Aram's, Petaluma - still very good

I stopped for lunch today at Aram's, a long-time quite good and casual Armenian and Mediterranean cafe in Petaluma. I had the lamb Shawarma, which is a special on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It was as good as I remember it from their open-then-closed additional place in a Petaluma shopping center. $7.95 ala carte. Don't forget to ask for the red pepper sauce to go with it. I ordered it to refresh my memory of it to make sure I wasn't too harsh in my opinion of the Shawarma at the new Falafel Hut in downtown San Rafael which I will write about in a separate post.

Aram's
131 Kentucky St.
Petalums
707-865-9775

[rworange]

Thanks for the update ... Petaluma ... in today's heat ... Yikes.

You know that the Rotisserie is closed (sob).

[Melanie Wong]

Actually, Petaluma is one of the cooler spots in Sonoma County, due to the Petaluma gap. Not warm enough to grow wine grapes there except in a few areas. Although not today, was 104 degrees on 101 when I passed through this afternoon.

[josquared]

Oh, darn, the rotisserie's closed? Sheesh - that bites! :( I guess the previous mention asking about the chicken makes more sense now.

Yeah, downtown Petaluma wasn't that bad, at least compared to some of the other places I actually got out of the car the rest of the day.

[josquared]

Stopped by here this afternoon (nice to get out of that 100+ degree weather for sure) and had the Armenian Plate, which comes with boureg, dolmas, red potato salad, and the Aram Sandwich (essentially a wrap with your choice of salmon, turkey, and I forget the third choice along with cream cheese, tomato, and lettuce.)

The boureg was my favorite - light and crispy philo with a slightly tangy cheese filling; I took little bites of the boureg throughout my lunch, but it seemed to keep it's warmth my entire time there. The dolmas and red potato salad were also solid. The sandwich was simply okay, though I did like how the lavash bread exterior was nicely browned and crispy.

Definitely a contrast in interiors compared to the modern-strip mall interior that makes up the sister Rotisserie location - this place had old wooden floors (I was trying to figure out what the staple-shaped black marks on the floor were) and brick walls make it a nice, cozy place for hanging out or escaping the summer heat for an hour or so.

Thanks for posting, Mick. Did you notice if the rotisserie chicken is ever offered as a special?

I don't remember it being a special today, and I don't know how I'd know if it would be offered other days...