Tiny Persian Kabob shack located in a tennis complex.
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1005
Reviewed: 3/28/2006
Rating: 7.5
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Last night I watched a horrible movie, Wimbeldon. Holy shat that movie sucks. I used to play a lot of tennis in my college days, and I'll even brag about winning the Singles and Doubles championship at my college. Ok, I took a summer tennis class at Grossmont Community College and yeah it was the beginner class, and yes it was co-ed with people 2-3x my age.
Whats the with bloated tennis story? Get this....Tennis Courts and Kabobs. Yes, you read that right. We were driving on Matilda and saw the sign for City Kabob. We saw tennis courts but no restaurant. Its located way in the back of the parking lot. It was probably a small snack snop back in the day. This restaurant is small but on sunny days, there's plenty of outdoor seating and you get to watch tennis players hits some balls.
If any of you have been to Michaels at Shoreline, this is similar but its City Kabob on Matilda. Both restaurants catering to the sports scenery and offering respectable meals. The menu has very cheap items but my stomach was thinking before my wallet, I had managed to get the 2nd most expensive item on the menu at $11.50 - Chicken and Koobideh with a .50 cent tomato.
The wait was long but it takes time to cook Kabobs. I'd rather wait long and have the cooks make the meal properly than cut corners to speed the process. Long wait time isn't an issue for me, waiting outside in the cold wind with no jacket is. I sat in my car listening to Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, before I went back to the restaurant, kabob shack.
People behind the counter were very friendly. If I could make a suggestion to the cook, use a fork to remove the meat from the skewers. He used his BARE hands to remove the meat! This guy must have hands of steel to withstand the heat from the meat that was just over an open fire.
My combo kabob plate is a 2 mealer....portion size is UBER-SIZED. I ate half at lunch and the rest for dinner. The chicken has a zesty lemon flavoring but overcooked. The koobideh was juicy, charred, and would be a repeat order on my next visit. The rice was average, it wasnt that soft and I think he puts a chicken broth before serving it. The saffron rice was lacking in the rich flavor I'm accustomed to. I didn't like paying an additional 50 cents for half a grilled tomato, most places will give that for free on a plate dish. Overall, the combo kabob plate comes in at average.
City Kabob was decent, I would come back if I was in the area. I'm completely sold on the whole tennis atmosphere. Just thinking about playing tennis, getting sweaty, and having the option to order kabobs? Maybe, for their logo, City Kabob and replace the O with a tennis ball. I'd buy a shirt and another koobideh plate.
RETURN VISIT for Jason!5/21/2008 - 8.5 Rating: Return visit and 10x better than my last visit. Chicken and Koobideh was moist and flavorful. I enjoyed every bit but my only complaint was the extra charge for the rice. The plates come with 1/2 salad and 1/2 rice but you have the option to do a full plate of rice for $1 extra....kinda a bummer since I love rice. Food takes a while to cook as it's cooked to order. If you're on a short lunch schedule, it's highly recommended to call it in.
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 735
Reviewed: 3/28/2006
Rating: 7
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Jason and I spotted this place yesterday while driving to another place. It was very hard to spot as you can't actually see the place from the main road, only a sign for it. On this particular day, it was absolutely freezing outside. Wicked winds were ripping across the area. We stepped inside the warm City Kabob, a refuge from the cold.
The place is super crowded inside, with only 2 real tables, and a ton of outside seating (which I'm sure is really nice in the summer). Jason and I decided to go with our lunch to-go. I asked the friendly owner what vegetarian offerings he has. He mentioned an eggplant dish I cannot remember the name of. I said OK and he proceeded to cook it up for me with some rice.
Then we waited.
We waited a LONG time. If we were sitting down and enjoying some nice weather, it would not be so bad. But we were either standing outside in the cold, or brushing elbows with the other few folks waiting inside for their kabobs.
The food was finally done 15 minutes later, and we took it into the parking lot and into Jasons car. And we proceeded to scarf on the food. Mine was almost a thick tomato pasta sauce consistency that was pretty decent with lots of fresh vegetables. The rice was decent as well, not the best but satisfactory. I think I prefer the Chelokebabi rice. If it weren't for the glacial wait times, I would probably bump my score up another half point.
Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 146
Reviewed: 6/26/2008
Rating: 7
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Wanted kebabs this afternoon and recalled City Kebab in the Sunnyvale Tennis Complex. Prices were shockingly cheap, $14 got me two koobideh, rice, a roasted tomato and a sobe.
Excited I went to go find a seat, it was abnormally cold out today and anywhere I sat had a draft. anyways...10, 15, 30 minutes went by. where's my food?! I wished I went to chelokebbabi at this point, I mean if I was going to wait I might as well expect good kebabs. Turns out they were filling a HUGE take out order prior to mine. great...
Anyways it finally arrives and looks splendid. Two juicy koobideh kebabs, rice and a smallish tomato. First the rice...it was slightly uncooked. It wasn't the burnt crust that you get at some places, the rice still had hard centers. edible, but not happy about it.
The koobideh itself were salt bombs. They were juicy, moist, looked spectacular but high in sodium. One was more then enough.
The tomato was the only proper tasting bit in this meal.
Would I go back? Sure, but no high expectations. They charge more then a fair price for a fair meal, but I probably would skip the koobideh next time.
“Consistently amazing flavor and moistness. Soooo good. They have a large indoor seating area now. the extra 50 cents for the tomato is a little annoying. There is also a nice yogurt sauce (raita-like) that's extra. Definitely rated too low here.”
