Zankou Chicken- Montebello

Zankou Chicken
125 N Montebello Blvd
Montebello
323-722-7200

I know that Zankou Chicken has been around forever and there are many locations in the LA area. But I have not been to any Zankou Chicken. I have heard the way to go is their rotisserie chicken but when I found out they had kebobs I wanted to try both.

So I got a combo kebob plate, beef and chicken, $9.95, and a whole rotisserie chicken, $8.99.

The combo plate comes with hummus, salad, onions and rice. First the chicken kebobs. Very good among the best chicken kebobs I have had. Nice flavor, moist, tender, flavorful. It was great.

The beef kebob was tender, well seasoned, and flavorful, but dry, very dry. If the beef was cooked to medium it would have been very good.

The hummus was very, nice texture and not a ton of garlic or tangy as other hummus I had. I liked the rice but there just wasn't enough rice.

When I placed the order, asked that the rotisserie chicken be packed to go. But I opened it up and took a couple bites while I was there. I wasn't impressed. The chicken was a bit small and very dry, not moist at all. I do think it is full of flavor, smells great but it was on the rotisserie too long. For a few bucks less I can get a bigger chicken that is moist from Costco.

Service was very good. The young lady who took my order was nice and friendly. She ask there wouldn't be any problem packing up the rotisserie chicken to go and just let her know when I wanted the chicken packed. She brought my order to my table. She worked hard and did her job really well.

I wouldn't come back to Zankou for their rotisserie chicken but I think their chicken kebob and hummus is great!!! They deserve a second chance on the beef kebob but not the rotisserie chicken. That is their signature item and they missed.

Fiesta Mexicana

Fiesta Mexicana
1105 W Whittier Blvd
Montebello
323-728-3097

Fiesta Mexicana is known for their mariachi bands. But be warned, they charge you for the band.

The first time I went to Fiesta Mexicana, they had an overpriced Sunday brunch, $13.99 because of the mariachi band. The same brunch is served Mon-Fri for $7.99. The brunch has regular Americanized Mexican food.

I went back and ordered off the menu, got the De Pollo Asadas, $15.95, chicken breast steaks with beans and rice. The chicken breast was great. Lots of flavor, well balanced seasoning, nothing overpowered anything else. The chicken was tender and juicy. It was a big portion but pretty thin. A very good dish.

The refried beans were salty and just bad. The rice was pretty good.

Service was very good. The first server was nice and helpful but he didn't understand much English, so he got somebody else who understand English. I wanted to know how they cooked the chicken. The second guy was very nice and helpful. I even asked him how to say 'How is that cooked?" in Spanish.

While I think the chicken dish was good, I think prices here are a bit high. They could reduce the price by $2-$3 and it would be much better. I wouldn't go out of my way to come back, but I wouldn't be against coming back here. Though I would not go for their Sunday Brunch.

Rio's Pizza

Rio's Pizza
531 N Montebello Blvd
Montebello
323-722-8183

Rio's Pizza bills themselves as the best pizza in town!!! Strong words but for the city of Montebello, maybe they are speaking the truth.

I ordered a 12 hot wings and a large pepperoni pizza, special for 20.99. The pizza was just loaded with cheese, always a huge plus in my book, plus they used a good quality cheese. They also loaded it with tons of pepperoni. Another plus. They don't cheat you out of toppings here. The sauce was a bit mild but worked well with this pizza. A very good pizza.

I got the hot wings and wow, they are hot. They hot sauce they use has a nice kick to it, so watch out. They were fairly big and had lots of meat on them. They are baked, not deep fried, because the skin wasn't crispy.

Service was good. The young lady who took my order, greeted my promptly when I walked in. She was nice and friendly. But I thought they took a bit long for my order. I must have waited 25 minutes for the pizza and wings. Not that big of a deal. But most places you can get pizza within 15--20. There were a lot of people in the restaurant but they had already ordered. A couple people came in and picked up to go orders. So it wasn't that busy. Again, it wasn't that big of a deal but it did take a little longer than at other pizza places.

I would go back to Rio's if I'm in the area again. The best pizza in town? Maybe.

Arry's

Arry's Burgers
1015 W Whittier Blvd.
Montebello
323-726-1550

Arry's is your regular burger place that almost every city has. Some people may describe it as a greasy spoon but most places like Arry's serve good food at good prices. Just remember you're getting a burger that is a step above a fast food burger. This isn't meant to be fine dining. I went to Arry's on April 3, 2007. I realized I did not put this review on my blog.

