“Cuisine for the curious” – GastrobotEats is nestled in a mini strip mall in mid-city. It’s a place that you could only dream about in the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area. It really is Mediterranean fare at its finest. Delicious healthy food right at your fingertips. It’s a very thought-out brand with lots of innovative concepts. With this family affair of brother and sister all hailing from Istanbul, Turkey, they wanted to bring their family recipes to a larger market.
They started one of their brands Sumac in San Francisco, in just the perfect neighborhood. The word caught on and now their new destination is just as good if not better, because it is housing all 3 brands, Sumac – Modern Street Food, Saucy Greens, and Soupchu. Sumac offers modern street food with Mediterranean roots and Californian twists. Rich with unforgettable flavors, their rice bowls, wraps, and salads will be quick to transport you to the breezy Aegean coastline. Their menu is inspired by favorite Mediterranean street flavors with the added twist of the healthy food culture of sunny California. Their wraps, bowls, and salads are created not only to satisfy your hunger, but to let you have an unforgettable flavor experience. They offer different options for all kinds of foodies, including gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan dieters. Saucy Greens is a new-style salad shop offering unique green bowls, that stand out with their homemade sauces, which are lovingly crafted from scratch each morning for a full, fresh flavor. Soupchu cooks’ soups and stews. Timeless family recipes are reimagined with new ingredients, offering a comforting selection that includes gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan options.
Here’s What I Tried:
Sides:
Muhammara, with roasted red peppers, pureed with almond flour, and pomegranate molasses.
Carrot Labneh, with sauteed carrot, labneh, parsley, and Allepo Peppers.
Tabouli, with bulgur, green onion, curly parsley, tomato, cucumber, and pomegranate.
Babaganoush with roasted eggplant, roasted red pepper, and parsley.
Cacik, (Tzatziki), with Labneh, Persian cucumber, dried mint, and fresh dill.
Each side dip was unique with all having completely different flavor profiles, a truly fantastic way to start my Mediterranean food journey.
Soup:
Homemade Beef Bone Marrow Broth Soup, (Beyran soup). with slow-cooked pulled beef, rice, and Aleppo pepper. Owner Hazer Ozcan showed me the very large beef bone that is roasted to be able to get the marrow out to add to the soup. These bones are boiled for 12 hours to get all the marvelous meaty bone broth flavor.
Chicken Bone Broth Soup, house-made chicken broth, couscous, carrot, celery, lemon, and fresh dill. These bones are boiled for more than 8 hours to bring out this rich decadent broth. This recipe is created by sister Hazet, who studied culinary arts up in San Francisco and is helping to run their restaurant there in San Francisco.
Red Lentil Soup, blended carrot, onion, and potato with caramelized onion with sesame seed and paprika. This is a very comforting soup with a unique subtle flavor, for sure a keeper.
Green Lentil Soup Carrot, celery, and hand-cut pasta with parsley and Aleppo pepper. A much heartier soup that has lots of delicious veggies, just like my grandmother used to make.
Tomato and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Tomato soup with shredded mozzarella cheese. A very light flavorful soup, with deep rich tomato and pepper flavors, just terrific.
Salads:
Grilled Salmon Salad, with grilled salmon with spring mix, pickled beets, romaine, cucumber, red cabbage salad, radish, and a slice of lemon. The salmon is served warm, and it just melts in your mouth, a salad I would order every time.
Lentil Mental Salad, with herb labneh spread, red lentil balls, crispy onion, tabouli, pickled red cabbage, pomegranate (seasonal) on organic kale and romaine blend with sumac vinaigrette. The red lentil balls are everything to me, one of my favorite menu items here at GastrobotEats.
Bowls:
Falafel Rice Bowl, falafels over muhammara, cucumber, pickled onion, and red cabbage salad, served with basmati rice with fresh dill. Comes with herbed labneh sauce on the side. It’s very difficult to make a great falafel ball, but they really nailed it, nice flavors with a just the right number of seasonings’, a must try.
Butcher’s Meatballs Rice Bowl, with roasted ground lamb and beef shoulder balls, warm chickpea salad with red pepper, and served with basmati rice. The meatballs themselves are reason enough to order this dish, they are meaty with subtle flavors, and the chickpea salad, gives this dish some nice protein additions.
Grilled Chicken Rice Bowl, with marinated organic chicken thighs, roasted seasonal veggies of zucchini, and red pepper, onions. served with basmati rice, with fresh dill. Everyone loves grilled chicken, and this menu item does not disappoint, its tender and moist, and the lovely vegetables, are just what the doctor ordered.
Dessert:
Baklava, delicious rich and buttery Turkish Baklava filled with ground pistachios. Mine was made super special by pairing it with lovely pistachio ice cream and all heated, yum!
This location has lots of diverse customers with many nearby offices to be able to facilitate lunchtime goodies. It also came with a 17’ hood for their stove, that enables many of their recipes to be cooked in a proper way. Also, Hazer lives super close by, so he can be there whenever he is needed.
Hazer Ozcan was so kind, he really delivered on all his great menu items. He chooses to run this business in Los Angeles because his other endeavor is acting. He has studied acting in San Francisco and considers himself to be the real deal. With his movie star looks, I think he really could go the distance. He kind of reminds me of a young Robert De Niro. He studied the Meisner Technique and has many credits on his IMDB page. Aside from all of that with his wonderful people skills and hardworking persona really resonates with his customers, and is the face of his Los Angeles branded restaurant. He is doing a really good job.
During the pandemic their Sumac location in San Francisco weathered the storm by providing many delivery, and togo orders of there sumptuous Turkish street food. Pretty much everywhere in the US, if you were in the restaurant business at that time, then in order to stay afloat, you had to pivot. Sumac did just that and prospered. This area of San Francisco is one of the most charming neighborhoods, and to have this wonderful gem of a restaurant right down the street made them very popular, as well as doing lots of catering. Opening a Los Angeles location was a no brainer, especially having Hazer run this business. The food is spectacular, it is clean, and fresh, and very well thought out. Their family Turkish recipes are very well represented. Their packaging is fun and innovative, using all recyclable paper to-go products. And then their name in Los Angeles, GastrobotEats. It’s a fun name that caters to young and old, and to everyone that knows how technology has reinvented the food industry.
What can I say, if you’re craving meticulously creative Turkish, or Mediterranean cuisine, then give GastrobotEats a try. Like me, you will be so glad that you did.
“Creators of culinary cravings crafted for the curious and caring.”
GastrobotEats
1096 Union Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 307-6141
GastrobotEats
5168 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Ángeles, CA 90036
(310) 361-6809
INSTAGRAM
@sumac.sf
Hours – Everyday
11am — 10pm
Note Some Content was taken off of their website.
