raffi's place

when it comes to persian restaurants in la, this place is no.1. everything from the hummus to the chello kebab, kubidey, tastes v. good here. prices are a little higher than most persian restaurants but it's great. all my persian friends agree. better to reserve on the weekends as it is crowded... very tasty food and a good atmosphere.

the food comes at you on some seriously, generously sized plates, filled with rice infused with saffron. you’ve have your entrée, a roasted tomato, and hummus. you got to have the hummus.

dinner @ raffi’s place (glendale , los angeles). many branches. order beef soltani (filet mignon & ground beef , sooo juicy / tender) , chicken boneless kabob. enjoyable evening. recommended. worth a trip.

kashka obadmejan and salmon kebab here is something that tops my list of recommendation in this place. lovely place , great ambience and amazing staff.

i have had salmon kabob with bahgali polo numerous times and every time salmon was moist and perfectly spiced. kashka obademjan is also one of my favorites. i haven’t tried any other dishes as their portion sizes are huge and i end up getting the same kabob for me and my husband.

ok, this is not really a review of the food… it is the wait for the table and then for food that i will be talking about. review of the menu items will come later.

let me just say this anyway: the food is really good, once you actually get to eating it. arguably the best i have had in los angeles so far. the place is just always so busy and it takes so long to get a seat.

last sunday at 4 pm i put my name on the list and waited 10 minutes. table for one, so you would imagine it would be fairly quick. wrong. i walked down the street to shiraz restaurant (0.3 miles), sat down, ordered, and by the time my soltani was on the table i got a call that my table at raffi’s place was ready.

is the food that good? if one has nothing to do, with a group of friends willing to hang out in the parking lot and chat, then it is worth the wait. otherwise there are other options.

if i could, i'd put less than zero!  service sucks, including their 'manager' who has absolutely no customer service whatsoever!  learn how to treat your customers!  maybe you should take some lessons for that!

excellent kabob enough for 2 people it's about 14 inches long and 3 inches wide made from a very tender filet plenty of rice with a heavenly aroma, cucumber yogurt, salad shrazi and so on with a price tag hard to believe

i have been to many middle eastern restaurants, including abu dhabi. this was not the best, but it was really pretty darn good. the pickled veggies were good as was the cucumbers in yogurt (appetizers) and the lamb kabob main meal was flavorful, but the flavors were not as prominent as i have had in other cities before - hence 4 vs 5 stars. the real distinguishing feature of this restaurant is the size of the portions for little $. the salads $7-8, were a meal in themselves, so don't order as a side. the lamb kabob came with over 10 oz of marinated lamb, grilled veggies, and 2 cups of rice. can you say "doggie bag"? dinner with drink came to under $50pp with tax and tip. i came on oscar sunday so street parking on louise st. was not a problem - usually metered. they have a valet lot. the restaurant is all al fresco (open air - no roof). service is harried, if not assembly-line efficient. lots of take-out business. worth it!

good casual dinner. casual and relaxed atmosphere and food was really tasty. good stuff

so many better options.. normally i let mediocre restaurants slide. but given the consistent 5-star reviews, i felt i had to comment. honestly, i'm flummoxed by all of the high praise. we were in the neighborhood and given its high yelp rating, we decided to check it out. we ordered the lamb and boneless chicken kabobs + a greek salad. both the lamb and chicken were pretty dry. and the greek salad was just okay. definitely not 5-star worthy. you do get huge portions. but with the quality of this food, i'm not sure that's a good thing. with all of the other options for middle eastern food in glendale & los angeles, i'm surprised this is at top of people's lists. maybe an off night? but we'll never go back.

lunch family dish. 7 people soltan i , trading with stew , mostokyar

everything about raffi’s place is big — the space it’s in, the portions, the flavors, and the wait for a table on weekends. located a couple blocks from the americana in the heart of glendale, raffi’s place is a palace of persian-armenian delights. first there are the persian stews, gheimeh bademjan with chunks of beef, split peas, fried onion and eggplant, and its cousin ghormesabzi with sautéed parsley, leek and fenugreek leaves, beef chunks, kidney beans, and pierced dehydrated limes. both are excellent and served on delectably crispy and chewy “rice crusts.” then there are the kabobs. it would not be an exaggeration to say they’re the best in the city. there are beef, lamb, salmon and mahi mahi kabobs, but my favorites are the chicken barg (pictured above) and the chicken koobideh (also known as luleh or ground meat kabobs), which are expertly seasoned and charbroiled to perfection along with roasted tomatoes and anaheim peppers. with persian food, it’s all about the rice and all e

too pricey!. from the looks of it, we just walked into the iranian/armenian mafia headquarters. the dress code is tacky.
the food is ok, but prohibitively overpriced and assumes you have tons of laundered money to throw away. service was slow, but the waiter was nice. quality, homemade nan, was non-existent; appeared to be some sort of store bought and bland, unheated crap. wouldn't waste my time or bank roll on this crowded and uninspiring pit.

in a word, outstanding! i am single and thus usually dine alone. most restaurants are not polite single party customers. raffi's was an exception! the service was exemplarly and the food was great. i had the soltani kabob. lots of good quality food. 5 out of 5 stars.