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If anyone is in the Glendale area and looking for an incredible cheap eat, go to Elena's Greek Armenian Cuisine. This place has amazing chicken and lamb kabobs as well as really good fallafel and very good (for a restaurant) meat grape leaves. They roll them tight like lebanese/middle eastern style, but have a garlic sauce that is a bit more reminiscent of the egg sauce that greeks put on dolmades.

Other places I have found that are very good have been Carousel for middle eastern food in Glendale, Porto's Cuban bakery for both pastries as well as cuban pork sandwiches. There is an amazing Italian restaurant in Eagle Rock called Casa Bianca that is cash only and has been family run since the mid 1950's. I have not been to the high end restaurants such as AOC or even Joe's yet, but I aim too if my budget improves:)

Does anyone have any suggestions for the Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood areas of LA?

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Discovered the most perfect sandwich at yet another trip to Porto's. The roasted pork on Cuban bread sandwich is good, but add some greens from your side salad with cilantro dressing and WOW! Fabulous, with a modicum of healthy.

We also had a nice meal at Palate [Closed in Mar, 2012] in Glendale. They have a lot of house-made charcuterie, potted meats, and pickled things, as well as a well-edited list of larger dishes and lots of wines by the glass. Everything we had was tasty and fresh. My memory of specifics is a bit fuzzy, as it was a while ago, but the menu changes every week anyway, so it doesn't really matter. The back is much more bar/lounge-like (there was even live music on a weekday!) while the front is moderately formal. It's quite a nice surprise in the middle of Gendale's auto mile.

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We also had a nice meal at Palate [Closed in Mar, 2012in Glendale. They have a lot of house-made charcuterie, potted meats, and pickled things, as well as a well-edited list of larger dishes and lots of wines by the glass. Everything we had was tasty and fresh. My memory of specifics is a bit fuzzy, as it was a while ago, but the menu changes every week anyway, so it doesn't really matter. The back is much more bar/lounge-like (there was even live music on a weekday!) while the front is moderately formal. It's quite a nice surprise in the middle of Gendale's auto mile.

Closed.  It looks like you got in right under the wire as per Eater the closure announcement came out April, 2, 2012, no doubt shortly after you visited.

I will be in Glendale for about a week or so later in the month, in case anyone has any recommendations.  I would be much appreciative.  TIA.

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Closed.  It looks like you got in right under the wire as per Eater the closure announcement came out April, 2, 2012, no doubt shortly after you visited.

I will be in Glendale for about a week or so later in the month, in case anyone has any recommendations.  I would be much appreciative.  TIA.

Too bad, I liked that place!

In Glendale, the 99 Essentials list this year likes Carousel, which has Lebanese food. Din Tai Fung opened up a Glendale location, but it's in a mall and apparently takes forever to get in. There's a branch of Porto's in town as well.

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Took my own advice and went to Carousel in Glendale for the feast. The place is extravagantly Middle Eastern in decor and apparently has belly dancing and music entertainment on the weekend (no surprise, once you walk in) - it reminded me of the Parthenon in Chicago in that respect. The feast was a lot of fun and we got to try pretty much a little bit of everything. It was almost an overwhelming variety, but an amazing way to introduce someone to the cuisine. Overall, the food quality was solid. While the entrees were good (kebabs were moist and flavorful but not special; pilaf rice was tasty and light), they weren't really necessary after all the hot and cold mezze and were mostly packed to go (they were still quite good the next day). Highlights were the muhammara (dip of crushed walnuts, red pepper paste, and pomegranate), kebbeh nayyeh, salad, mutabbal (baba ganoush), fatayer (cheese turnovers), and kofta. Some of the seasonings were a little lemony for my taste (the sausages and the chicken wings) but other people liked them so YMMV. I enjoyed it specifically for the feast. For ordering individual items (e.g., kebabs) I'm sure it would be fine but there are a lot of other Armenian and other Middle Eastern joints in town that I would probably try first. However, I would come back and do the feast again.
 
While in Glendale, there's always Porto's! The tamal was surprisingly light and studded with corn niblets and everyone got a box of dulce de leche cookies to take home. I also got some guava pastries and assorted fried things. 

