Kebabalicious

- Location & Hours: 
   2nd St. & Congress Av: Tuesday - Friday: 11 AM - 3 PM
   7th St. & Trinity St: Thursday - Saturday: 9 PM - 3 AM
- Website: www.austinkebab.com / Facebook: Kebabalicious
- Cuisine: Kebabs


Chris and Kristian first met in high school in Houston, Texas.  When they graduated, they went their separate ways but remained close in spirit.  Midway through their first semester of college, they took off for an opportunity to snow board and work at a hotel in Switzerland.  Although they wouldn’t be able to leave work very often, the guys took advantage of the live music scene and subsequently would hit up ‘restaurant 1001’, which was where the Kebabalicious trailer story starts.

Demir, a Turkish entrepreneur in Switzerland is who took Chris under his wing and gave him an opportunity to go into his big facility to learn how to do this style of food.   Chris says, “Without him I wouldn’t know how to do it.  He liked me, but I had to push to open the door and work with 52 turkish guys.  I had to do some smooth talking to get in.  Without that I wouldn’t know how to do any of the sauces.”  Demir started out 20 years prior with a little stand and it took him ten years to expand enough to get out of the trailer.  He is now running a million pounds of beef and lamb per week out of his factory.  Demir told Chris, “I can’t pay you but I like that you want to take this back to Texas.  You can’t ever come back to Switzerland and open a kebab stand – and put me out of business.”

So after their return, Chris was graphic design major and Kristian was a photography major at Texas State University (then known as ‘Southwest’) when they opened their test market in the quad.  Realizing they had a good enough product to impress the masses, they eventually took their trailer to down town Austin.  The official open-date for Kebabalicious as we know it was the week before Halloween in 2006.  Chris says, “We get a lot of Turkish customers that live here in Austin.  The first question they ask is ‘Are you Turkish?’ to them it’s a big deal – an American kid making Turkish food.  I tell them the story and it gives me credibility.  It’s a pretty curious thing for them to see an American owner of a Turkish kebab stand – they are always ok with it, but they are also my biggest critic.”

Each business partner has a rich cultural background, Kristian with a Costa Rican/Guatemalan/Lebanese heritage while Chris grew up with Peruvian/South American/Texan roots.  So the menu is globally inspired from their childhood through their experiences traveling.  Chris says, “Traveling was an eye opener for the both of us - it expanded our horizons with the different cultures, languages and food.  It was a big deal for us at age 20-23 in Europe.  I had the time of my life.”