Zait & Zataar (Anaheim) still great

Had the chicken schwarma plate for lunch. It’s a mountain of food for $14. Chicken was exquisite - great crunchy crusty bits on the outside and very well flavored chicken. Garlic sauce is very good and potent, not Zankou but close. The saj came warm right of the dome grill. Hummus is garlicky and light. Good amount of oil and real garbanzos in the hummus. I could use some more lemon and garlic in the salad. Rice is good - fluffy and not overly buttery but I usually avoid to save room for other things. The pickles are nice crunch and counter to the garlic and hot sauce.

The pastries are very good as well. My favorite is the spicy spinach.

Beef schwarma is also good but I have a hard time not ordering the chicken. Falafel is also a winner. Crunchy, well fried, not greasy and creamy on the inside. Great flavor.

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Thanks @js76wisco. First pic looks great. :slightly_smiling:

The 2nd pic is broken for me (not sure if the link is wrong?).

Sorry was uploading from my phone and something went wrong.

2nd pic is of their pastry case. Each one is around $1.50 to $1.75. Lots of filling options like cheese, spicy cheese, spinach, spicy spinach, meat, zataar, etc…

3rd pic is of the two spits with the schwarma.

I am a huge fan of the sujuk pizzas here. No need for pics cuz it’s just… sausage pizza. Then again, I’ve almost never met a sujuk pizza I haven’t enjoyed on Brookhurst.

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What else do you recommend down that way? I usually stick to my stand bys - ZZ, Zankou + Sarkis and Cortinas. I tried Olive Tree one time and did not like it as much as ZZ so never returned.

Well, I stay away from the shawarma because I’m a lamb guy, but for lahmajun/lahmucun, it’s usually between Z&Z/Al Amir/Forn Al Hara, depending on how far south on Brookhurst I want to go/how much waiting around in non-AC I can stand that day.

For falafels, it’s Sahara for sure, again, because i’m on lunch break, and they’re fast on phone orders, unlike Chichen Itza. It’s not like Kareem,'s falafels are any worse, it’s just matter of: why bother going down on Brookhurst another 3 minutes when Sahara’s right there. It kinda also applies to why I more often than not end up at Z&Z: it’s just closer to the freeway.

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Does anybody on Brookhurst in Anaheim have AC?

My wife won’t let me take the kids to lunch at ZZ from like May to Oct due to the stifling heat.

The key with Olive Tree is to stick with their specials. Kabsa, Maqlooba, Freekeh, Mansaf… they do these things better than anyone else IMO. El Mahroosa also does these things well, but for the most part I think Olive Tree is a small cut above.

If you get the more everyday stuff, the typical Med/ME fare, they don’t stand out and ZZ is better for that (+ ZZ’s baked goods, which are amazing)

Thanks for the heads up.

We got the chicken schwarma at Olive Tree which was chicken thigh/breast cooked on a pan with spices. The chicken wasn’t terrible but certainly not schwarma. I think we just dismissed the idea of ever going back from that one experience.

We’ll give it another try for the specials one day.


It’s really good