Olympia Kebab

by Tanner M.

This review will be written as a stream of consciousness. I am attempting to bring the experience that I had to you in the exact same way I had it........... [3:00 pm] Damn! I'm hungry....No way!!! Noah's Ark is closed. Bummer, I need humus....[3:10 pm] Humus, humus, humus. I need humus. Shawarma, humus, humus, humus, sex, humus, meat, humus. Mediterranean food. I'm hungry. Oh shit! Olympia House! This looks promising. [3:12 pm, walk inside] Hmmm, this place looks like the waiting room at a dentist's office. Weird. Doesn't smell like a dentist office...Dental assistants...sex...... wonder how long it took to paint the walls to make it look like stucco and brick? The painted cracks were a nice touch. Not. Looks like the painter must have painted for Lamb Chop's Play House prior to this job. Mystery solved.....Focus, you're here for food. What do they have? Menu, menu, menu, AHA! Lunch special until 3 pm. Sweet, 12 minutes late. Let's ask the stupid question you know you want to ask anyway. - "Hey, is it too late for the lunch special?" - "No lunch special on Sundays." (stern looking hostess) No Sunday lunch special. Damn. Those lunch specials look good. Will have to check that out one day if this place is good. At least she didn't look at me stupid for asking. That's 1 star on Yelp.......[debates menu]......That chicken breast kabob entree looks promising in the picture. So does the lamb. Lamb or chicken breast....breasts, breasts, breasts....I'll go with the chicken. Comes with humus too. BINGO! Roasted tomato too. Yuck! Armenian salad as well. WTF is an Armenian salad? Whatever let's try it. - "I'll have the chicken breast kabob plate" [3:15 pm] It isn't a dentist office. No, it looks more like a break room at work. That's it. A break/coffee/snack/employee lounge at work. Nice recognition on that one [mental high five]........[3:20 pm] Why is there only one more table eating? Oh yeah, it's 3:20 on Sunday. Am I already turning into my grandfather? Maybe I should have asked for the Early Bird Special instead of the lunch special...........[3:25 pm, falls asleep in chair briefly] Whoa...Did I just fall asleep? Definitely did. Drool check...Clean. Booger check...Clean....[3:29 pm] Order is finally ready. Chicken kabob plate with rice pilaf, Armenian salad, humus and a side of garlic sauce. $16.53 and this is heavy so I think I'm straight on portions. Can't wait to get home and grub. [3:38 pm, sits down to eat] There is a lot of rice pilaf in here. They should call this the rice pilaf plate that comes with chicken. Hope none of the drowned in all this rice. I'll save them if they did. Let's see what this humus is all about....That's okay. I can do that. Good humus, but this pita bread is delicious. Holy shit this is good pita bread. Time to step it up a notch. Let's check out this garlic sauce I got.......Oh no they didn't!!! They did!!!! Did this garlic sauce just give me a semi? It did. Wish I had more than two pieces of pita to dip in this humus and garlic sauce. Maybe I could have traded some rice. Damn, there is a lot of rice. Supply and demand Olympia House!!! You're supplying rice and I'm demanding pita and chicken. Let's get this figured out before the market crashes!!! What did they do with this pita bread? This will take some further investigation. Going to have to go back. Can't tell roommate about how good this garlic sauce is or bye bye garlic sauce when I leave to go to Reggae Night. Bastard. Why can't he ever bring any good food back?

by EDNA T.

My first Lebanese-Armenian and definitely not last experience. We ordered...Hammos with Meat (YUMMMY!) Hammos Topped with Fried Ground Meat, Onion and Pine Nuts.Kefta Kebab (YUMMMMY!)Marinated and Grilled Garlic Ground Beef on SkewerFattoush Salad (Seasonal) (INTERESTING---but probably won't order it again)Verdolaga, Cucumber, Tomato, Mint, Onion, Olive Oil, Parsley, Lemon Juice, Herbs, Toasted Pita Bread.Armenian coffee: strong but perfect with 2 packages of sugar. It kinda reminds me of the strong Vietnamese-French coffee minus the condense milk.food quality: good. service: VERY nice and attentive waitress! The owner also came to our table to greet us and asked if we enjoyed the food. I wish all restaurants had such great service!price: a bit pricey--small portion for the price

by George T.

