50 Years: A Look at Zankou Chicken’s Successful Life in California

There are few chain restaurants exclusive to Los Angeles that really draw crowds of reverent fans. Zankou Chicken is one of those chains. Its chicken is perfectly roasted, dripping fat and seasoning onto the chickens below as it spins to create a combination of crispy and seasoned skin that is out of this world. Los Angeles has embraced it for more than fifty years, and these are just a few of the reasons why.

Zankou is Healthy

Zankou’s ingredients are never frozen because there are no freezers at their restaurants. They don’t buy food that was grown with GMOs, and focus on purchasing from local farm. With a few exceptions, almost everything on the menu is grown locally and prepared in house. The garlic comes from Gilroy, and each vegetable is hand chosen before it ever goes into a dish.

Zankou Cares

Zankou Chicken goes through an extensive preparation process before it ever opens to the public. Employees show up hours before any doors open, and they season and salt chickens just like the old days in Beirut. Pita is baked in house, sometimes just before the restaurant opens for the lunch rush. Garbanzo beans are boiled in the back for hummus. It’s something anyone with a love for food can appreciate.

Zankou Loves Vegans

You might not know, but a great deal of Mediterranean cooking is either vegetarian or vegan. LA is the center for the vegan movement, and reach is growing. Zankou’s falafel balls are vegan friendly, but that’s only the tip of the ice berg. Muttabal and hummus are both excellent vegetarian and vegan friendly dishes too.