Tarzana hummus bar a neighborhood find By Natalie Haughton, Food Editor The Hummus Bar & Grill, a neighborhood Middle-Eastern restaurant taken over by new owners in a strip mall in Tarzana 14 months ago, buzzes with dinner diners even on weeknights. Go early to snag a table or expect a wait at this popular no-reservation spot.
The star here, greeting you once seated, is a large round of piping hot laffa, a slightly chewy flat bread (made with yeast) similar to a pita bread, puffed and browned. slightly pancake-looking on the bottom, fresh from a taboon oven. Four little bowls - of green pickles and olives, a cabbage mixture with radish and celery pieces, garbanzo beans topped with tahini sauc...

By Linda Burum
Follow the aromas -- and the crowds -- to two shipudiot, or skewer houses, along Ventura. The lure? Kebabs, a dazzling assortment of Israeli salads and dips and oven-fresh flatbread.
..Hummus Bar & Grill offers its own take on the shipudia meal in a slightly less flamboyant style and with lower prices.
When it opened in 2006, it seemed to have dipped into a trend taking hold at the time in Manhattan. The limited menu offered hummus and more hummus. It still serves six variations -- such as with grilled beef, or mushrooms.
But sprawling L.A. is not Manhattan, and so about a year ago, new owners broadened the menu. turning the stylish spot into Hummus Bar & Grill. This bright. anima...

The Hummus Bar & Grill (18743 Ventura Boulevard, Tarzana; 818-344-6606), an Israeli restaurant that opened just over a year ago, is a lively spot, with conversations (many in Hebrew) and the slapping sound of hands shaping fresh laffa dough filling the air. For just a buck, every table gets a refillable basket of freshly baked, puffed-up laffa, an Iraqi pita-like bread, and that's the kickoff to an extensive menu of Middle Eastern specialties, many S12 or less. It's a great place to be a vegetarian. given the array of hummus dishes, hearty meatless selections such as falafel and portobello mushrooms, and more than a dozen terrific house-made salads. There are plenty of options for budget-con...