This is a Lebanese-Armenian restaurant out by CSUN (Zelzah Chatsworth) technically in Granada Hills . . . don't let the Greek decor fool you, its pure "Beirutsi" (ie Armenian from Beirut style Lebanese food) as is the family that owns/runs it.  The mezza (appetizers) are very solid (on par with Marouch in Little Armenia with few exceptions . . . Marouch has a better fattoush salad, period, 'cause they rub the pita bread with olive oil before toasting to keep it crisp).  But here is where Olympia beats nearly all Lebanese-Armenian places in LA . . . the kebabs.  Olympia's grilled meats are on par with Carousel in Hollywood, if not better.  They just know how, that's all . . . in every Middle-Eastern culture, one member of the extended family is born knowing how to roast and barbecue, and all the others gather around to watch.  Fire , meat and salt, keep it simple and use fresh ingredients.  The kebabs here (yes, I know "kabob" if you're Persian) are seasoned and marinated simply and not overcooked.  The skewers are rotated around enough that you get an even layer of slightly charred outside that does not dry out the center.  Of course, they use very good cuts of tender meat and (authentically) roast tomatoes on the skewer.  Hint, cut up pieces of the roasted-charred tomato and add bits to the kebab pieces and tuck in some bread and enjoy.  Again, when ordering I'd keep it simple and order the beef (filet mignon or ground luleh), the lamb (very tender but perhaps gamey for some non-Middle Easterners) chicken (shish tawouk dark meat or the chicken breast kebab).  You cannot go wrong if you dip the beef or luleh kebab in some of their delicious hommus, wrap it up in pita bread and enjoy.  Their hommus has just enough tahini (sesame paste) and garlic-olive oil-lemon ratio to give some bite to the chick peas, but not so much that it winds up tasting bitter.  The place is out there (ie a long drive away from downtown LA, westside, or eastside) but its worth a drive.  A homey place that definitely appears family-run, Olympia is not much for atmosphere.  There are no belly dancers like at Carousel in Glendale and no hookah water pipes like the Ventura Boulevard hookah crowd that gathers at Alcazar.  But, if you are a foodie, and not necessarily a clubbie, then try Olympia.

by Jim C.

Good stuff. I had filet mignon kebab, which was excellent and juicy. My fiancee had the ground beef kebab, which was WAY better than any I'd tried at similar establishments. The ground beef was juicy and flavorful, not at all dry. The pre-meal pickled veggies were great, as was the rice pilaf with loooooots of butter. Why not five stars?1. Service was spotty. They were hosting a big party and the waitress basically ignored us.2. The pita bread was just your basic packaged stuff, it wasn't even warmed up.3. Prices were a little high.Regardless, we'll definitely be back - we just won't be regulars.

by Alan S.

Had a big party at this place.  The food was really great and the owner of the restaurant even came out and greeted us! Then he sent us some free appetizers.  The place is so homey and the service was great!  Don't forget to take your own Beer/Wine  NO CORKAGE FEE!!!

by Adam G.

The food here is very good as mentioned in all the other reviews, but I was a little disappointed by the size of the portions as compared to the price. They definitely price their menu as more as a $$$ restaurant than a $$ kebab house.

by Kelsa S.

I'm German, my husband is Bulgarian and our friends come from all over the world.  We served this food at our wedding.  It was fantastic.  Our guests loved it.  There was an abundance of food with a great variety of choices.We had eaten here four or five times before the wedding.  It is consistently good.  Large portions.  My husband and I are big eaters and we always take food home.

by Amanda S.

I try and avoid Armenian and basically all middle eastern food as often as possible, because i was raised with the stuff since i was 1. And frankly i'm pretty sick of the same old stuff. Chicken kabobs, dolma, borag, rice pilaf, etc. It's just all so old to me. But when i am forced to have it because of a family party, i almost always request that it be from here, mainly because their borags are the best ever (minus the ones i make, of course) and i could eat them all day. Or until i get heartburn haha.the employees are always really friendly, and the prices are reasonable.It's a small little place but if you enjoy middle eastern food you should stop by and give it a shot.

by Sally L.

food is hot, fresh, and flavorful....  the portions are filling and the service is great!  parking is limited.. i personally like to order a few dishes with friends and ask for the family style so you can all enjoy various food!  Yum!  Beef is great!  5 star....  Lamb.... about 3.5  OK....  the ground beef skewer was surprisingly yummy - 4 stars!

by Mark S.

I love this place. Great food, decent portions, and wonderfully friendly staff. We've had all types of kebobs, hummus, etc..and never a bad dish. Don't be fooled by the dingy strip mall location, it is fantastic. The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars is the prices, a tad on the expensive side.