Like many hungry Valley-ites at dinnertime, The Sauce sometimes goes Googling for goodies. This time, the search was on for great local restaurants in any category that had so far escaped my attention. North Hollywood's Hayat’s Kitchen and its reportedly glorious garlic fries seemed like the place to taste.

But where was it? The address led to a North Hollywood strip mall at the northwest corner of Burbank Boulevard and Vineland Avenue dominated by a Fatburger and kitty-corner across the street from that scary neon clown sign for Circus Liquors. Like many businesses found on the internet, I decided Hayat’s Kitchen must have closed months before I arrived.

If you pass the scary clown heading east on Burbank Bouelvard, you've gone too far.

I was wrong. If you get as far as Fatburger, please, please get out of your car. In the back corner of this little mall you will find Hayat’s, surrounded by a burst of greenery and charming, tented outdoor seating. Inside you will find no-nonsense décor, friendly-family atmosphere, lusciously juicy kabobs and skewered lamb chops, and those addictive fries.

There are many other tasty specialties, and little cigar-shaped baklava is served in lieu of after-dinner mints. But keeping things all in the family, owner Daniel Shatila’s uncle Mohammed recently opened M. Shatila Sweets next door, with indoor tables for those who like to focus on dessert instead of the main course.

M. Shatila Sweets

11009 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, 818-761-4656 (website currently unavailable)