Skaf's Lebanese Cuisine

A strip of storefronts outside downtown Glendale holds a plain dining room where the family has cooked from the same Lebanese recipes since 1999. Mezze come out first, hummus and grape leaves and cheese rolls and kibbeh balls and garlic falafel, then skewers off the grill, chicken shawarma, or a whole branzino fried to order. It's table service rather than a counter, and a full meal in under half an hour is routine.