Shawarma Near Me on Brand Boulevard, Lebanese Since 1984: Carousel Glendale

Carousel, at 304 N Brand Blvd in downtown Glendale, is the answer when shawarma near me should come with a tablecloth, a waiter and a long run of mezze. The family-run Lebanese-Armenian dining room lists chicken shawerma at $18 as a hot mezze and $27 as a dinner entree, and beef shawerma made with marinated tri-tip at $19 and $28. It is a sit-down restaurant that takes reservations, so it suits a celebration dinner more than a quick wrap on the way home.

The Carousel story starts in 1978 in Beirut, where Krikor, known as KoKo, and Vartouhi, known as Rose, Tcholakian ran a small sandwich shop when the Lebanese civil war was at its worst. With a young son, Mike, they left for the United States. The restaurant's own history page says the family worked a string of jobs after arriving, from a coffee shop to making soujouk, the spiced Armenian beef sausage, for local markets.

In 1984 they opened a home-style restaurant in Hollywood built around Rose's cooking, and it became a fixture of the Armenian community there. Mike Tcholakian opened the larger Glendale room in 1998, adding weekend entertainment nights. The family still works in both dining rooms, with Krikor in Hollywood and Vartouhi in Glendale, according to the site, and the homepage sums the place up as three generations and one family recipe.

Carousel spells it shawerma, the Armenian-Lebanese way, and it serves the meat as a plated dish rather than wrapped in bread. The chicken version is marinated breast with lettuce, tomatoes and garlic sauce. The beef version uses marinated tri-tip with an onion mix, tomatoes and tahini, and the entree plate adds a hummus dip. Ordering it as a mezze gives you a smaller portion to share alongside other plates, which is how most tables here eat.

The dinner entrees, at $27 for chicken and $28 for beef, come with cabbage salad, Lebanese cheese and fresh-cut vegetables, plus a choice of rice, bulgur, fries or fire-roasted vegetables. Tuesday to Friday there is a separate dine-in lunch menu that lists the same two shawerma plates at $23 and $24. If you want shawerma on top of dips, the Hummus Lahmeh, topped with kawarma ground beef at $16, can be ordered with shawerma for $4 more.

Shawerma is only one part of a long menu, and a good dinner here mixes it with the cold and hot mezze. The muhammara, a roasted red pepper dip with crushed walnuts and pomegranate, is $14. Kebbeh nayyeh, the Lebanese steak tartare made with finely minced filet mignon and bulgur, is $18, and it is one of the dishes guests mention most in reviews quoted on the restaurant's homepage. Soujouk flambe, the house-made Armenian sausage, is broiled tableside for $16.

Groups can skip the decisions with the family-style packages, which must be ordered for everyone at the table. The Hafleh, at $40 per person for a minimum of two, brings hummus, mutabbal, tabbouleh, muhammara, grape leaves, kebbeh, fatayer and soujouk flambe, followed by chicken, lula and filet kebabs. The Feast, at $55 per person for at least three people, adds arayes, maaneh sausage and frog legs or frri. Desserts include ossmalieh, crisp shredded pastry filled with ashta, at $11, and baklava at $5.

This is a full-service dining room, so plan on a meal of an hour or more rather than a counter grab. Reservations can be made through the restaurant's website, and the reservations page pitches the room for first dates, Friday nights with friends and quiet meals alone alike. Mondays are the one day both Carousel dining rooms stay dark, which catches out people who plan a long weekend lunch.

Pace your order the Lebanese way: start with three or four cold mezze and bread, add a hot dish or two such as the shawerma mezze, and only then decide whether you still want an entree. Kebab plates can be made khash-khash style with spiced tomatoes for $3 more or yogurt style for $4 more. The Ourfa kebab needs about 40 minutes, so order it early if you want it.

Carousel runs its own online ordering for delivery or curbside pickup from either location, and the takeout menu prices some dishes differently from the dining room. Chicken shawerma is sold by the pound for $22 and beef for $23, which is practical if you are feeding a family gathering in Glendale or Burbank and want the same tri-tip and chicken without booking a table.

The Glendale restaurant also has a private patio room for celebrations, with a minimum of 20 guests and a rental fee of $600 on weekdays or $1,200 on weekends, according to its private events page. The family offers catering as well, with its own section on the website, so the same mezze and grilled meat can be ordered in trays for a party at home or at the office.

Carousel sits on the busiest stretch of Brand Boulevard, so dinner fits easily into an evening in downtown Glendale. One block south is the Alex Theatre, a 1925 movie palace whose neon tower still lights the street and which now hosts concerts, film screenings and touring shows. Walking past its forecourt after a heavy mezze dinner is a good way to settle the meal.

A few minutes farther along Brand is the Americana at Brand, the open-air shopping center that opened in 2008 with its fountain, lawn and trolley. Across the street is the Glendale Galleria. Between them they make Glendale's shopping core, and families often pair an afternoon of errands there with an early shawerma dinner at Carousel before the evening crowd arrives.

Carousel suits anyone who wants to understand how Lebanese-Armenian families in Los Angeles eat on a special night: many small plates, grilled meat, strong coffee and long conversation. It is a good pick for birthdays, a first visit with parents, or showing out-of-town friends what Glendale's food scene is built on. Vegans are well served too, with vegan mezze and a vegan Hafleh package at $40 per person.

It is less suited to a solo shawarma craving at the end of a long day. There is no quick wrap at a counter here, and a full dinner with mezze and an entree will cost more than a sandwich shop. If you only want a fast plate, order the shawerma by the pound for pickup and eat it at home with your own pita.

Address: Carousel Restaurant, 304 N Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91203. Phone: (818) 246-7775. Hours from the official site: Monday closed, Tuesday to Thursday 11:30 am to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30 am to 9:30 pm, Sunday 11:30 am to 8:30 pm. Format: full-service dining room with reservations, plus online ordering for delivery or curbside pickup. Second location: Hollywood Boulevard in East Hollywood, the original 1984 dining room. Founded: 1984 by the Tcholakian family; Glendale opened in 1998.