I Spitz on You

At long last we review the restaurant that pretty much started us on our culinary critique fest. Spitz was started up by two Occidental grads after enjoying the many donor kebab shops scattered throughout Madrid. The guys brought over the slow-roasting vertical roasters and stack up the delicious paper thin meats (lamb, beef and/or chicken) on a panini toasted foccacia along side lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, peppers, hummus, tzatiki sauce or chili sauce. You can now also get the meal in a lavash wrap form. Personally I'm a huge fan of the Chicken Donor sandwich...I have that about 90% of the time I visit Spitz (which is about once every week or two). Definitely opt for the Combo deal which includes your choice of a side: Side Salad, Sweet Potato Fries, Thin Cut Seasoned Fries or...the greatest side in the world...the lightly fried Pita Strips with Hummus. I would easily go to Spitz just for the pita strips. And remember, they are LIGHTLY fried, so that's gotta be healthy right? Just like the Korean fried chicken places that lightly fry their chicken...twice! (review coming soon!) I think lightly fried anything is gaining equal footing with my other favorite food descriptor: "bacon-wrapped..." - that's all it takes to get me to try it.

Spitz doesn't exactly have ample parking...2 spots in the lot to be exact...but there is usually a lot of spots on Colorado Blvd. I've never had a problem. And the outdoor seating in the 'courtyard' is the best spot to enjoy your meal. Usually the music they have on is pretty good (those young hipsters from Occi must know what's popular right?) although I think last time I heard Billy Ocean. Spitz is definitely one of my top 3 favorite spots anywhere.

We had:
The Classic Donor sandwich (half lamb, half beef) with double meat and a side salad and a Chicken Donor sandwich with a side of the lightly fried pita strips and hummus. Beverages were of the self-serve fountain variety (I tend to opt for the Arnold Palmer...heavy on the Arnold). All this for about $20.

Oh yeah...try the gelato too. Chocolate and Vanilla...ebony and ivory living in perfect harmony. It was the black and white cookie of gelatos. We had it for the first time and it was really good.

Here's what Dash thought:

Eric sure does love Spitz. He's such a regular Spitz-er that the staff there calls him "Client # 9. But in all seriousness, this place does serve up great food – even if the donor kebab is a bastardized version of the original Zankou shawerma. What I enjoy about Spitz is the flavor of the meat. Some folks don't like lamb. They think it smells or tastes funny. These are also the same folks who live on Carl's Jr. and Taco Bell. I'm glad that there's a fast food place that serves lamb. And it's delicious. Tender, moist, and very thin slices allow you to savor every bite without making a big mess.

The salad at Spitz seems like more of an afterthought. It's definitely not what you come here for but if you're hoping to keep the calorie total down by replacing them in place of those sweet golden deep fried tuber flavor sticks then it's better than most other salads at other fast food places. The pepperonchini peppers and olives do add a bit of flavor to it but overall, on the Salad Scale, it's a 5.

But more on the sandwich. As I mentioned before, I love this sandwich. I prefer the Armenian "lavash" bread over the two slices. I love lavash as a sandwich bread because it has a better consistency than a tortilla but just like the Mexican wrapper, it holds everything together nicely.

I didn't have it this time but the sweet-potato fries are AWESOME. I've only had them at one other location – Father's Office in Santa Monica –and they are just as good. Sweet + fried(salty) = yummy.

Now finally, out Jungle Fever Gelato. I'm a gelato snob. I'm looking for flavor and consistency. I have to say that the flavor was there for both the chocolate and the vanilla. But the chocolate had better consistency, creaminess, and overall "gooiness" that the vanilla did not.

Overall, I have to say that Spitz is great and I want to be first in line to buy up their stock when they blow up and go public.

The Burnt Mac likes el gelato

THE BURNT MAC RATING (like Siskel&Ebert's thumbs):

2 Burnt Macs

INFO:
Spitz- eatatspitz.com
2506 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 257-5600
Map
Open 11am-10pm everyday

Tuesday Tip: $1(.25) Tacos at Rubios

Quick Tuesday Tip: If you are a fan of FISH TACOS, I'm sure you have tried out Rubio's. Yeah its a chain but that doesn't stop it from putting together some good eats. And on Tuesday's from 2:30pm till closing, good eats becomes even gooder eats when fish tacos are only $1.25 each. Cripsy beer-battered fish, crunchy shredded cabbage and the tangy white sauce with salsa...and all for 5 quarters. I say make Tuesdays 'Quarter Day'...grab a roll of the big coins, do your laundry, go get some fish tacos and then hit the arcade.

