — was mediocre. Most of the beef was overcooked, as was the tasteless rice. The pita bread was excellent and I can say the same for the cucumber and tomato salad.
My wife had a club sandwich ($6.99) that she liked, along with the seasoned fries ($2.50). However, she complained about the use of American cheese in a club sandwich. She also thought that the banana peppers overwhelmed the sandwich.
The Pepsi soft drink machine was out of order. It appeared to me that a call to Pepsi would have had the machine fixed before the lunch crowd started to arrive.
We live in a plastic world today but Garni Kebab does not take credit cards. It does, however accept checks. It also has an ATM machine.
The restaurant has a number of entrees that are served with rice or French fries. The lamb chops, which I was told were excellent by a customer, go for $11.99. Other entrees include chicken shish kebab, beef and chicken Lula kebab, pork chops, rotisserie chicken and chicken tapaka.
Specialties include beef or chicken tacos, beef or chicken burritos, bacon cheeseburger combo, chicken burger combo and beef or chicken quesadillas.
Seafood dishes include sturgeon (the most expensive item on the menu at $13.99), fried fish, shrimp barbecue and shrimp scampi.
Garni Kebab also has Armenian and Greek salads. The restaurant serves breakfast, with a menu that includes an egg and cheese omelet, egg sandwich (choice of meat or cheese) and a breakfast burrito.
If you live in the area, you might want to give Garni Kebab a try. I might just have been there on one of those days.
STAN WAWER has been a writer and editor for Southern California newspapers for 47 years and more recently has been freelancing restaurant and travel stories for publications throughout the country.
Infobox:
What: Garni Kebab
Where: 1520 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank
When: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Prices: $3.99 to $13.99.
Contact: (818) 848-2738 or (818) 848-4704. No website.