Best Chicken And Ribs Greek Food

Address: 111 East 2700 South

Telephone: 801-466-8311

Website: places.singleplatform.com/best-chicken-inc

District: South Salt Lake

 

“I am not going anywhere. I will grow old right here.” Azar Farajnedad, a warm, sweet woman sat at one of the small tables inside Best Chicken and Ribs Greek Food, her husband Asghar working just a few feet away in the kitchen they have shared for over two decades. The couple opened their South Salt Lake City restaurant in May 2002, and from the very beginning, the support of their community has never wavered.

Today, Azar and Asghar are still working sixty hours a week, six days a week. Sundays are reserved for their family - for cooking and spending time with their son and two beloved granddaughters. “Every Sunday we go, we cook dinner, we stay the whole day. It is the best day of the week,” Azar smiled.

They never planned to own a restaurant in Utah. The journey began in Tehran, where Azar and Asghar met and eventually married. “He just saw me one day and said he wanted to marry me,” she laughed. After getting engaged, they spent eight months planning their future. But the future in Iran, especially after the Islamic Revolution, felt limited. “There was no freedom,” Azar said, "Especially for women." “No music, no choices. I always told my father, even when I was in high school, that I wanted to come to America. I wanted freedom.”

Asghar had a wholesale seafood business in Iran, selling fish straight from the ocean. But together, they agreed it was time to leave. With the help of Azar's brother in Vienna, they secured visas and arrived in Utah in December 1999. Their son was nine years old at the time.

In Salt Lake City, Azar found work in a university bakery, while Asghar started in a restaurant that specialized in chicken. They learned quickly, adapted, and saved. Just a few years later, in 2002, they opened their own place - Best Chicken and Ribs - in the very location they still occupy today.

“I remember asking the police and fire department to help us when we opened,” Azar said. “We were new. It wasn’t a restaurant before, but they all came. Even the mayor came. They all said, 'We want to see you succeed.' And they never stopped coming. Twenty-two years later in 2025, they are still coming in, many with their next generation.”

There is the police officer who first visited as a rookie and now, some twenty plus years later, is nearing retirement. He still comes in weekly for lunch or picks up dinner on his way home. Azar knows what he likes. She knows what many of her regulars eat without them even placing an order. “I know about 100 customers, exactly what they want,” she said. “They call, and I just say, 'Okay, I know what to do.'”

She shared the story of a customer who was pregnant when the restaurant opened. She always ordered the chicken kebab. “Now her daughter is nineteen,” Azar said. “And she still comes in, still orders the chicken kebab. That is special.”

The menu, just like the people, has remained consistent. “We have not changed the food in twenty-two years,” Azar said. “Only the price.” While the name of the restaurant includes “Greek Food,” the dishes are a blend of Greek, Persian, and Turkish influences. The flavors are simple and delicious: juicy chicken kebabs, ground beef koobideh with rice and grilled tomatoes, gyros served in warm pita with onions and tomatoes, rotisserie ribs, lemon rice, crisp fries. Everything is made fresh. “We do not use frozen chicken. We do not use grease or oil. It is all grilled, all healthy,” she said. “It is food for people who care about what they eat.”

The restaurant has always been busy, from the very first day. “There was a line out the door,” Azar recalled. “And it never stopped.” Saturdays are especially full. Children who once came in with their parents now come in with their own children. “One woman has four sons,” she said. “She came when the oldest was one. Now they all play soccer and golf, and they all come here together.”

Though Azar did not grow up cooking, she learned to love it. “I enjoy it now,” she said. “I love my customers. I appreciate them the same as the first day. It is like cooking for family.”

And while she often jokes that they will grow old behind the counter, Azar means it, too. “We will keep going. Work is important. It keeps me moving. Happy customers - that is the best gift.” Looking around the restaurant, and breathing in the aroma of lemon and spice, Azar continues, “I still love it. I still love Utah. The mountains remind me of home. And this community - they made our dream come true.”