Tehran Market

"Santa Monica’s Tehran Market is an all-around great destination for Persian spices, snacks, and sweets on the Westside. But it’s their weekend kabob grill that earns it a spot on this guide. From 11am-3pm(ish), follow the charcoal smoke to their back parking lot, where you’ll find cooks grilling koobideh, marinated cornish game hens, vegetables, and lamb livers, among other juicy proteins. Along with fully loaded kabob plates, they’ve also got a bunch of stews, dips, and fresh lavash bread, which are all highly worth your time." - brant cox, arden shore, garrett snyder, sylvio martins

"Head to the back of Santa Monica’s Tehran Market on Saturdays and Sundays to find some of the most delicious kebabs in Los Angeles. The best-selling koobideh and cornish chicken kebabs are served atop marinade-soaked sangak bread alongside smoky vegetables and an herbaceous sumac-heavy salad. Peruse the pre-made meals available in the deli section before leaving; the kookoo sabzi, a savory herb frittata, reheats beautifully at home." - Melody Barooni

"Open since 1987, Santa Monica’s Tehran Market has long been one of LA’s premier Persian grocers, a reliable source of spices, produce, and sweets for the city’s sizable Iranian population. Their famed kebab grill, run out of the back parking lot, is open all weekend long, and there is a recently added hot bar and deli section inside. Expect aisles filled with flatbreads, saffron sugar candies, pickled vegetables, teas, rice, and coolers stocked with cheeses, halal meats, and (of course) pints of Mashti Malone’s ice cream." - Brant Cox, Sylvio Martins, Kat Hong

"Santa Monica’s Tehran Market is our go-to for Persian spices, snacks, and sweets - and one of our favorite all-around markets in the city. But their formerly once-weekly kebab grill is now operating all weekend, from 11am-3pm(ish) in their back parking lot, slinging koobideh, marinated salmon, vegetables, and lamb livers. They’ve also got a bunch of stews, hummuses, and flatbreads to-go, which are highly worth your time. Order in-person, call (310) 393-6719 for more info." - brett keating

"This store is Deravian’s “go-to market for groceries.” She enjoys strolling through it and buying seasonal produce like fresh sour cherries, fresh mulberries, and ghooreh—unripe green grapes. They also sell pre-marinated kababs, the yogurt drink dough, breads, flower waters, and the coveted saffron, which can be found stored behind the counter. “When I go to Tehran Market, I text all our friends, mostly non-Iranian friends, and I say, ‘I’m at Tehran Market, do you need anything?’ And then I get this whole list.” Besides having all the supplies she needs, Tehran Market grills kababs in their parking lot on Saturday and Sunday. “It’s just the best,” she says. “You can smell the scent of the kababs grilling on the charcoal from blocks away. Get there early. Park on the street. You’re most likely not going to find space in the lot itself, because it gets busy. They grill everything from the classics like koobideh and joojeh kabab—the chicken kabab—to fish, and lots of veggies. It’s to go, but they have a couple of chairs and tables that you could sit at and eat. You’ll get covered in smoke, which I don’t mind. They don’t serve the kababs with rice. They serve it with lavash bread, with a lot of great pickled sides [torshi].” She remarks that Iranians typically go out to eat for kababs but make stews at home. “That’s something you leave up to the pros, to the grillmasters,” she says." - garin pirnia