Tasty Yerevan

🇦🇲 ARMENIA
📍 1802 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, San Gabriel Valley.
🅿️ Ample parking in plaza
🥤 No Alcohol

After you go into Tasty Yerevan, place your order at the counter, grab a homemade kompot ($4, above) from the fridge, and sit down, you will look back out the windows and notice the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains rising sharply past the streets of Pasadena. It sets a dramatic scene for eating a shawarma sandwich, easily better than heading home with what will be a somewhat soggy meal.

Spits of slightly charred chicken and pork rotate in the kitchen, making the view away from the mountains pretty beautiful as well. With a counter full of fresh salads and vegetables, sandwiches stuffed with everything are definitely the move here. Watch the slicing, the piling, the toasting, all making your mouth water as the smells drift into the dining room.

Do not be afraid to answer "yes" when they ask you if you want your sandwich spicy, as the hot sauce is not that hot but does add a great flavor. The small, rotating spit of chicken is well marinated and taken care of, so each piece in a wrap is tender and juicy. With the fresh vegetables and delicious sauces, the chicken lavash shawarma ($12, below) is quite the experience.

Both meats are available in a pocket of bread too, but the thin lavash is worth the $2 upgrade. The Armenian version of a shawarma sandwich is also guaranteed to have a bushel of chopped parsley, and Tasty Yerevan does not disappoint. The sauces are less garlicky than the Lebanese and Palestinian versions found around town, but the overall flavors of each fresh bite are really wonderful.

You can get both of these shawarmas as a plate with buttery rice and a choice of hummus, vegetables, or salad, as well as an array of kebobs that are grilled to order. Plates also come with a few pieces of lavash, so they are good value, although the hummus and the kebobs themselves are fairly average if still enjoyable.

With so many delicious Armenian kebob purveyors in nearby Glendale and beyond in the San Fernando Valley, it would be wise to stick to the well-above-average shawarma sandwiches here at Tasty Yerevan. That being said, both the beef kebob plate ($15, below left) and chicken kebob plate ($15, below right) were devoured completely later at home.

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