Zeytun Mediterranean Grill

You feel like family before the food even hits the table here, and that's the owner's doing, the kind of guy who walks you through the whole menu and tells you what to order like he's feeding his own. Chef Roberto brings 22 years out of Italy and time in LA to the grill, and it shows. The lunch special for four buried us: hummus, tzatziki, pita, salad, chicken and beef, rice, and a fresh cucumber-mint-apple juice that I didn't know I needed. We rolled out full with leftovers.

The kabobs are enormous and the chicken in particular is a knockout, all of it made fresh. Tzatziki and hummus both serious. Portions this generous, food this clean, run by people this kind, this is worth the drive.