I was recently invited to check out Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill at one of its locations in Irvine that opened up this past July 2013. I was excited to check it out as the expansion of this restaurant has been pretty amazing considering the first Garbanzo opened in Colorado in 2008 and they have since opened 15 locations in Colorado, as well as locations in Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Texas. There are 5 stores in different areas opening soon, including a new state to open a Garbanzo in Connecticut! This is pretty awesome if you ask me!
What I loved about Garbanzo upon entering was that it was painted with colorful welcoming colors, there was a variety of food choices to pick from and everything is fresh, including homemade potato chips and fresh made pitas! This restaurant concept works similar to a Chipotle style in that you walk up to the counter and select from a stuffed pita, a laffa, or a plate.
After selecting one of those three items you proceed to make selections for what you want the server to include on your plate or in your pita. Choices for the main filling include chicken shwarma, chicken falarma (chicken and falafel), falafel, steak shwarma, steak falarma (combo of steak and falafel), hummus, and portabello mushrooms. Next
you proceed to select the sides on your plate which include items such as babaganoush, rice, pickles, hardboiled egg, grilled eggplant, red cabbage, tabuleh salad, red onion, vegetable salad pepperoncinis, and kalamata olives. Next you can select from a variety of sauces and feta or Colby jack cheese.
You can also choose to get kabobs – steak or chicken, a Greek salad, as well as a cup of soup. Soup varieties include lentil, tomato feta bisque, & lemon chicken orzo. Make sure when ordering you also check out the Garbanzo Deal, which is a combo that comes with a fountain drink and one side order in which you can select from chips, 5 falafel, 4 dolmas, or an apple.
This place is great for if you want to get a quick bite to eat for a great price. Everything in Garbanzo is reasonably priced and you can easily eat as a family of 4 for under $40. I love this price point, which I am sure many of you love as well, especially considering they serve high quality items as well! 🙂
Another item I cannot fail to share about Garbanzo is that everything on the menu is fresh and healthy. If you are anything like me, you definitely ate a bit too much over the holidays and would like to shed a few pounds…well my friends this is the place to go because you can definitely stay within a calorie budget as well as a monetary budget! You can see the nutrition list inside of the restaurant which I love and there are many vegetarian options, as well as gluten free for the different types of diets out there! I love this factor as well!
I enjoyed my experience at Garbanzo and plan to go back sometime in the near future! Please let me know about your experience visiting Garbanzo below. 🙂 Also if you are interested in entering a contest to win a FREE entree at Garbanzos go to my fb post on my page pinned to top to see details on how to enter. 😉
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Looks yummy
yup! 🙂
Chicken Kabob looks yummy
I liked the chicken kabobs, but my personal favorite was the plate were I could get a bunch of different items:) Everything is fresh & delicious at this place though!
It looks really good
It is:) Good luck!
Looks delicious!
Have you ever been Alex? It is 🙂
All the food looks delicious!!!
Oh yes! Which item would you pick Fabi?
Mmmmm love this place
I had never been before but I loved it as well:) Good luck in my contest:)
I LOVE mediterranean food! I love the freshness of ingredients, the aromatic spices, and dishes that I’m supposed to eat with my fingers. But where’s the belly dancers? They are a wonderful, exotic addition to this type of dining experience. I guess I COULD live without the dancers and the bells jingling as they shake their hips.
I love your comment Barbara! 🙂 There is a place in Costa Mesa (about 20 minutes from me) that has bellly dancers and you get to sit on the floor on pillows called Marrakesh! That is a cool experience! This place is more of a fast and fresh dining experience..It is Chipotle style:) It is great. Check out Garbanzo!
I will have to try either the Garbanzo in Connecticut or New jersey since those are the closest ones to New York. Looks yummy!
That is great that you have some so closeby. Let me know what you think:)
Looks like a great place to enjoy the Mediterranean! I’ll look up their location in AZ and indulge.
You definitely should! I love how they are nationwide!
I love Mediterranean food for the richness in taste and variety! All the pictures Look yummy!!
Thanks Luzivone! This place is very healthy and tasty too:)
You sure do get to try some amazing places and pass them on to us!
I love to do so:)
now i’m hungry!!!!
That was my goal:)
Im curius about the greek salad! great Review!
Thank you Richard! I have not tried the Greek Salad yet but I love Greek salad so I most definitely will:)
Wow Danielle … Would you like to swap blogs lol … Mind you if I did what you do I would be the size of a house 😮 … everything and I mean everything just looks and sounds delicious xxx
I love this comment. You totally made me laugh and smile:) I love doing my blog and I would not trade.. To not become a house you have to eat light on days you dont go out and workout:)
I would love to try the fresh home made potato chips. You always get to visit the most amazing places!
Thanks so much Jennifer! Homemade potato chips are very good! I am with you!
Sounds decadent just like your blog! This kind of food is my favorite.
mmmhhmmm:) Thank you Jim!
The red cabbage is calling my name! The food looks healthy and delicious!
It was healthy and delicious Yvonne:) Thank you for your comment! 🙂 You need to check out Garbanzo soon!
The photos of the food looks sooo good, I want to try it.
Good luck Shannon:)
The food looks very tasty!
It is pretty delish:)