Zaki Kabob House

I am so sad to read that they are closed! Wow. Will be sorely missed. It was a great part of the neighborhood.

Excellent food with consistent quality. We have dined in, grabbed take-​away, and even had this fine food delivered. By chance I stopped in this evening.
Now to find out that they will be closing?! Too sad! Thank You for many great
Memorable meals.

One of my worst dining experience I have ever had.
The Place: This restaurant has identity crises. White tablecloth and plastic old water glasses, filthy torn up menus and rolled silver in paper towels. To go to the restaurant, I had to go filthy curtains that never been washed and cluttered tables and filth. I don’t know this restaurant passed the health department inspection. This place needs to demolished and rebuilt from scratch.
Service: The owner/​server/​buss person was clearly overwhelmed. To save labor, they only scheduled one server until 6pm. How penny smart and a dollar foolish. I received my drink in the middle of meal. The server never checked back and people were waiting for service. It was really stressful watching this server.
The food: I ordered a shawerma sandwich and a mint lemonade. The shawerma sandwich had nothing to do with shawerma. it came in with cubed meat cooked in a pan wrapped in a pita bread with a cucumber and tomato salad. I order a side of salad and I got more Cucumber and tomato salad. It was absolutely disgusting.
The price: $ 20 before tip for a sandwich, salad and a lemonade. Absolutely no Value.
I don’t know how this restaurant is staying in business.

Decided to come to this place due to good reviews. My husband and I were spending some time in this area and it was hard to decide where to eat since we were doing a real food challenge.
We tried their meat and their salad, the only dishes we can only eat. We told them no rice and they didn’t flinch at all. The meat was tasty. Salad was also good but I wish they gave more.
Location is kinda separate from other places but it seems like people come here.

I just had the absolute worse experience in this restaurant. I’d like to say I had dinner — but after 45 minutes of waiting, 10 minutes after my husbands meal arrived I finally flagged the server down. She had not stopped back since his plate arrived, no said anything about the other dinner.
She was extremely rude to the both of us and said at least 3 times «It’s not my fault at all, it’s the kitchen.» — The worst way to handle the situation.
Horrible service and the staff acts as if they are doing you a favor. Don’t waste your time.

We had lunch here today (Easter Sunday) because 1) we knew they would be open; 2) we love their food, and 3) we are trying to visit as often as we can because they are closing on May 31^st due to loosing lease.
I had the lamb shawarma lunch plate and my friend had the chicken shawarma salad. Both were excellent, with huge portions.

They make the best falafel I have had anywhere! It’s perfectly crispy/​crunchy on the outside, and moist, delicious and flavorful on the inside.
The chicken shawarma and chicken kabobs are also delicious and perfectly seasoned, and the yellow rice that comes with a plate is so good I could eat it every day! The mint lemonade is also very flavorful and unlike anything I’ve tasted elsewhere. The hummus is also very tasty, and the Turkish-​style pistachio baklava is divine.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve tried here; it’s one of my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants in the Bay Area.
They might be closing soon which makes me sad; I hope they do decide to reopen in another location rather than closing altogether, because this food is SO GOOD I don’t want to live without it.

What I ate: Chicken shawarma salad, falafel
Visit date: January 22, 2014
First time? No.
My first time here was years before I was a Unilocaler but I remember enjoying tender, flavorful chicken. So I’m back for lunch with a coworker and… yum! Zaki does not disappoint. The chicken shawarma salad had tender juicy chicken shreds (and lots of it!), fresh lettuce, salty feta bits, and crispy pita. Yes, crispy pita (think pita chips) and they added a whole other texture to the dish. This was a fairly large dish; I stuffed my face until a food coma hit. We also shared a side order of falafel, which comes with four pieces, and tzatziki. The falafel was a bit on the darker side so I was worried they would be burnt, but to my surprise the outside was crisp and the inside super moist! These are on the saltier side, but the tzatziki balanced the flavored out.
Lunch was served with hot mint tea and a smile! PS — They have a loyalty program, too, and you can get a free meal on your birthday and anniversary if you fill out a survey.

