Karo’s BBQ

My favorite quick, cheap lunch spot! The people who work there are always friendly and smiling. They work their butts off. They are sometimes out there in the freezing cold. I get the small chicken kabob salad without rice, which is enough for me for lunch. I feel more than full after. It’s silly the people saying the portions are small. No human should eat more than their large salad at any one sitting unless that’s the only meal you’re eating in that given day. The chicken has really good flavor and is usually blackened very nicely. Sometimes it is perfect in the center and sometimes it is slightly dry. However, if it wasn’t cooked in advance, then everyone would complain that they had to wait 20 minutes for a salad. You can’t win! Order it with everything (hot peppers, etc.). The creamy dressing is fantastic. I heard it was a secret family recipe!

Unfortunately, the chicken cart has gone significantly downhill. As a loyal 6+ year customer at least 2 times a week, I have to say my visits have dwindled in the last few months. I still get that lunchtime craving every week, and have walked away significantly disappointed most times I’ve had my beloved small dinner. it seems as though the complaints are pretty much the same from the regular crowd. Bigger prices were understandable when the product was still so delicious, but now smaller portions, consistently messed up orders, dry or under cooked chicken, brown lettuce, all make it hard to keep coming back. I hope that someone does read this take the criticism as constructive because we want to return to the long lines and crazy good chicken kabobs we all know & love!!!

Over the last few years, the prices have gone up but the portions have been scaled back quite a bit. The chicken kabob pieces have slowly gotten smaller and the salad has recently been getting smaller. Other co-​workers who were fans have voiced the same opinions.
I can understand reasonable increases in price over time as everyone needs to adjust for inflation or changes in food costs, but I don’t understand the deterioration in portion sizes along with the pretty big jumps in prices. I can only assume there is some connection with the expansion of the business as well; there are multiple carts and locations to manage and staff. Perhaps the increase in competition (ie, food trucks) is having an impact too.
Whatever it is, it is unfortunate because this one-​time go-​to for so many working folks in downtown is now just another food cart. The long lines are no longer there, and the large salads that I love are not worth the $ 8.50 price. The one positive is that their dressing is still delicious, but paying $ 8.50 for a small container of dressing is a little ridiculous, don’t you think?

I ordered the greek salad pita wrap, and all it contained was lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and salad dressing. You can also add peppers, which I chose not to get, and they forgot to add the feta cheese to my wrap. If you’re a vegetarian or looking for a meat free option, I wouldn’t recommend getting this as I found the meal leaving me still hungry. For $ 6, I’d look elsewhere.

Stopped by the Karos BBQ stand for lunch this week and got the Large Dinner. It was a good price at $ 8.50 and the food tasted decent overall. The dinner was about 70% rice, 15% salad and 15% chicken though which was disappointing. I would have liked a much smaller portion of rice and much more chicken that was given. 2 skewers from a nearby food truck is more food and that costs about $ 3.

This place is an excellent lunch option if you are looking for affordable and fast. This particular review is for the location in Copley.
In response to Kevin R., I actually approached to order my meal and the woman (who is always super friendly) was actually cutting a head of iceberg lettuce. So, I’m not sure if the whole lettuce from a bag thing stands.
Onto my review:
I usually just get the rice and kabob combo (#11). It’s $ 6.50, it’s filling, comes with a piece of pita and I enjoy the hot peppers on mine with a little hot sauce. I got the larger dinner, but didn’t really care for the salad (not that it wasn’t good, but I’d rather just rice and kabob). The dressing is also very good, albeit I cannot really pinpoint what it is exactly.

Why has it taken me until now to write a review about the chicken kebob cart? I have visited this cart at least once a week on average for the past five years! Why do I keep coming back? Well, every week, I can count on this lovely family to serve me a tender and flavorful kebob salad, soft pita and the most amazing, addicting dressing with a smile on their face. It’s consistent without any nasty surprises — I appreciate that. It’s also super affordable. $ 6.50, taxes included. I can’t eat at too many places for that amount. So next time you’re in downtown crossing, go get yoursef some kebobs, you’ll be glad you did.

My FAVORITE fast lunch is the chicken kebab salad. So good with extra hot peppers, the dressing is delicious, and it’s filling! Really nice people working as well. They can start running out of things around 2, so get there early! YUM!

Fast, efficient, fresh, and moderately priced for lunch! I got the small dinner but might have been a little bit much, food-​wise, for a lunch.

Get lunch here 2 – 3 times a week, one of the few healthier options in DTX, and very tasty. Also, they have moved around the corner from Winter Street onto Washington Street because Macy’s had them move I guess.

Karo’s BBQ serves amazing comfort food at an incredibly cheap price! I always get the large dinner which is $ 7.00 and I rationalize this splurge because a) it’s two meals in one (lunch and dinner) b) I a get an entire chicken kabob stick, spoonfuls of rice, and a healthy portion of veggies! The tasty cream sauce is on the side so you can put as much as you want and when you want it. The staff are super efficient and what I really appreciate is that the money collector always make sure to never contaminate your food with the hand that touches the money.

I miss my downtown job so much… well, not really but I miss getting lunch here! The lines moves super fast and the price cant be beat for the delicious fresh food. Everyone who works at this push cart is über friendly as well!

