The Mouth-Watering Los Angeles Chicken Spot With A Cult Following And Infamous History

The following article includes descriptions of violent crime and suicide.

Los Angeles offers some of the best Mediterranean chicken spots in the country, but none are more famous than Zankou Chicken. The local chain has been name-checked by critics far and wide, referenced in the Zagat Guide as "the single best takeout dish in town" (according to the Los Angeles Times). Its LA cred runs so deep, it was even mentioned in the Beck song "Debra." With 14 locations spread across LA county, a visit to Zankou is an essential part of becoming acquainted with the cuisine of what some would say is the best food city in the United States. Despite its massive popularity, the chain maintains very reasonable prices, with its signature quarter and half plates running about $15 at the time of writing — about the same price as a burger, fries, and shake from In-N-Out — making it one the most sensible fast-casual options in the city. The popularity of the chain has endured throughout the years, even in the face of unspeakable tragedy within the family who started it all.

In 2003, Mardiros Iskenderian, the son of Zankou founder Vartkes Iskenderian, murdered his mother, Margrit Iskenderian, and his sister, Dzovig Marjik, after a heated argument before he died by suicide. The horrific and tragic scandal did not deter Los Angeles customers from eating at Zankou. But it divided the family perhaps irrevocably, hindering Zankou's inevitable expansion into the national chain market. But one thing cannot be disputed about the longstanding establishment: despite the tragedy, it remains an absolute institution of LA dining with food that remains the best of its kind in the city.

When discussing Zankou and all of its delicious options, one item is a necessity for every order: its often-imitated but never duplicated garlic sauce. The sauce, a thick, heavenly puree of secret ingredients served by the plastic portion cup, was invented by Margrit Iskenderian and remains the secret weapon that has accelerated Zankou to the front of the LA Mediterranean food pack. The sauce is so popular that any other restaurant in the surrounding LA area serving half chickens without its own rendition of the sauce feels lacking by comparison. An absolutely necessary item, the sauce achieves a new level of transcendence when coupled with Zankou's shawarma or chicken tarna, cooked on location on a spit and shaved into sizable strips for wraps and plates. Thanks to the freshness of its ingredients, Zankou also stands as one of the healthiest fast-casual options for LA residents.

Zankou exemplifies an LA food phenomenon, perhaps due to the infamous high traffic volume surrounding its Hollywood locations, in that it's one of the best meals one can have while throwing on a podcast and eating in your car. The plates come packed with three sides, which can include hummus, tabbouleh salad, basmati rice, or mutabbal (pureed eggplant), as well as a generous inclusion of two pieces of pita. All of this comes to a price of around $20 at the time of writing, making it not only one of the most essential meals in LA, but one of its most affordable too, perfect for any budget trips to LA.

The 2003 murder-suicide tragedy has only served to ignite familial tensions and split the ownership of the chain amongst the family substantially. After the incident, Rita Iskenderian, Maradiros' wife, assumed control of his portion of the franchise while Vartkes Marjik, the son of Dzovig and grandson of Margrit, assumed control of the Montebello and original Little Armenia locations. To this day, the Hollywood and Montebello locations are not listed on the Zankou website, which Rita owns.

According to Los Angeles Magazine, Maradiros' reasons for committing such a heinous act are still largely unknown; some think it was previous co-ownership tensions boiling over, and some speculate that the cancer he was battling at the time may have spread to his brain. Whatever the reasoning, the familial separation it caused could well be the true reason the popular restaurant hasn't yet become an international chain.

There's no reason to believe that Zankou wouldn't be an international smash, given the unanimous goodwill food critics and patrons alike have been paying the restaurant for years. There's also not yet a popular fast-casual Mediterranean chicken chain restaurant of its caliber in the U.S. Hopefully with time, as old wounds begin to heal, the rest of the country will get to experience the magic of Zankou Chicken. Until then, the restaurant remains a vital part of the L.A. food community and a must-visit for anyone visiting the city.

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