I went with a few friends to Zaki last Saturday night. We wanted to grab a bite at a Middle Eastern restaurant before hanging out later at a hooka place where we chose Zaki based on our friend’s suggestion.
It was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed my time listening to the live band. They have a live band that plays every Saturday from 6 – 9 which I pretty much enjoyed listening to in addition to the excellent Falafel sandwich I had. I totally recommend this place!
and oh you got to try the Lemonade and mint drink, it’s awesome!

I might give them another chance.
They made things right so I am a fan.

My comrades and I decided on this spot for our lunch meeting. Of course we never really get to work but more of work gossip and oohs and aahs about our dishes.
We chose Zaki because there was something for everyone. And by everyone I mean vegetarian, carnivore and questioning. My Vegetarian comrade ordered the hummus/​falafel plate. The «questioning» one ordered a dolma and something else. I ordered. chicken livers. I LOVED my dish. I’ve always been a fan of livers, gizzards and hearts, oh my. I was excited to see the liver on the menu. It was done well with onions and herbs. I had it with rice and cucumber salad.
Now, about the «questioning» comrade she had a taste of my dish — then questioned, why? I replied, why the hell not?
The mint lemonade was refreshing, paired so well with my chicken liver dish.

Really bummed that for takeout they longer offer their cucumber and tomato salad with my order of the chicken schwarma plate.
They still charge the same amount for the plate.
Guess they are trying to cut down on cost?
*sad face*

Stella waited on us and she’s wonderful.
We ordered the chicken kabobs and Maklouba (upside down rice casserole). I would starve myself for a month to have a whole Maklouba to myself! But, it’s more fun to share. So, hopefully I’ll get to go back on the night that they have it, I think it’s Saturday.
Wonderful food. Really, really casual. I think the outdoor seating would be fun on warm nights. I’m going back. It was nice to go and eat there. The first time we did takeout. Both experiences were excellent.

Great vegetarian special with bottomless pita. Large portions.
Awesome hummus, falafels, baba ghanoush, and dolmas.

Loved the mint tea to start off our meal.
Hubs and I shared the Shawarma Combo Meal. More than enough to fill us. Everything was delicious! It felt healthy and definitely kosher. We loved hummus so much we had to order a 2^nd round!
We came using a groupon. If we lived in the area, I’m sure we’d eat here again. But honestly we wouldn’t go out of our way to come back.

This place is easy to drive by, despite the signs on the road advertising their great food. The building doesn’t scream «Eat Here!»
So I’m not sure why I did.
I was totally surprised at how good the food was!
And it was beautifully presented.
I had a chicken lunch special.
It was inexpensive, yummy and filling.

When a non-​descript stand-​alone building on San Pablo Avenue in Albany is full by 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday, with people waiting in line for a table, that’s the first clue that something good is happening. When you learn that the place serves no alcohol you begin to wonder whether they’re giving away free Ipads or something. Nope, people are just flocking here for some seriously good Mediterranean food served by hard working waitresses with a live Arabic music duo as an accompaniment.
Zaki’s has two large menus to pore over which can be a bit overwhelming due to the sheer volume of delicious sounding options offered. Because I saw a green cupful on every table I felt compelled to sample Zaki’s signature drink, Authentic Jerusalem Mint Lemonade ($ 3.95). The menu describes this as «a very refreshing drink consisting of a whole lemon blended with sugar and mint leaves» and they’re not kidding. Nobody’ll put this baby in a corner.
Because it gave me the chance to sample so many things, I opted for a shared Shawerma Combo Plate ($ 29.95 for two). The Shawerma plate began with hot peppermint tea, and was followed by a table-​filling assortment of hummus, baba ghannoouj, cuke/​tomato/​red onion salad, falafel, and warm pita. The baba ghannoouj was some of the best I’ve ever eaten and put to shame the gray, burnt version I’d recently tried at Troya Fillmore. The hummus and falafel were equally drool-​worthy.
The Shawerma followed: a mound of flavorful yellow jasmine rice topped with yogurt and almonds and surrounded by beef, lamb, and chicken shawerma. The shawerma is made to order, sautéed with onions and seasoning and — I don’t know — manna from heaven? This plateful tasted wonderful to me.
Additional info:
* Zaki has a loyalty club that you can sign up for and get an immediate $ 10 discount.
* I got a Living Social deal. Maybe you can too.
* Live music is 3 nights per week.
* The opposite of fancy; just really great flavors served up well.
* Free parking in their little lot.

