Zlfred's

What's it like?

After spending a little quality time in Sound Stage, a friend suggested that we eat lunch nearby. I admitted that I'm not very familiar with the Blackstone corridor, so he suggested Zlfred's, conveniently located right across the street. Actually, Mark seemed a bit surprised that I had never heard of the place.

If you, too, have never heard of Zlfred's, it's easy to pass by. The parking lot is full ... of used cars -- the restaurant shares a building with a dealership that owns all of those. Inside, it's quaint, and I can't say that the booths are very comfortable, but we were greeted with a warm smile.

Mark explained that this is one of the definitive Armenian restaurants in town. It's an original ... no arguing there.

I ordered the lunch special: half an order of the chicken kebab, with pilaf and a salad ($7.95). Mark ordered the shish plate -- a full order with just pilaf ($9.95). We started with an order of hommus (and that's exactly how the waitress pronounced it).

The food was good, but not something I'd brag about. The salad dressing tasted like plain mayonnaise, which I don't eat, but the chicken was good, as was the lamb that Mark let me sample. The pilaf was pilaf. And the peda bread was really just a toasted hamburger bun with butter, but it tasted good with everything else.

All in all, I'd eat there again if I happened to be across the street, but I wouldn't go out of my way to come back.