Sam’s Flaming Grill

A life with no hummus is no life at all. That being said, I’ve always passed by this location and never once stopped by to try it, maybe because I’m always in a rush or I was afraid I might not like and regret it. Just I get food regrets. Especially if I have to pay for it. Well tonight I decided to stop by and try it. I was greeting right away. There were people inside wait for their order, that was a good sign :). I ordered the chicken Lula plate. I enjoyed it, hummus was amazing, salad was fresh. Can’t say no more except, don’t worry about reviews, go out and try something new #YOLO

Wow. Just read a few negative reviews and I unequivocally disagree! I eat here 2 sometimes 3 times a week since I work across the street from it. I always get the chicken kebab lunch special. It’s always outstanding! ONE time the lettuce on the salad was a bit wilted but that’s my only complaint or bad experience. I’ve also had the chicken quarter lunch special and the grape leaves. I’m ALWAYS very satisfied.

Went to Sam’s Flaming Grill as a recommendation from my coworker. From others in our group, their chicken kabob was really good – however, everything else we found to be very salty (almost inedible). The salt list included the beef kabobs, chicken luleh, and beef luleh. The salad dressing had soaked into the salad and wilted on it, like it had been tossed much earlier in the day. The tomato and jalapeño that was roasted and included in the meal, was cold, as if it had been sitting separately from everything else.
Overall, this was a disappointing visit. We were hoping to add another local restaurant to our list of places to go, but will probably not be back.

this is the place in boyle heights! their food is delishhhh! everything tastes like home made !! love their chicken lula kabobs and falafel pretty much everything

Below-​average Mediterranean food. At least it had fast and friendly service, and generous portions. There’s tastier food options around here, so only come if you’re desperate for Middle Eastern food. Walking distance from the USC+LAC hospital.

Really inexpensive but doesn’t satisfy like a zankou, or decent zankou knock-​off would.
Only been once and they messed up our order, even though we explained exactly what we wanted and confirmed with the cashier that’s what we would get. We didn’t check our to-​go order and when we got home we noticed one plate was missing 2 items.
The second plate was fine, but food just tasted unlike mediterranean, although it was cooked like a medi’ meal. Probably better off at LA Skewers down Marengo from this place :(
I won’t return.

start rant from a pregnant lady–
so my cousin and I both ordered plate combos and it was supposed come with salad hummus and grilled tomato and pepper… Hoping my combo plate already came with a grilled tomato and pepper I ask the lady to charge me for an extra grilled tomato. when both plates come out I realize there was no grilled tomato or pepper. what kinda false advertisement crap is that? I get charged $ 0.50 for «extra» tomato but it’s not even extra. that and the chicken was dry. 2 thumbs down for this location… the Saugus location never disappointed me.
–end rant from a pregnant lady

People here are tasteless, the reviewers giving high stars. This place is void of taste and the chicken does not look like the pictures. It seems like someone or something tore the chicken apart while it was rotting. The chicken Shawarma was disgusting, the yogurt sauce lacked flavor and the chicken was bland. Let’s not forget the pita bread was tasteless and thick. The only reason I gave a star was because its healthy, otherwise 0. Fake food is OP.

I have eaten there about 3 times and I have never been dissatisfied. Their Greek salad is really good, although their house dressing is a bit too salty but its good. just don’t put too much of it on. I tried a chicken Shawarma wrap it was really good, fresh, and tasty. Their food is really good here for a fast food Mediterranean food joint.

This isn’t necessarily a ‘destination’ restaurant. It’s not like I would drive here because the food is amazing. However, it’s a great option if you’re in the hood, because it’s really a void of decent food within the 2 square mail radius! Best thing here is the falafel and the chicken kabab. The chicken special is a little dry, the kebabs are much more moist and flavorful.

My daughter’s favorite! All their chicken dishes are delicious. We love their shawarma chicken salad with their house dressing Yum!!! Very light and healthy. The cashier/​cook Sonya is very sweet as well. A must go to and enjoy!
Scarlet & Liz

Love the chicken shawarma wrap. Their chicken salad and chicken plate are yummy as well. I always like to get a side of cucumber yogurt which always taste fresh. When I don’t bring lunch to, work, I like to come here instead.