I thought about hitting up Carousel again when I was in town last month but was alone so decided to try more of the Middle Eastern bounty instead (a lonely feast didn't sound that appealing or smart). Raffi's Place definitely has an air of the glamorous side of Tehrangeles, despite not being in that part of town. There is both indoor and outdoor seating - the outdoor section is in their own interior courtyard, so has the open air (with heated lamps if necessary) feel without the downsides of being curbside. I got the kashk o'bademjan and the soltani kabobs, and both were excellent, very similar to what I'd expect at Attari. Tart and creamy eggplant (didn't like the onion topping as much, though), juicy and well-seasoned kabobs, and fluffy rice. The bread, a thin, floppy lavash,served with cold butter in foil packets, is correct but I don't care for that style. The portions are large and the service is deft. I saw lots of business diners and Middle Eastern-looking folks on dates or having family dinner. It's a nice, casually upscale-feeling space (more from the clientele than the decor, which isn't particularly notable except at night when the courtyard lights are on. Rather, I think, it's the atmosphere of the place). Naturally, there is valet parking, but street and lot parking is also available nearby (which is very appealing after almost always having to park illegally to get my Attari fix!). I had enough for a big dinner and a full lunch the next day, which was great cold. I know they do takeout through their own to-go window, but I'd be inclined to say the strengths here are eating in, preferably in the courtyard at night. Would definitely go back.

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On 2/1/2016 at 3:49 PM, Sundae in the Park said:
Raffi's Place definitely has an air of the glamorous side of Tehrangeles, despite not being in that part of town. There is both indoor and outdoor seating - the outdoor section is in their own interior courtyard, so has the open air (with heated lamps if necessary) feel without the downsides of being curbside. I got the kashk o'bademjan and the soltani kabobs, and both were excellent, very similar to what I'd expect at Attari. Tart and creamy eggplant (didn't like the onion topping as much, though), juicy and well-seasoned kabobs, and fluffy rice. The bread, a thin, floppy lavash,served with cold butter in foil packets, is correct but I don't care for that style. The portions are large and the service is deft. I saw lots of business diners and Middle Eastern-looking folks on dates or having family dinner. It's a nice, casually upscale-feeling space (more from the clientele than the decor, which isn't particularly notable except at night when the courtyard lights are on. Rather, I think, it's the atmosphere of the place). Naturally, there is valet parking, but street and lot parking is also available nearby (which is very appealing after almost always having to park illegally to get my Attari fix!). I had enough for a big dinner and a full lunch the next day, which was great cold. I know they do takeout through their own to-go window, but I'd be inclined to say the strengths here are eating in, preferably in the courtyard at night. Would definitely go back.

FWIW, a food-obsessed Persian (1st generation American) friend of mine is adamant that Raffi's Place is the best Persian restaurant in North America which is a fairly bold claim but it is what it is. When pressed he doesn't pick favorites and says that "everything" is excellent. 

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On 11/1/2016 at 10:26 PM, Sundae in the Park said:

FWIW, a food-obsessed Persian (1st generation American) friend of mine is adamant that Raffi's Place is the best Persian restaurant in North America which is a fairly bold claim but it is what it is. When pressed he doesn't pick favorites and says that "everything" is excellent. 

Ask him what's better in South America, and if he doesn't know, ask him why he didn't say "Western Hemisphere." :)

Going from Greenland to Panama is a *lot* of turf, although I suspect he was being somewhat hyperbolic, not that *I* would ever do such a thing! :rolleyes:

---

Din Tai Fung (ALB)

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On November 2, 2016 at 5:27 PM, DonRocks said:

Ask him what's better in South America, and if he doesn't know, ask him why he didn't say "Western Hemisphere." :)

Heh, I did ask and while he has eaten Persian food in various Canadian cities, he's never tried any in South America, so feels comfortable saying best in North America rather than the admittedly clunkier "best in the US, Canada, and presumably Mexico" but not in making any broad claims about the whole Hemisphere :P

For context, my friend used to live in DC and favored Shamshiry back in the day.

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