Zaatar Factory: A savory Lebanese journey to Burbank

 Khachapuri comes in egg, cheese, potato and sausage combos, and is cooked to order.

Over here at Eating LA, I mostly leave cupcakes, donuts and brownies to other bloggers. But give me a good loaf of French bread or a spicy cheese-stuffed burek, and I start to get a lot more intrigued. The one-year old Zaatar Factory in Burbank is one of many excellent Lebanese or Armenian bakeries in L.A. baking burek stuffed with spinach or cheese, meat-topped lahmajune and sweet tahini bread and cookies. The small cheese burek ($10 for about a dozen) would be perfect party hors d'oeuvres. But the friendly bakery has a wider selection than many, adding meat or potato-stuffed burek in a half-moon shaped turnover and freshly-made khachapuri.
Unfortunately I was in a bit of a rush, because the real attraction at Zaatar Factory is the khachapuri, sort of a Lebanese pizza-like breakfast bread, with eggs, cheese or sausage topping a foccacia-like base. The bakery is to-go only, so you can take it home and reheat, or just scarf it down in the car. They take about 15 minutes to make, so call ahead or browse in the tiny but well-stocked Lebanese market next door, which also serves grilled meat sandwiches.
The maneishe bread is topped with the bakery's namesake zaatar mix of marjoram, sesame seeds, thyme and oregano. This one is half zaatar, half pepper sauce, and it's dynamite if you take it home and top with a little feta or mozzarella and melt it in the toaster oven.

Zaatar Factory

2909 N. Glenoaks Blvd.

Burbank

(818) 859-7353