Ground Shaking Persian Food at Sunnyvale’s House of Kabobs

Cheap. Persian. Food.

Those are the three things that drew me here.

Unreinforced. Masonry. Building.

That's what the sign said in the window, and that's what worried me about coming inside. That's like the worst kind of structure in an earthquake. Having worked several years in earthquake preparedness planning I couldn't pretend I didn't notice the sign.

I braved a potential disaster, and came inside. You order at the counter and then you sit at a table (that's nicer than you'd expect for an order at the counter joint). We chose the zeresht polo ($11) and a skewer of koobideh ($3.50?). We considered getting a whole koobideh platter ($10) which only gets you some rice and maybe another skewer, but I figured we had enough with our zeresht polo and I was right. We also got an order of the shirazi salad ($5) which was nicely tart but would be better when tomatoes are more in season.

The rice in the zeresht polo (studded with the usual barberries and other goodies) was better than many places that charge $5 more. It had a good tartness to sweetness ratio, too. the chicken was nice and moist. The koobideh was slightly oily but very flavorful. I'd definitely come back.

However, I picture myself calling in my order, running in to pay and grab my food as quickly as possible, and then heading home secure in the knowledge that I don't live in an unreinforced masonry building."

House of Kabob
161 S Sunnyvale Ave (between E. Washington & E. Evelyn)
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 735-8199