Steak Kabob
Shandeez Grill

Shandeez Grill

8863 Anderson Mill Rd, 78729-4600, Austin, United States

Grill • Persian • Middle Eastern • Delivery Services


"This is a Five Star Review on a menu I normally hate.I absolutely adore Persian food.It is one of my favorite cuisines on the planet.But I am very fussy about my Persian food.I want genuine complicated exotic Persian dishes.I want Rice with a beautiful crust burned into the bottom.I want elaborate stews with tart berries mixed in with the meat.I want tea with sugar balls the size of an egg that you hold in your mouth.I want soup made with lamb tripe.Most of the famous Persian dishes have ingredients that you only get in the Middle East.In contrast Shandeez uses plain ordinary American ingredients.Much of the menu involves gyros and gyro meat.Nearly everything else uses items you could buy in an HEB.These are Persian recipes adapted for the American Restaurant Supply Industry.This normally puts me in a sour mood.But Shandeez is a five star place. Why does Shandeez get five stars?Because they somehow find remarkable versions of these simple raw ingredients.The ingredients may be obtainable in an HEB but THEIR versions of those ingredients are not.Their versions are better, much better.I was immediately and totally in love. Of special note:a) the best feta cheese in Austin that is not Phoenicia Deli's French feta cheese.b) the best pita bread that is not Phoenicia Deli's own pita bread ... and in the case of Phoenicia you sort of have to eat yours the same day.c) superior Gyro meatd) high quality olives.e) great great great raw onions They give you a free starter of pita bread, butter, their special deal feta cheese, raw onions and walnuts.Frankly, you don't need anything else.I could eat basket after basket after basket of that combo.I virtually never put butter on pita bread.James Beard claims the best sandwich he ever invented was white bread, butter and raw onion.You can make that sandwich yourself off the starter plate at Shandeez.It is just as good as James Beard says.But that feta cheese is going to be hard to ignore and the walnuts add all sorts of interest. Servings are huge here.One appetizer can easily be a meal for you.They have an appetizer of kalamata olives, feta cheese and the pita bread.I would look at that one very very seriously.But we did the smoked eggplant appetizer.It was utterly insane.I had a gyro salad That item is straight off of the American menu list here called Greek, rather than American.The salad looks small but isn't.The amount of gyro meat looks ungenerous but it isn't.It turns out that there is layer after layer after layer of gyro meat, with the greek dressing, lettuce and tomato cutting the gyro perfectly.I would have that dish again in a nanosecond.My vegetarian wife adored her grilled vegetables with hummus.The couple we were with got lamb and chicken kebabs respectively.Their plates were huge with vast amounts of rice, good grilled tomatoes and first rate kebabs. Simple grilled meats make up most of the menu although there are a teeny tiny number of stews.My gyros and my co diners kebabs suggest that grilled meat will do you just fine at Shandeez. So save your elaborate Persian dishes for great cities with large diaspora Persian populations.You can eat like a shah in Los Angeles or London.For the simple Persian pleasures of life, it is hard to beat Shandeez.Now lets have about ten more of those baskets of bread, butter, onion and feta cheese."

Casa Margarita

Casa Margarita

32 South La Grange Road, La Grange, 60525, United States Of America

Tapas • Salad • Tacos • Lunch


"I really wanted to like this place and give them grace. With a wife working in the restaurant business during the pandemic I get the challenges associated with being short staffed. And I should have read the other 200+ reviews on Yelp before visiting. I came in with a plan to work on my computer while waiting for my son at swim practice. I planned to order the nachos and the special Tuesday $5 margarita. I walked in (feeling something strange) and waited/wandered around for about 10 minutes trying to find a host. I finally stopped the only server I could see and asked her for a seat. She told me that I could sit anywhere. That's when I realized what was strange: I couldn't easily find a table because there were 8 tables sections completed covered with used dishes and old food. Obviously people had left but because of the way the tables were organized I only had three tables to choose from inside and four outside. I found a spot and then had to wait nearly 15 more minutes until the server came. I even had to go get my own menu from the hostess area (but no host was there). That was also when I realized there was only one server. When she finally arrived with complementary chips and salsa. I told her I wanted the nachos and the $5 margarita. I specifically asked if the $5 were running this Tuesday and she told me yes. The chips I realized had been sitting in an alcove in the back they were cold and soggy like they get when there's too much oil and they cool off. I ate a couple then stopped because I knew I was getting nachos. When the nachos came after one bite I realize the same old chips were used. I had to grab the server and apologized for the inconvenience but asked for another plate of nachos with new chips because they were cold and soggy. She told me they couldn't only that they could add more cheese and beans. I also asked for the wireless password and what she told me didn't work but I just gave up on that. When I finally asked for the bill I saw that I'd been charged for a large margarita and asked her to change it. She said it was because I ordered the large. She told me the $5 one was the smaller one. I asked her if she remembered me asking for the $5 one to which she said yes and then said sorry and didn't change it. I've been to the Casa in Orland Park and had extremely different/great experiences. This location in Hinsdale was extremely disappointing. When I left three more tables were left unattended and mine, I imagine, made 4. A person had came out to bus a table but left the bin at the table and walked away. I give two stars and a 20% tip only because I have sympathy for the 3 person staff and everyone has bills to pay, but I won't come back again."