Original Kabob Factory: Turn Don’t Burn in Glendale [MOVED]

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Restaurant Los Angeles

Garnik “Nick” Mouradian, the “heir to the throne” of a kabob empire that dates to 1940s Yerevan, resurfaced in California in the early ’70s and has taken many forms since then. According to OKF’s Facebook page, they started out with wholesale and catering before adding Superior Kabob Factory in 1994. They opened the Original Kabob Factory in 2009 in northern Glendale, likely featuring the largest selection of kabobs in Los Angeles, and fellow kabob junkie Dylan Ho touted OKF in his dineLA Definitive Guide to Glendale.

Mouradian said the three-year-old market is a model for franchising, and I could see why. The sleek space resides on the ground floor of a building with corrugated metal siding, complete with flat screen TVs and clear messaging. Most people grab-and-go, or buy meat to cook themselves, though there are a couple tables for on-site eating.

Combo Plates include a choice of any two meats from the case. Add $2.99 for rice, onions, lavash, grilled tomato and pepper. They also throw in house-made sauces with catchy but confusing names like Swag Dilish (spicy yogurt), Gangsta Sauce (mild yogurt), Boss Sauce (spicy eggplant) or Make It Rain (garlic). It’s hard to tell whether they intended the sauces for a Rick Ross strip club buffet or for a neighborhood kabob joint. Either way, the sauces play well with kabobs, especially the spicy sauces.

Original Kabob Factory also sells lighter fluid, bags of mesquite, even kebab skewers (“the sword of the grill”) for people who are looking to tame meat at home.

Meats announce their presence in the display case with kitschy name tags. For instance: “Hello! My Name Is Beef Liver.” Most meats are marinated in salt, pepper, paprika, oil and onion and flame licked on the grill to good effect.


Armenian Food Los Angeles
I enjoyed Sweetbread & Pork Ribs, blistered pepper and tomato, and sumac-dusted onion.

Armenian Food Los Angeles
Quail & Beef Lule Kebab was an even better combo, with crusty bird and juicy ground beef.

Armenian Food Los Angeles
Ajika, a red pepper, onion and grapeseed oil dip, was very good; and tabbouleh with tiny grains, parsley, cucumber and tomato was a tangy counterpoint to the mounds of meat.

Turkish Soda
To drink, Original Kabob Factory has a big refrigerator near the entrance featuring a lot of my favorite Armenian beverages, including the yogurt drink dough and kooky Gazoz tarragon soda, which looks radioactive, and might be. At least it’s refreshing.

It’s not like Original Kabob Factory has revolutionized kabob technology, since people have grilled meat for millenniums, but Mouradian has developed a much sleeker skewer package.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

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