Zorba Chicken

Chicken was dry, tasted old.
Stick with Soumarelo, much better deal and tasting!

I love chicken and I really like the chicken at this place. The flavor doesn’t just stay on the skin, but is actually throughout the meat. I would have rated the place higher if the eating area didn’t smell like the bathroom cleaning products. Good for quick meal on the run.

If you asked me 6 months ago, I would have given this place 1 star. The food was dry and bland.
After giving it one more try, I’ve increased their rating to 4 stars, with 1 star docked for price (prices have increased to be a bit more expensive than zankou and med café). apparently they have a new chef/​cook, and the food is now much more flavorful and juicy. the Chicken Shawerma is pretty darn good, and so is the chicken kabob.
again, the prices are a bit higher than where i think they should be, but all in all, i’d come back again.
***update 7÷1÷08
don’t ever order the shawerma towards the end of the day! it rotates along the heat all day, that the meat ends up really soft and melts in your mouth. ew.

I used my hard as rocks falafels to pelt the cashier! Don’t you give me the stank eye! Yaaaaahh!
And then I found $ 5.

Looking for a quick lunch while in Pasadena one day, I came across Zorba Chicken and decided to check it out. With a name like Zorba Chicken, of course, I opted to try their chicken that came with pita bread, a garlic sauce, which was more like a paste, hummus and pickled veggies plus I ordered a tabbouleh salad on the side.
I tried the tabbouleh salad first and was a little disappointed. It was lacking a tartness that I normally look for in this type of dish but overall, it tasted fresh and was a nice starter.
Then it came time to try out the chicken. Looking at it, I would have liked a crispier skin plus it looked kind of bland. It was obvious that other than probably a little salt, it lacked spices or a marinade. By the appearance alone, it needed something.
As for the chicken itself, I found it pretty tender and moist and considering that breast meat can lean towards dry, I was happily surprised that this chicken was not tasting like the Sahara desert. However, having a palate that likes big flavors, this chicken was boring.
When I tore pieces of the chicken, put it in my bread and added either the garlic paste, the hummus and/​or the tabbouleh, finally, it became more of an enjoyable meal, but man, I had to work hard for it. Who wants to work that hard for a meal? But at least, it was hearty and my hunger pangs were taken care of. Sometimes that’s all you can ask for.
Considering that that there are other lunch options in the area, I doubt I’d go back to Zorba Chicken anytime soon, but at least for my meal there, I was fairly content.
To see pics, go to:

why we didn’t turn around and leave when we had the chance makes me mad whenever i think about it.
it’s like zankou chicken but with rude, slow service; dry, salty rotisserie chicken; and dry falafels.
they also ‘offer’ kabobs but they’re probably dry too. i say ‘offer’ because as the first reviewer mentioned, it wasn’t available yet even tho it’s was on their picture menu. oh ya, watch out for that picture menu. it is veeeerrry tricksy (read: MISLEADING).

This is a place is located ‘next to’ the Jamba Juice in the plaza with Ralphs. They just openned up… In fact, they’re so new, they don’t have kebobs yet even tho it’s on their photo menu posted outside and on their printed menu :)
Despite that, it was a nice, clean dining area. They offer Rotisserie Chicken, Falafel, Beef Shawerma and Chicken Shawerma as plates, sandwiches or wraps. My friends and I ordered the Beef Shawerma Plate and the Chicken Shawerma Plate. It was packed with meat! One thing different about this place compared to other Middle Eastern places I’ve been to is that they offer a sesame sauce.
One more thing of note: You can request to taste a sample of the beef/​chicken shawerma if you can’t decide which one to get :)