Great food! Great service! Great prices!
Plus…food that the whole family can agree on, including the kids.

I have no idea why this place has decent reviews. The service is slow as hell and the food is old and dry. I left honestly worried that I would get food poisoning (I didn’t, but the food is still disgusting).

Not impressed. I ordered a felafel sandwich from here and was disappointed. The portion size was decent, but the flavor wasn’t there. It came with some white sauce on it and some additional sauce on the side. Neither of them had any flavor. The pita bread was thin, but a bit tough to chew. The falafel itself wasn’t good either. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve eaten, but it was probably the worst falafel sandwich that I’ve eaten.

Stay away from this restaurant. Food taste like shit, looks like shit aswell. I complaint to the worker which was slow and retarded. My daughter took a bite of the shitty beef kebab and tasted salty he wouldn’t give me my money back. Stay away retarded ppl work here. Down the street at LA skewers taste way better. Ps I made my first Unilocal review today for sams shitty flaming grill… you’ve been warned :)

The dining room looks nice, the pictures of the food are appetizing, but the service was totally lacking.
My friend and I were the only customers there that morning, so the owner had no reason to be rude. It was our first time there and my friend had never tried this type of cuisine before. The owner didn’t say hello, never looked up to acknowledge us as we tried to decide what to order. He never responded when I said good morning.
I really felt like he didn’t want us there.
There are always homeless people camped out in the parking lot. There’s a mental hospital on the same side of Marengo a block east of this restaurant, plus the mental ward of County USC Medical Center across the street, so there’s always homeless people in pajamas often sleeping in the parking lot, or on the sidewalk.

As far as restaurants of its type go, this place is pretty decent overall, and it’s definitely one of the healthier fast food options in the area.
The people I’ve met working here have always been very friendly, and the food doesn’t give one anything significant to complain about. I’ve never seen more than one person working here at a time, so if your order takes a while to process, be understanding about that.
I can heartily recommend their pork chop and lamb chop plates, both of which include rice, bread, salad, tomato, pepper, and hummus. The pork chop plate in particular offers a massive portion size.
I’ve also grown fond of their beef lula kebob plates — the meat is ground and marinated with herbs and spices, which makes for very flavorful bites.
Low-​carb plates are available for those whom are on such diets. They appear to be standard plates with the rice portion substituted with extra salad. Be aware that they do still come with pita bread (either ask them to refrain from providing it, or use it to feed some birds).
The grilled pepper they include with each plate is *insanely* spicy — keep that in mind before you try biting down on one of them!
Prices are reasonable, and the restaurant interior is kept clean. No public restrooms are available.
The tiny parking lot out front can be full during peak hours (try the curb if it comes to that).

At first a Mediterranean place in Boyle Heights seemed out of place because all you really see is Latin & Chinese food.
Glad this place is here and close by for me to come here often.
Place isn’t big but not small either. It can accommodate 2 to 6 people per table. It wasn’t full when I arrived during the week at 3pm.
Young lady took my order and then the cook/​owner handed me my plate to go in under 7 minutes.
Had their chicken kebob plate and it was really good. My plate came with 6 nice size pieces of juicy chicken, large pita bread, salad, hummus and large portion of rice. Plate also includes a grilled pepper and tomato.
Chicken was delicious, so was everything else. I have had better tasting rice but this was okay.
Paid under $ 10.
So I tried this place a second time and I was delighted to try their ¼th Rotisserie Chicken lunch special ($ 5.99), juicy chicken with pita bread, hummus, rice and salad.
Also ordered the pita wrap lunch special and the wraps were filling, large portions of chicken, lettuce, tomato & cucumber with hummus spread, they were delicious. Two come in a order at ($ 4.99).
Small sharable lot parking, street parking might be hard to find since its near a residential street.

Didn’t have a chance to try the food. The menu prices are lower then what they charge you. When I pointed it out, they seemed to not care, and wouldn’t change the price. So we walked out.