Zankou isn’t chicken about expanding

Steve Iskenderian is a cool customer. The co-owner of Zankou Chicken, which Saturday opened on Glenoaks Boulevard — its seventh site — remains undaunted by a recession that has claimed other businesses and competition from regional eateries.

“The cost of food is up everywhere,” he said. “In these hard times, places that offer value are . . . going to be OK, and we’re cheaper.”

A steady stream of customers heralded the restaurant’s first day, and Iskenderian hopes the new location will be as profitable as the other sites of the popular franchise.

The first Zankou Chicken debuted in the family’s hometown of Beirut, Lebanon, in 1962. Twenty years later, after moving to America, the family opened its first U.S. location in Hollywood, expanding steadily with locations in Burbank, its first Glendale site on Colorado Street, Pasadena, Van Nuys and West Los Angeles. A Toluca Lake site is planned for winter 2009.

Named for a river in Armenia, Zankou has curried favor with critics and customers alike, with many praising the restaurant’s freshness and reasonably priced menu, which includes a Middle Eastern mix of roasted chicken, wraps and other dishes.

Though the menu at the newest site, 901 W. Glenoaks Blvd., is similar to other locations, the interior represents a sea change from past Zankous.

Instead of a stand-alone restaurant, Iskenderian, 30, purchased space in the Sidewalk Cafe of the same address after the locations owner contacted him about six months ago, he said.

Iskenderian plowed about $250,000 — half what his family usually pays to outfit new restaurants — into retrofitting the kitchen, laying new floor tiles and installing new lights. They also changed the sign to include their restaurant’s name in its signature blue, white and red colors.

The Sidewalk Cafe, which had featured some Middle Eastern dishes, expunged its menu of most competing kebab and chicken items to ensure that the side-by-side restaurants do not pose a threat to one another.

“It’s a win-win situation for him,” Iskenderian said of the Sidewalk Cafe owner. “His expenses are so much less than what they were before.”

The two sides now split the rent, all utility bills and share customers.

But if harmony defines the relationship of the Sidewalk Cafe and its newest tenant, acrimony might best describe Zankou’s other notable situation.

An ongoing intra-family dispute about who owns the rights to Zankou Chicken has resulted in rival restaurants Iskenderian says are inferior in product and quality.

Iskenderian, his two brothers and their mother Rita Iskenderian — all of whom share a stake in the restaurants — plan to launch a campaign soon to let customers know about their Zankou and competing restaurants of the same name that have popped up.

But the original Zankou may face a bigger foe than competing restaurants. A snowballing economy has been bad news for restaurants and retailers for at least a year. Glendale has been particularly affected as shops, restaurants and malls have all said customers are not coming at the same rate as in previous years.

“You have to do a lot of business just to make your bottom line now,” said Ron Berinsten, a Nemco Food Equipment seller who supplies Zankou with plates, cooking oil and other items.

Steve Iskenderian is confident that he can still attract customers, especially if his restaurant continues to offer $5 chicken plates and other relatively inexpensive dishes.

His assurances were buoyed by the property’s owner, Dan Khachaturian, who said Zankou is a great addition to the community.

“It’s commendable that in this economy they come in and create jobs,” he said. “We’re very happy they are here.”