Rubio's has locations everywhere...including:

Glendale
249 N. Glendale Avenue
Glendale, CA 91206
Open til 10pm on Tuesdays

Pasadena
330 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
Open til 9pm on Tuesdays

Pasadena
216 S. Lake Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101
Open til 10pm on Tuesdays

Bravo Bravo....Cafe Bravo

Ah Glenoaks Blvd. I have to say it rivals Brand Blvd. as the Rodeo Dr. of Glendale. Seriously though, at the very least, it is the Rodeo Dr. of fast food restaurants. One could do a gastro (pub) crawl and hit every single fast food restaurant within about 2 miles. (If its fast food...is it still a crawl?) Morgan Spurlock should definitely film Super Size Me II: The Variety Pack along said Blvd. Yet amidst the KFCs, the Carl's Jr's/Green Buritto combos and the Water Stores (aka fronts for Eurasian crime syndicates), you find Cafe Bravo, the jewel of the Jewel City.

There must be a 'meeleeon' (pronounced with an armenian accent) kabob shops in Gdale but few are as tasty and as cheap as Cafe Bravo. The small "cafe", which once housed Ivan's Barber Shop where some of Hoover High School's finest athletes got there haircuts, is crammed between KFC and some sort of Chucky Cheese (sans pizza, scary talking animals and skeeball). Today Dash and I sat down in Cafe Bravo's outdoor patio to enjoy yet another fine meal of skewered meats. We had:

A chicken salad (chicken kabob on a bed of lettuce,tomatoes, cucumbers), one skewer of beef kabob (mit pita bread), a chicken kabab sandwich and a side of bean & corn salad and tabouleh. Beverages were of the normal canned variety...no glorious Orange Bang today. All this for about $18.

My chicken kabob sandwich ($4.50) was quite delicious. The sub roll it came on was perfect (very important) and it was dressed with salmonella free tomatoes, cilantro(?) and mystery sauce (garlic?). Any of the kabob meats (chicken, steak, lule, etc) can be purchased in sandwich form. The beef kabob ($2.80) was also absolutely delicious...full of flavor and perfectly cooked.

All in all one of my favorite spots in Gdale...mostly because I'm a poorman with a refined palate who likes to be able to eat outdoors sometimes. Also, if you enjoy the inside dining, they usually have soccer running on two TV's that are juxtaposed amongst framed photos of some Armenian Goodfellas.

Here's what Dash thought:

Eric Jan (Jan = Armenian term of endearment and is totally platonic) was spot on with his description of Glenoaks and of said Cafe Bravo. I stumbled upon this locale during on of my mini-quests to find the best kebab sandwich in Los Angeles. Most people don't realize that the Glendale/Burbank/North Hollywood/Little Armenia region is the American capital of the kebabs. Whether you like the standard Persian kind, the quintessential Armenian kind (with pork - most Middle Eastern countries shun this delicious variety because of religious practice) or lamb, or if you like the smaller Greek/Lebanese chunks (like Souvlaki), you are sure to find it in one of the aforementioned areas.

But enough of the Kebab lesson of the day. My salad was above average. The meat was excellent but the lettuce tomato cucumber mix left me wanting something more. Thank goodness for the corn/bean salad because it was just what my belly was craving. I've had the sandwiches here before and they are excellent. I wanted to live on the edge and order the salad. Lesson learned here - next time I'm sticking with the sandwich (with a side of corn-bean salad).

The beef kebab was tender, juicy (not raw) and full of flavor. I would put this cut of meat up against any 20 dollar and up steak dinner out there. If you like beef then you have to try their beef skewers. The key to a great kebab is its stand alone taste. These beef chunks are good enough to eat without the warm soft pita bread they come with. That's saying a lot.

And before you start criticizing and giving your own suggestions for best kebab sandwich in L.A., I just want to tell you that a) our quest for the BEST kebab sandwich continues so email us your suggestions and b) you are an ignorant slut for questioning our knowledge of kebabs! You hear me? Go back to Whore Island!

I'm out.

**Just found out they are opening a 2nd store in Silverlake in late July at 2662 Griffith Park Blvd.***

THE BURNT MAC RATING (like Siskel&Ebert's thumbs):

2 Burnt Macs

INFO:
Cafe Bravo - bravokabob.com
1135 W. Glenoaks Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91202
(818) 500-4005
Map
Menu (.pdf)