Zankou Sauce Now Factory Made?
Monday, April 23, 2007 18:38I’m not making allegations here, and I don’t know anything more than what I have observed on my last two trips to Zankou, but there has been a major shift in the way they package their legendary garlic sauce.
I am not sure when the change occurred. Admittedly I hadn’t been to Zankou in a while. Previously, the garlic sauce came in a little plastic container that looked like it was hand made and scooped (seen here). Now, I’m not sure what hand made is and if it really matters. It did have that small-chain feel though, and not like a mass produced condiment.
Fast forward to this year, early March. We place our order, a couple different chicken combos. Some white meat (bleh, why bother) and some dark meat (tasty flavor and texture!) As usual, the wait is short and we start to leave and make sure that they didn’t forget the garlic sauce. The woman behind the counter reaches down and tosses two containers quickly in to our bag. I don’t think twice.
At home I unload our goods. Where’s the sauce? What’s this foil covered container? Is that mayonnaise? There’s definitely something white in there and garlic sauce is white, but this looks so prepackaged, so corporate, so un-Zankou. I take a closer look (and a picture). Using the skills I learned from Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I know what needs to be done next.
I peel back the foil. Staring back at me is a perfect dollop of garlic sauce. It looks like it could have come out of one of Pinkberry’s pristine yogurt dispensers. This is all very strange, it seems overly produced, it’s the Justin Timberlake of garlic sauce.
Is there a secret factory churning out Zankou’s garlic sauce? Is Zankou going to be marketing their sauce elsewhere, in supermarkets, convenience stores and other Armenian chicken houses?
Why the foil lid? How old is this sauce that I’m eating? There’s no Born on Date. Does any of this really matter? According to my taste test, the sauce is as good as ever. Perhaps I’m making this out more sinister than it is, I’m sure that there is no conspiracy here. The foil capped sauce container is just a bit at odds with the low key, casual style I am used to at Zankou.
By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.
Evan says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I noticed this the last time I went to the Anaheim location…odd, isn’t it?
Eddie Lin says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Whatever happened to the Grateful Dead of garlic sauce? Eff you, Zankou!
ceenee says:
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
we just ordered Zankou tonight from the Sunset location… good old-fashioned scooped garlic sauce there!
Pat Saperstein says:
April 24th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Well, it’s a pretty big chain now, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they’re centralizing or updating some of their packaging. I guess the main thing is whether it tastes the same. But as CeeNee said above, I hadn’t noticed the change at the original Sunset location.
MaxMillion says:
April 24th, 2007 at 10:56 am
But did it taste different, Jonah?
Sarah says:
April 24th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
I am totally addicted to that stuff. To me, it tastes just as good as before.
Stephanie says:
April 24th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I think it’s as good as ever! I noticed they were doing that late last year at the Burbank location. It would make sense to have it done automatically vs. by hand. Since it’s served with every meal, that has got to get pretty pricy for labor.
tim k says:
April 24th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
My understanding is that the various locations are all owned and operated by different members of the family which explains why they are all such different experiences nowadays (the West LA one for example). Maybe the pre-packaged sauce ones all have a common owner?
Jonah says:
April 24th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
As far as I could tell, it tastes pretty much the same. It did seem a little bit more liquidous, but not much. Maybe the sauce dries out more without the foil seal.
This was at the West LA location, which is one of the newer spots. Not sure if that makes a difference.
There’s six locations total? I’m not sure if that qualifies as a pretty big chain, Chicken Dijon has six locations and they don’t vacu-pack their garlic sauce.
I agree that it’s a needlessly laborious task and I don’t think it has an effect on quality. My curiosity is whether they are planning on distributing the sauce outside of their restaurants.
Here’s a nickle’s worth of free advice, mail order the sauce for LA transplants who need their fix.
thranduil says:
April 25th, 2007 at 3:50 am
I also went in March to the West LA branch and got the foil wrapped version - tasted just the same as the old one. I agree - they’d make a fortune selling it mail order.
MaxMillion says:
April 25th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Has anyone ever tried to make it? Isn’t it just crushed garlic pureed with cooked potato? Maybe a bit of salt…
Suzy says:
April 25th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I think the garlic sauce in the foil package tastes the same AND you get more in the container—yum!!
KT says:
April 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
For MaxMillion:
Zankou Garlic Sauce - Mystery Solved
MaxMillion says:
April 25th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Far out! THANKS KT!!
Rex says:
April 26th, 2007 at 7:39 am
It’s actually better to have the vacuum container because it gives you more sauce than before and you don’t have to worry about the containers popping open.
cookie jill says:
April 30th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
OK…that’s just sacreligious.
Chubbypanda says:
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Shenanigans! Shenanigans, I say!
Oishii Eats says:
May 3rd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
The garlic is still made fresh at the Hollywood location. I love the stuff. I just want to smother that garlic all over my body.
Shewolf68 says:
August 17th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Yeah…I went to the Van Nuys joint yesterday and they put in like 8 of these containers. Considering how much goes out te window…I’t probably good biz sense to make it in monster batches but I’m sure the recipe has been modified because the sauce is now basically white when prior to this…it was always translucent..either way…Zankou is still good eats inthe SFV!!!
I have to say that I was glad they finally have toubouleh there now.
I still want to know what is this stuff made of??? Garlic and Crisco???? WHATTTTTT??????!!!!!!