Pictured is the burger that I got with a burger, fries and soda combo, $4.49. The burger had lettuce, tomato, and dressing. This was a good solid burger. Nothing special about it, but then again I wasn't expecting a great burger. It's a good solid burger and served nice and hot.

The fries was a cold and had been sitting under a heat lamp too long. I went back and asked for a new order of fries. The second batch was a little better but again, solid but nothing special.

Service is pretty good. Arry's is packed from the minute they open until they close, or so it seems. There were about four people ahead of me when I got there but I got to the front of the line pretty quickly. My order came up quickly. They didn't give me any problems when I asked for a new batch of fries.

I would go back to Arry's for any of their items. I can overlook some fries being served cold, when they take care of it without any hassle.

El Original 7 Mares

El Original 7 Mares
6307 Whitter Blvd
Montebello
323-721-2741


Ok I'll admit it, I never knew what mariscos meant until last year. I'm used to carne asada, carnitas, and pollo as meats. So now that I've discovered what mariscos means, I've wanted to see what places have good mariscos.

I went to El Original 7 Mares and had their Combo El Mares, a seafood combination for $15.99. The combination included, halibut, surimi crab, Costa Azul shrimp, breaded shrimp, fish fillet and scallops. The Costa Azul shrimp is shrimp wrapped in bacon. The shrimp was huge and the bacon added a very nice flavor. I didn't really notice many Mexican spices in the shrimp. But this was good. The breaded shrimp was just ok. First of all it was about lukewarm, like it was sitting under a heat lamp. So of course it wasn't crunchy and it was mostly the bread coating. The shrimp was pretty small, I thought I was at Sizzler.

What I mean by Mexican spices is those spices used in Mexican cooking. The seafood here didn't taste like anything from a Mexican restaurant.

The fish fillet was the only thing that had any kind of Mexican spices. I think the fish was talipia but not 100% sure. It was very tasty though a bit on the salty side for me. The halibut, which is a fish I love, was fried!!! Why??? There is no reason to ruin a great fish by deep frying it. If they used the spices they used for the fish fillet, on the halibut, I would have loved it.

The scallops were small pieces of scallops and while they gave you alot, it wasn't fresh. It was very chewy and rubbery. Again no Mexican spices or anything.

What I hated was the surimi crab. Now I'll admit I didn't know that was Spanish for imitation crab. But I hate imitation crab, no matter how it's cooked. This crab was very rubbery and not fresh at all.

Service was below average. It took a long time for drinks to be refilled. When I got my iced tea, there was something in there, a piece of tortilla chip. I asked for a new cup and they took about five minutes to bring it back. They also took forever to run the credit card. Very slow. I got the feeling they wanted Spanish speakers only. I didn't feel uncomfortable but it's pretty clear this place caters to the large Latino population of Montebello.

I would not go back to this place again. Bad service, poor quality food. Not a good combo.

Jimmie's-Closed

Jimmie's
701 Whittier Blvd
Montebello
323-726-7783

Jimmie's is a local restaurant that tries to cater to all of Montebello. So that means American food, Persiand food, and Mexican food.

Well they don't do American breakfast right. Pictured is the one egg breakfast special with a biscuit for $4.79, which includes potatoes and bacon.

Where should I start. The biscuit and country gravy. TERRIBLE. First there was a thick layer on top of the gravy. When I dipped the biscuit, both the biscuit and gravy weren't even luke warm. The gravy tasted as though it had been sitting around for an entire week. TERRIBLE.

The egg was ordered over hard and this was overcooked. It's too brown. There should be some white showing, even in a over hard egg. The was the best part of the meal.

The bacon was undercooked. They needed to be on the grill for a few more minutes.

The pototoes were nothing great, very bland.

Service was average. The young server took my order and the order came quickly but my drink wasn't refilled until I had to call for her. But she was nice and pleasant.

I would not go back to Jimmie's. Terrible food.

Salvatore

Salvatore
125 N. 6th St
Montebello
323-727-2803

Italian food isn't one of my favorite foods. It's not that bad, but it's very heavy and I don't need all those carbs. I think most Italian restaurants are overpriced for just simple pasta and some sauce. I just stick to basic Italian food like pizza, spaghetti, and lasagna.

