Don’t let Mini Kabob’s demure size and Americana-adjacent location fool you — the pint-sized Glendale restaurant serves Los Angeles’s best smoky, flame-kissed Armenian kebabs. Operated by two generations of the Martirosyan family, Mini Kabob blends Armenian and Egyptian flavors in fully loaded kebab and falafel plates served out of a makeshift takeout window. The younger Martirosyan, Armen, greets regulars by name at the window between flipping skewers of tender marinated beef and plating piles of bulgur-dotted tabbouleh. Mini Kabob doesn’t need any flash (or even a real seating area) to make a name for itself; the simple family recipes, honed over time and prepared with care, are enough to stand on their own.
Picking up crowd-pleasing plates for a picnic, the Hollywood Bowl, a movie in the park, or a potluck you don’t want to cook for. (If you order at least four plates, Mini Kabob will combine them into a family-style tray for an additional $15.)
There is only one small picnic table available for seating at Mini Kabob, so order ahead and plan to take meals to go.