I tend to not eat at many Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurants. Being Armenian, that kind of food always seems to "be around." Either from family members cooking it, it always being in everyone's fridges, or all the times I'd help my uncle cater several events (actually, still do.) I don't really get excited over this stuff like others might. The few times I do eat at these places, I tend to know the owners or at least some member of their family, because playing to stereotype- ya, everyone knows each other.
Well, here we have a chain restaurant that I can objectively review. (EDIT- After checking out their website, I found out this is the only Tofas location as of now and they plan to expand to a few local stores in the new future. Thought it was like a Chipotle- but this actually explains a lot.) I have to say I was impressed. I've only had a few things on the menu, but it was all good. Fairly Americanized, but not "bastardized" and still true to form- a nice fusion. If my old country, completely un-assimilated, no-english speaking great grandparents who never ate at a McDonald's or Denny's in their lifetime and never knew what a Honey Boo Boo or North West is tried this food, I could say with moderate confidence that they'd like it.
I'd recommend the Lulu Lavash Wrap. The Juju Garlic Sauce (I specify the Juju- as they also have a regular garlic sauce) is fucking amazing. I will disgrace my ancestors and their family recipes here for a min and say this shit is probably the best form of liquid food (ok, I guess normal people call them condiments) you can consume. The food itself is good, a little light on the meat, but their secret sauce is the selling point for me. That, and the fries are bom- I'm so fucking sick of pilaf so for me it's a huge plus that they have some bom thick-cut steak fries and not those pussy shoestrings to go with your sandwich.
The only other negative other than the under-meated sandwiches is that the wait time seems to be a problem. I only waited about 10 minutes, but there were several impatient people standing around waiting, saying they had been doing so in excess of thirty minutes or more. I shit you not, I saw a woman sitting at a table alone next to me for a to-go order, and her buzzer goes off. Silly her for thinking that meant her order was ready- she came back to her table empty handed and waited for a few more minutes before getting her order. WTF, right? Place wasn't understaffed, either. I saw at least four cooks in the kitchen and several other employees present. But this place is new, and that means new employees that don't know what the hell they're doing yet.
So ya, a little room for improvement. Looking forward to trying more things on the menu, everything was pretty competitively priced. Very clean, casual atmosphere if that wasn't indicated by the "you pick up your own order and throw away your own shit" business model they have. Definitely try the Juju garlic sauce, good enough to buy in bulk and use as incense, body wash, and/or listerine. read more