But it's not like I won't go to Italian restaurants. So I went to Salvatore in Montebello. Again I'm surprised at the amount of quality ethnic foods in Montebello. I have been to a good Chinese, Thai, Persian, and now Italian restaurant in Montebello. Of course there are a ton of good Mexican restaurants in Montebello.

So I order the half and half, of spaghetti and lasagna, $12, which includes a salad and garlic bread. Now normally I won't take a picture of garlic bread but damn this garlic bread was awesome!!! On french bread (Ironic huh?) they put a mild tasting garlic spread. It doesn't have an overpowering garlic taste, more of a mild taste. The bread wasn't hard, which I hate, but so soft. Man was this great. I could just sit there and eat the garlic bread. They give you some buchetta or however you spell it but I didn't put anything one.

Next came the dinner salad, which I didn't take a picture of. Instead of antipasto salad I asked for a green salad. They green salad had way too many olives and I hate olives. But they had nice fresh greens, tomato, and mushrooms. All fresh and tasty.

Next came a hubcab sized plate with spaghetti and lasagna. WOW was this huge. The lasagna was huge. This is a half portion? WOW I'm not used to lasagna being topped with meat sauce but since this lasagna didn't have any meat inside they had to add the meat sauce. The meat sauce was very good. Not too tangy, which I hate, and just spiced right. The noodles were cooked perfectly and there was cheese everywhere. One of the best lasagna I've had.

The spaghetti was topped with the same meat sauce and was also huge. I'm glad this was a half portion. I took a few bites of the spaghetti but I was so full finishing the lasagna, I didn't have room for anymore food. But the noodles were cooked just right. The only thing that threw me off is they don't grate the cheese for you. You have to shake it from a shaker.

Service was OK. When we first got to the Salvatore, there was a party of about 8 people. But they were just paying their bill when we got seated. So there may have been 12 people having dinner. But service was off. At times the servers were there. But other times it took awhile to find them and get refills on drinks. After we finished eating and they put our leftovers in boxes, it took at least ten minutes for the server to come around, so we could ask for the check. I always thought that's when servers came around the quickest!!

I would go back to Salvatore. The food is great. The prices, especially considering the portions you get, are the best.

Happy Family

Happy Family
869 Wilcox
Montebello
323-724-1818

With Montebello being so close to Monterey Park and all the great Chinese restaurant, I figured it would be tough to find a good Chinese restaurant in Montebello. But to my surprise, Happy Family is a very good Chinese restaurant. It's not the most authentic but it does serve very good food.

The first picture has chicken chow mein, $7.95. There wasn't as much chicken but the noodles were tender and cooked just right. There was also cabbage and bean sprouts. The chicken was tender and it was mostly white meat. But I didn't think there was that much chicken. They certainly could have included more chicken.

The second picture is shrimp and lobster sauce, $7.95. This dish had peas, carrots, mushrooms, and a nice gravy. I think one of the best shrimp and lobster sauce I've had. The shrimps were huge and they gave you a large amount. My favorite dish of the three.

The last dish is vegetable fried rice, $5.45. The fried rice had no soy sauce at all which is weird. But it was good. There were bean sprout, broccoli, green onions, and some eggs. The rice was a bit dry but I solved that by topping it off with the shrimp and lobster sauce.

This was a take out order. Service was good. My order was ready when I asked for it. The person who took my phone order, didn't speak English that well but good enough not to make any mistakes on the order.

I would go back to Happy Family, next time I will eat in the restaurant. The food held up remarkably well. After picking up the order, we went to the LA Zoo to catch the shuttle to the Hollywood Bowl, where we had a wonderful dinner. So in that hour's time frame the food was still good and fresh.

Amy's

Amy's Pastry
2208 Beverly Blvd
Montebello
323-724-0488

I was surprised to find such a good place for pastries, bagels, cookies, and cakes in Montebello. But Amy's Pastry is great.

Pictured is a cherry slushy. Good refreshing stuff.

Next is a cinnamon roll. Take the best cinnamon roll you ever had and this is twice as good. Only problem with day I went was that the oven was broken and it was served cold. I can't imagine how good it would be hot.

The crossiant is flakey, buttery goodness and as you can see from the picture it's a good sized crossiant.

I have had their bagels, cookies, and cakes and they are all awesome. One of the best bakeries anywhere.

