The Zankou Chicken people's new taqueria

Opened right in the heart of Glendale, aka "The Jewel City", aka "the place housing that mall where the first Panda Express in the US opened in 1983", Ara's Tacos is an ultra-casual taqueria from the family behind cult-fave mini chain Zankou Chicken.

The setup's simple, and will likely remind you of another taco place with a name that rhymes with "shimotle", except for one enormous difference..

These morsels are made with meat spit-roasted the same way as it is at Zankou, where the deliciousness comes from a recipe handed to the owner by a Persian man who long ago wandered in from the street. The contents of this recipe will never be revealed, the owner says, "unless someone gets me drunk enough to reveal it." Challenge

Though, sadly, they don't carry any booze to help with said challenge, they make up for it with choice eats, like the tacos up top, and this burrito stuffed with your choice of steak or chicken, aka what they'll call you at the Galleria if you don't hit up JCPenney for a sensible mock turtleneck.