By Amy Reisner
Two individuals greeted me from behind the glass sneeze guard—“Welcome to Verts!” they practically exclaimed in unison. Two things I gleaned from this. One—their boss was in the building, and two—they were still learning how to pronounce the full name of the German fast-casual restaurant as well, which in turn made me feel more at ease not knowing how to pronounce it either.
If fast-casual dining establishments—as so many are referenced these days—are trending toward mass production line ordering, then VertsKebap is spot on. However, each new entry into the “choose your base, protein, veggie and sauce combo” market has to have their niche. Lest they suffer the fate of their less fortunate brethren who couldn’t quite figure out how to stuff a [insert food type here] into a [insert roll/ pita/tortilla/wrap/bun here] and make customers enjoy it.
Back to its niche—along the wall at Verts you’ll immediately notice the roasting jacks, which are vertical rotisseries cooking meat evenly as they turn. Stacking the beef, lamb and chicken on each jack, an employee thinly slices the meats and then inserts the pile into or onto your choice of Kebap (bread), wrap (tortilla) or salad (spring mix). Also available as a protein: veggie patties and falafel. Next, you choose which veggies you’d like to add such as red cabbage, cucumber, corn or even jalapeno. The house, garlic and spicy red sauces are yogurt-based, but they also offer vinaigrette. Grilled veggies and Feta cheese—normally served at an upcharge— were offered free of charge the day I visited.
I chose the Kebap—originating in Turkey—which is partially leavened pide bread, grilled to order—like a Panini sandwich would be. My Kebap was filled with beef and red cabbage, grilled veggies and garlic sauce. (Although it looked and smelled delicious, I decided to dine at my office, so I would be delaying my gratification.)
VertsKebap draws inspiration from a number of cultures when it comes to its flavors and cooking styles. Despite the Kebap’s Turkish origination, it goes by many other monikers, and it quickly proliferated around the globe. However, the
VertsKebap founders brought what they were used to finding in their home country of Germany—the döner kebap—to the states.
Verts also offers local craft beer on tap, because who wouldn’t want beer with their Kebap? And who wouldn’t enjoy made its way to Southlake, and I was happy to try it out. a happy hour? I will tell you who, Austonians—which is where the original VertsKebap hails from. Another Austin favorite has made its way to Southlake.
VERTSKEBAP
2310 W Southlake Blvd., Ste. 100 Southlake
512.800.8194
VertsKebap.com