Now the only that is bad about Amy's is their service. The people are friendly enough but they are so damn slow. A turtle could serve the pastries faster. Don't be in a rush if you go to Amy's. Also remember to take a number. They won't take any orders unless you have a number. The number ticket machine will be to your right when you walk into Amy's.

If you can handle good, but VERY slow service you will get great pastries.

Changnoy/Little Elephant

Changnoy
2468 Whittier Blvd
Montebello
323-832-9777

I am amazed at the wide variety of ethnic restaurants in the city of Montebello. I've had everything from Chinese, Mexican, Persian, and Italian food in Montebello.

Changnoy is a good Thai-Chinese restaurant. I ordered my usual at Thai restaurants, tom yum goong, which is a spicy shrimp soup, $5.95, and chicken satay, $5.25.

The chicken satay was flavored with Thai spices. There was a nice lime taste to the satay. The chicken was huge. A very good chicken satay and what a great price.

The spicy shrimp soup was between mild and medium spicy. It was flavorful with tons of the green onions. But I thought the shrimp was good sized but a bit overcooked.

Service is below average. They took a long time to take our order. We asked for more water and that took at least five minutes. But they came quickly when we asked for the bill.

I would go back to Changnoy. The prices are good, though the service is bad. I can accept shrimp being overcooked in a soup. Of course I'm hoping it's a one time thing.

Garden Ranch Market-Closed

Garden Ranch Market
1501 W Beverly Blvd
Montebello
323-888-2054

Garden Ranch Market is an Middle Eastern market that serves burgers and kebobs.

I got the 89 cent burger special. The burger wasn't any better than a burger from any fast food place. Pretty average and while it was bigger than a regular burger at a fast food place, I wouldn't order this again.

The next picture is the Maple Combo, $7.99, which is a beef kebob, chicken kebob, and beef shawarma. The beef kebob was OK. They beef was a bit tough, not as tender as other kebobs I've had. It was flavorful but I don't want to feel as though I'm chewing gum.

The chicken kebob was a bit dry. It was also bland. Not sure what happened here but not good.

The best part of this combo was the beef shawarma. This was tender, juicy and wonderful. The beef shawarma is the only thing worth a damn on their menu.

The combo comes with a good hummus and fresh salad.

Service is just OK. I get the feeling these people want to only serve Middle Eastern people. They weren't that friendly and very business like.

There are many other great kebob places in Montebello, so I don't know why I would even bother going back.

Hikari

Hikari
1864 Montebello Town Center
Montebello
323-720-1955

I am still surprised at the variety and quality of restaurants in Montebello. From Sushi to Chinese to kebobs, Montebello has more than just Mexican restaurants.

In the Montebello Town Center Mall, Hikari is a very good sushi place.

The first picture is the spicy tuna roll. This is very spicy, I had to drink lots of water after finishing the rolls. Nice and fresh and tasty. What a steal at $4.95.

California Rolls, $4.95. California rolls are imitation crab, avocado and cucumbers. This was very fresh and tasty.

The last picture is the scallops roll, $5.95. Filled with fresh scallops and smelt eggs. I'm not used to smelt eggs but these were very small so you can barely taste them. But the scallops were fresh and this was a good tasting roll.

Service is good. You're greeted and seated quickly. You almost don't know who your server is because different servers come up and ask if you need anything. We weren't lacking for anything. Drinks were quickly refilled, food was good, and we had a nice pleasant dining experience.

I would go back to Hikari again and again. Good, fresh sushi, at good prices with good service. You can't beat that combination.

House of Kebobs-Closed

House of Kabob
2110 Whitter Blvd
Montebello
323-721-8956

Montebello should be renamed Kebob City or Kabob City. This must be the fifth kebob restaurant in Montebello I've been to. But the most interesting. It's a huge sit down restaurant. The other kebob places are either "fast food" type places or have much smaller dining areas. This must be the least popular kebob restaurant in Montebello. I went on a Saturday night around 7pm. We left around 8:30pm and during that time period there were only ten people there the entire time. Not sure why but I found it interesting.

