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Zankou chicken review
Zankou Chicken is a small, family-owned chain of Armenian and Mediterranean fast casual restaurants within the Los Angeles area. The restaurants are especially known for their spit-roasted chicken, shawarma, falafel, tahini, and a "secret" garlic sauce.
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Zankou chicken
History
The first Zankou Chicken opened in 1962 in the Bourj Hammoud neighborhood of Beirut, Lebanon, by Armenian Vartkes Iskenderian and his family.
The chain was established within the United States in 1983 by his son, Mardiros Iskenderian, after the family immigrated to Los Angeles, California. After considering opening a dry cleaning business or selling men's suits, Iskenderian recognized a lack of restaurants catering to the growing Mediterranean immigrant population in Los Angeles. This included Armenian and Lebanese compatriots who fled Lebanon during the Civil War. The first restaurant in Los Angeles is still located in East Hollywood, at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Normandie Avenue. The restaurant is especially known for its thick, paste-like garlic sauce, created by Vartkes' wife, Markrid and widely imitated.
In 1991 the family agreed to divide the business when Mardiros wanted to open additional restaurants. The new restaurants would be owned by Mardiros, while the original Sunset and Normandie store would be owned by his parents and two sisters. Vartkes Iskenderian died in 1992.
Since opening Zankou Chicken has expanded to include 8 restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area including: West Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Toluca Lake, Van Nuys and Anaheim.
On January 14, 2003, after a heated argument, Zankou Chicken owner Mardiros Iskenderian shot and killed his sister, Dzovig Marjik, and his mother Margarit Iskenderian; he then took his own life in a double-murder suicide. It is believed that Iskenderian was in the late stages of colon and brain cancer, which might have affected his mental faculties. The repercussions of this event, and the lasting division of the brand into two family factions, impeded the continuing growth of the business despite the restaurants' popularity.
In the California Court of Appeal case Iskenderian v. Iskenderian, Mardiros Iskenderian's widow Rita unsuccessfully sought to attain sole control of the Zankou Chicken trademark.
In 2013, Zankou Chicken was one of the contributors for Green Armenia, which brings attention to environmental problems faced by the people of Armenia.