Cowboys and Turbans: Yippiyay for the naanwich

A very filling chicken naanwich is $7 including spinach, salad or masala fries.

Perhaps Cowboys & Turbans will be the spot to break the curse on the little restaurant space adjacent to the El Rey Theater. If you ate at Electric Lotus in its first two years back in the '90s or later at Electric Karma on Third, you'll recognize C&T owner Baba, who sold both of those restaurants after launching them to focus on his catering and music businesses (he worked with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and other artists).
Cowboys & Turbans is a more modest spot, offering a compact menu of chicken or tofu naanwiches, chicken or tofu tikka masala, dal with spinach, tandoori tacos and chicken skewers and quesadillas. We walked over from the office to try the chicken naanwich, which is basically what happens when you're eating Indian food and load your chicken tikka masala and basmati rice onto a naan and then fold it up like a sandwich. The tikka masala sauce was very tangy and spicy -- maybe even too much for some people but perfect for me. The spinach was also pleasantly zingy. The naan got a bit soggy on the walk back to the office, and the addition of rice made it a little too filling, since I don't normally like rice in my burritos, either. But this food had plenty of flavor, and Laura's masala fries, which were skinny fries sprinkled with a little curry and paired with curryish tomato sauce, were pretty tasty too. Baba's latest venture is just the spot for a quick lunch or dinner whether you work in this restaurant-challenged stretch of Wilshire neighborhood or are catching a show at the El Rey.
Tip: Ask for lettuce instead of rice on the naanwich; get the naan separately for to-go orders.

Cowboys & Turbans
5515 Wilshire Blvd.
323-936-7070 (free delivery)