I wanted to take a break from beef so I ordered the shish taouk kebob, al carte, $11.25. Maybe it was lost in translation but House of Kabob al carte includes, soup or salad and bread. A nice touch but the green salad is just your standard green salad. This was chicken breast grilled with rice pilaf. Now I love basmati rice, so having rice pilaf is kind of a letdown. Not that big of a deal but use the good rice. Not the cheap stuff. Anyways the chicken was a bit dry and lack flavor. They didn't put many or any spices on the chicken.

Service was ok but what I hated about this place was that the owner and his friend were sitting down and smoking. I hate scumbag smokers. It's a nasty habit and I don't feel like smelling like an ashtray after eating. I'm trying to enjoy dinner and some scumbag smoker, who shouldn't even be in the damn restaurant is lighting up.

I would not go back to House of Kabobs. There are much better kebob places in Montebello.

Golden Skewer

Golden Skewer
2212 Beverly Blvd.
Montebello
323-727-2852

Golden Skewer is one of five kebob places in Montebello. One big plus for Golden Skewer is that it's next door to Amy's Bakery.

Pictured is the filet mignon kebob ($11.50). This beef maybe listed as filet mignon but this has to be among the lowest quality of beef around. There was a lot of fat on many pieces. It wasn't tender almost like a london broil cut. It was well seasoned and tasty. But I was expecting a much leaner and more tender cuts of beef. The kebob comes with your choice of basmati or Armenian pilaf. I picked the basmati rice for the filet. They did give you a nice size portion of rice.

The second picture is the chicken breast kebob ($8.50). The chicken breast was well seasoned and broiled just right. It wasn't dry, as some chicken breast can be. I liked the chicken breast but I thought the portion was small, compared to other kebob places. I got the Armenian pilaf and it was ok. It's almost like basmati rice but had some onions and it was browned. Not bad but I prefer basmati rice.

I got this order to go. The lady who helped me wasn't really that friendly and she took forever to run my debit card. Just slide the damn card through the machine. I can imagine how long she would take serving the meal if I had eat there. She was very businesslike almost robotic.

I would not go back to Golden Skewer. For the price you pay for the "filet mignon" kebob you can get a much better cut of filet mignon from other kebob places in Montebello.

Ani's Chicken

Ani's Chicken
528 Montebello Blvd.
Montebello
323-888-0750

Kebobs in Montebello. As I've said in other reviews, I was surprised to see so many kebob places in Montebello, a mostly Hispanic area. Ani's is one of the better kebob places. If only their service was better.

I ordered the chicken breast kebob, $7.39 and the combo kebob with beef and chicken kebobs. All plates included rice and salad and hummus. The hummus is great.

The chicken breast was awesome. Full of flavor and tender and juicy. Some chicken kebobs can be dry but Ani's did this chicken breast right. Oh so good.

The beef kebob was also good. The beef was pretty tender and it was also full of flavor. I did take off the onions, I think they would have overwhelmed the flavor of the beef.

The only thing about Ani's is the service. The punk kid who took my order was rude and just a plain jerk. I asked him how many skewers come with each kebob plate. He said like it shows in the picture. Well I didn't see the damn picture. Plus a picture doesn't tell me much. Why he couldn't say two skewers come with each plate, is beyond me. Many the punk kid is too stupid? When my to go, order was ready he just handed the bag to me. There were no, thank you or anything. This punk kid needs to learn customer service.

I'm not sure if I would go back to Ani's. Yes the food is great. But the service just sucks. They need to learn how to treat customers.

J & S

J&S
887 Garfield
Montebello
323-725-8106

Driving on the 60 freeway going to LA, I've must have passed by J & S tons of times. I finally decided to give them a try. J & S was probably started as a burger stand and as the area and ownership changed, they added Mexican items.

I got the meat burrito for $3.25 and the cheeseburger for $2.70. The beef burrito was filled with shredded beef. It reminded me of sloppy joe's with shredded instead of grounded beef. The burrito had just the right spices and was very good. Better than some Mexican restaurants I've been to.

The cheeseburger was pretty average. Nothing outstanding about it. The burger was dry and lacked any flavor. The burger patty was also very thin and considering the price, not worth it.

Service is slow. The people are nice and take your order quickly. But they don't speak much English and it would help if you knew Spanish. But it takes forever to get your food after placing your order. You could go get gas at the corner and come back and still have time to call listen to the over the hill Vin Scully making one of his hundreds of errors while calling a Dodger game.

I would go back to J & S but I would stick to the Mexican fare. The burrito are great. The burgers leave a lot to be desired.