DISHING OUT WHILE DINING IN
Burbank Leader, CA
Aug 31 2005
Zankou, known for chicken but not decor, hopes to draw in more
customers with a stylish new restaurant in Burbank.
By Darleene Barrientos, The Leader
BURBANK — Zankou Chicken restaurants are famous for the tender,
roasted chicken and tasty garlic spread they serve, but not so much
for the nondescript, cafeteria-like decor.
The Southern California chain, owned by the Iskenderian family of
Glendale, is planning to break with its reputation for good food
but bad ambience by opening a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant with
27,000 square feet in Burbank. The building will include the chain’s
first patio seating, and a dome will grace its southeast corner.
The new restaurant is scheduled to be open by November or December
and will be the beginning of the chain’s move toward more attractive
and welcoming eateries.
“This is going to be the staple,” said Dikran Iskenderian, a manager
and co-owner of Zankou’s six restaurants. “This is going to be,
God willing, what all of Zankou’s future stores will be based [upon].”
Burbank’s Zankou is being built from the ground up as part of a strip
mall under construction along San Fernando Boulevard just west of
Burbank Boulevard. The mall, which is being developed by Dell West
Properties, will include a drive-through Starbucks, a Robeks Juice
store, a Quizno’s sandwich shop, a nail salon and spa, an IndyMac
Bank branch and an Italian gelato shop, which will also be owned by
the Iskenderian family.
Seven tenants will occupy 13,000 square feet of the 50,000-square-foot
lot, said Rafik Khatchaturian, the developer and owner of the
property. The Khatchaturian and Iskenderian families have known each
other for at least 20 years, but have not worked together until now.
“I went to Italy and was inspired by the Italian architecture,”
Khatchaturian said of his plans to build the project. “I wanted
to create a high-end food court. I think we’ve been lucky in the
implementation of the idea.”
Zankou’s Burbank restaurant anchors the strip mall’s north end. The
eatery’s owners will employ a variety of consultants to plan the
restaurant’s paint, lighting, tile and kitchen layout.
“This location — no one can say anything anymore about the decor,”
Iskenderian said. “They can’t say anymore, ‘it’s great food, but take
it to go.'”
About 60% to 70% of Zankou’s customers take their food to go,
he said. With its new Burbank restaurant, Iskenderian said he
expected that number to drop to 50%. Iskenderian’s grandfather,
Vartkes Iskenderian, opened Zankou’s first store in Beirut, Lebanon,
in 1962. Iskenderian’s father, Mardiros Iskenderian, immigrated to the
United States and opened the first U.S. location in Hollywood in 1984.
Subsequent stores opened in Glendale in 1984, in Van Nuys in 1992, in
Anaheim in 1996, in Pasadena in 2000 and in West Los Angeles this year.
If Zankou’s Burbank restaurant opens as scheduled, it will be the
first time the chain has opened two stores in one year, Iskenderian
said. Future locations are being considered on Ventura Boulevard near
Tarzana, in Beverly Hills and in eastern Santa Monica.
The family might consider going public one day, but franchising the
Zankou brand is an unlikely idea, Iskenderian said.
“The food is handmade, and the recipes are from my family,” Iskenderian
said of Zankou, which is named after a river in Armenia. “We don’t
want the quality of the food to go down.”