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“I didn’t hear about you, I smelled you,” reported the only other customer in the tiny kebab shop. He was responding to an inquisitive employee who stood behind a glass counter filled with huge metal skewers of raw pork ribs, floor beef koobideh and spiced chicken thighs. Every single one was labeled with a precise prepare dinner time. “I smell the smoke just about every time I drive by, and it made me so hungry,” he claimed enthusiastically.
My nose experienced also registered the meaty fragrance billowing out of the building and onto the Mexican food stuff corridor of 16th Avenue. It arrived from a tiny room in the back of the space where Tony Chilingaryan grills his skewers in excess of mesquite charcoal.
When it was my convert to get, the personnel asked the very same query: “How did you hear about us?”
I told him that I would noticed Kabob Grill N’ Go photos all in excess of social media, frequently accompanied by higher praise for their gargantuan kabobs. Most of the posts were overhead pictures of a silver takeout container layered with a hearty selection of plump meats and grilled greens above basmati rice.
Former Arizona Republic foods critic Dominic Armato was also a fan. He frequented the spot a week following Chilingaryan and his wife Hasmik opened in May perhaps 2020. Now, with a year and a 50 percent under its belt, the restaurant could only get much better.
The modest space delivers massive flavors
Looking at its acceptance, I was astonished at how smaller the restaurant’s storefront was. The closet-sized home, decorated with children’s drawings tacked up on the wall, was generally taken up by a hallway and a small fridge selling cans of Hawaiian Punch. I experienced to step powering the counter so the cashier could run my credit score card, and the only place to eat was a little table out entrance in the parking lot overlooking a mural of a camel and a magic carpet painted on the facet of the Lebanese market future door.
The dimension of the food that arrived out was so epic, I experienced difficulty even fitting it on the desk. Two combo plates arrived in a tin buffet pan that you might use to cook dinner a turkey. Atop a hearty bed of basmati rice were the largest, most decadent kabobs I have ever viewed. A few rows of bone-in pork ribs, marinated hen thigh and steak were layered with contrasting rows of blistered Roma tomatoes and whole Anaheim peppers, the crispy skin splitting away from the soft flesh.
It was a feast, but it wouldn’t have been entire devoid of a couple merchandise that I picked up from up coming door.
Much more very first bites:Thy these Chihuahua-model burritos on Grand Avenue
Pro-tip: Go upcoming door and purchase fresh new bread
Kabob Grill N’ Go does not in fact serve bread, so the cashier encouraged me to seize some from the adjacent Lebanese cafe, Middle Jap Bakery and Deli. (Together with Nino’s Greek Cafe, the 3 corporations form a little Western Asian enclave in a neighborhood of predominantly Mexican eating places.)
The vibrant bakery carries a huge range of freshly-baked pitas, plain or rubbed in a cakey za’atar spice blend or baked with feta cheese. I bought some plain pita alongside with a plastic jug of fruity housemade chile oil and some household-pickled turnips in beet juice to give my meaty plate some zing.
I did not mind the detour, since Kabob Grill N’ Go is laser-concentrated on the meat, and it demonstrates.
Overview:This Mexican cafe is bold and fun—if you know what to get
What are Armenian kebabs?
Chilingaryan’s kabobs are various from other folks you might have experimented with just before at Middle Eastern or Persian eating places. His recipes and marinades attract from his upbringing in Los Angeles as properly as his family’s Persian heritage and his wife’s Armenian history.
Hasmik is from Yerevan, the cash metropolis of Armenia, which offers a predominantly Christian populace. This is why you will see pork on the menu. And it really is just one of their most well-known sellers.
Wherever I’m ingesting now:Pulled pork, handmade pasta and crispy duck in metro Phoenix
The steak, or barg as it is really identified as in Iran, is made from Brazilian-minimize angus beef, and while it was cooked marginally better than my most well-liked medium unusual, it was still juicy and delicious wrapped in a pita and drizzled with Chilingaryan’s housemade chimichurri sauce.
Therooster thigh was marinated in a creamy mix which is the chef’s solution recipe. It tasted of chile-spiced yogurt, but Hasmik certain me there was no yogurt existing. Squished jointly to type a prolonged skewer of rooster, the thigh was juicy and supple.
But my favourite of the bunch had been the pork ribs, which arrived heavily charred and even now clinging to the bone. I experienced to sink my enamel in and rip the thick pieces away. It was an immersive experience that still left behind the lingering flavor of smoky, blackened meat.
The very best part of a meal like this is the mixing and matching. Each individual chunk a minor diverse — chicken and some soft inexperienced pepper on a pita with a hit of chunky tzatziki, a bite of crunchy pork rib alongside with a spoonful of a tart Shirazi salad of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes in a lime dressing.
In the stop, there was lots of rice remaining around, but just about every morsel of meat was long gone. I’d most likely acquire the full thing to-go up coming time, but there was also something exceedingly gratifying about making the most of a meat platter in a parking whole lot, only ways absent from the grill.
Kabob Grill N’ Go
Wherever: 3050 N. 16th St., Phoenix.
Several hours: Tuesday by means of Saturday,11 a.m. to 7 p.m. or right up until kebabs promote out. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Price tag: Combo plates $16.99 to $21.99 occur with rice, Shirazi salad, grilled veggies and alternative of dip. Wraps $8.99 to $14.99.
Information: 602-607-5272, kabobgrillngo.com.
Attain reporter Andi Berlin at a[email protected] or 602-444-8533. Adhere to her on Fb @andiberlin, Instagram @andiberlin or Twitter @andiberlin.