I went to Zaki Kabob House because I purchased a voucher through Groupon. I was on a mediterranean phase so I’ve had my fair share.
It’s located close to the NorthFace Outlet. Parking was not hard at all since they have their own private lot for it. I went on a Friday afternoon. It wasn’t busy at all. It looks like a family owned restaurant. The décor is nice, but I wouldn’t consider it elegant.
I ordered the Lamb Shawerma. It had strips of lamb meat, sautéed with onions and their house seasoning. It is also served with pita, salad, tahini sauce and jasmine rice. I also had their hot chocolate which was very rich. Compared to the places I have tried before, the shawerma plates at Zaki would be on my bottom list. It lacked seasoning in the meat, which pretty much ruined the dish for me.
Excellent customer service, but the food couldn’t meet my standards.

We almost missed the restaurant when we drove by. It was on the corner with barely any signage.
Mmm…I thought the food was just okay. I had the Groupon deal. With the $ 30 value, we got the chicken shawerma wrap ($ 6.95), chicken shawerma plate ($ 6.95), walnut baklava ($ 1.50), Organic Turkish Style Pistachio Baklava ($ 3.99), coffee, and tea, and the lentil and leek soup ($ 2 bowl).
I liked the soup. It was a large bowl and quite hearty. The large bowl equals 3 of the cups size that they also offer. The shawerma was pretty bland, if not for the pickled veggies that were included in the wrap. So, the shawerma plate lacked flavor. The walnut baklava was nice and flaky. Not overly sweet. The Turkish version was soggy and dripping from the syrup that was way too sweet. I don’t know if it wasn’t as fresh…

The flagship item here is the chicken plate — it’s delicious.
They’ve got it down pat.
And as far as the chicken plate goes, you have three options:
* Full Chicken (don’t worry, its a small chicken) Plate [ comes with cucumber/​tomato vinaigrette salad ]
* Half-​Chicken Plate [ comes with cucumber/​tomato vinaigrette salad ]
* Chicken Breast Plate [ does NOT come with cucumber/​tomato vinaigrette salad ]
Watch out — they make the chicken fresh each day, and often run out.
If they are out of chicken, no biggie — lots of other options on the menu from chicken shawarma to falafel.
Each entrée comes with a mount of yellow rice that looks like a volcano. At the top of the volcano a bit of yogurt sits and drips down the sides. They also add roasted slivered almonds and parsley to the rice.
Feeling exotic, we tried the chicken livers as well. They were good, but overcooked. Maybe next time I’ll ask them to be less «well done» — but that’s a hard play with chicken.
Without asking they bring you free peppermint tea. On a cold night like we had this evening, that really hit the spot.
On a Tuesday night, they were busy. Every table was full. Despite that the service was fluid, prompt and efficient.
If eating gluten free, you’ll need to avoid most of the menu… anything with a pita, wrap or bun is out.
So the chicken plates above are a safe back for the anti-​gluten crowd. They also have some purely vegetable dishes that would work too.
Parking is easy — they have their own lot, and if its full there is always street parking nearby.
This is one of our go to places — will definitely be returning soon! Thanks Zaki!