Hate to burst the bubble, but the large chicken kabob salad really wasn’t worth the money. At $ 7, it was just a big pile of iceberg lettuce with a smattering of shredded cheese, onions and hot peppers. Even worse, the chicken itself was dry and meager in portion. The small saving grace was the thick, garlicky dressing that made the salad passable. Wouldn’t come back.

Affectionately dubbed «Chicken Lady» by all my friends… I finally feasted upon the kabob concoction this afternoon. DTX is so centrally located and so chalk full of fast, easy places to pick up a meal that the long line often deterred me. After being subjected to some serious peer pressure via Office Messenger at work… I finally caved. I figured… it’s a nice day outside, I’m not so hungry I might end up stopping at the falafel cart as the line passes it… let’s do it.
I ordered the #8 (medium chicken and salad) with everything (hots, onions, feta and tomatoes). Total: $ 6.00.
Verdict: surprisingly fresh and tasty for a food cart. The iceberg lettuce is crispy, the grape tomatoes were plump and ripe, the feta melted on top of the huge chunks of chicken… nom nom. I used the garlic-​crack-​dressing as a dipping sauce (it’s really too thick to be considered «dressing» IMO) and finished the whole thing salad.
Worth the wait — sure. Worth the price — absolutely. Will I be back — most likely!

I worked in Downtown Crossing last summer for an internship and I was like crap i don’t know where to eat. And to be honest I was nervous about eating from a food stand, BUT there was such a huge line EVERY DAY. Then I read reviews so I thought why not.
SOOOO good. The long line moves really fast which is a huge plus. The chicken is perfect, tender, juicy, not dry and overcooked. The salad is basic, but the touch of feta and hot pepers is really good. Then the dressing. OMG YUM. And bread. I live in NC now and I miss this place for lunch. This summer, I’ll be back!

It’s all in the sauce. The chicken along with the dipping sauce is to die for. Although to be honest 5 bucks for 5 pieces on a stick. For lunch it might be cheap compare to around DT but if you think about it, every piece of chicken is 1 dollar.
When i get the chicken i usually bring my own salad. I think they use iceberg as a salad. I like my lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers from home.

I sit in a windowless room, squinting from the bright interrogation light shining upon me. A detective in a rumpled suit slams his fists on the table and smiles at me derisively as he asks,
«So, you’d like me to believe you had nothing to do with the serial killings of these tall, pale men, all wearing black trench coats and featuring severely pointed canine teeth DESPITE Macy’s security cameras showing you at the scene for each crime?»
I begin to protest my innocence again, but then I remember. I had Karo’s Chicken Kabob 3 times last week.
While the kabob salad features tasty grilled chicken, fresh lettuce, sliced red onion and hot peppers (extra for me, thanks), it’s the addictive dressing that keeps me coming back here. Thick, tangy, and enough garlic to murder a vampire from 50 yards away, I can’t get enough of it.
So my obsession with getting my Karo’s dressing fix may have landed me on Death Row. Big deal? Not as long as I get some garlic crack dressing poured over my last meal. Dessert included.

*** Best deal in town!!! ***
For under $ 7, their chicken kabob dinner plate cannot be BEAT! It’s EXTREMELY good! So good, in fact, that I go here at LEAST once a week! I was mad I hadn’t written a review yet!
The chicken kabob plate is the only thing I get and here is why: THE SAUCE. They give you this creamy sauce on the side which is like CRACK, it is so good!!! The chicken is freshly-​cooked and nice and moist. The salad is a nice mix of greens, etc. The rice pilaf is lovely. They give you a HUGE slice of pita bread. And that sauce — it’s SO amazing — it tastes good on ALL of that stuff! I love it — it MAKES the meal. Hands-​down, the best deal in town, and trust me: you will LOVE it!!!

Chicken Kabob rocks because it’s:
Cheap
Flavorful
Friendly service
Healthy
Super quick despite the huge line
Fresh
Close to your office
Lots of free seating nearby
Hopping DT X-​ing lunch atmosphere (including Boston cops)
and
It’s all of these things consistently!
Kabob lady calls you «honey»; Kabob dude cooks mad tasty grub. Hot or cold, rain or shine this is the place to go. ‘Course you could always hit Sebastian’s if you’re down for the opposite of all this awesomeness…

There, before Macy’s in Downtown Crossing, stands a silver cart with a long line of hungry people which moves rather quickly as the three person staff 1) tended to cooking the skewers of chicken kabob, 2) took our orders and put it together, and 2) handed us our orders and handled the money.
I’ve heard great things about Karo’s, and there’s always a long line at lunch time, so I was psyched for the opportunity to try it myself. Got to admit though, I was a little confused by the menu… where’s the basic wrap with meat & veggies? I ended up ordering the first thing on the menu — chicken skewer (chicken & bread) $ 4. I told the lady handling the food that it was my first time. She told me that it comes with salad… it turned out it was inside the wrap, which surprised me, but I appreciated since it makes for easier eating, and was what I was hoping for. Which dressing? I asked her to choose — she gave me a creamy white dressing. Onions and Pepper? Nothing hot please.
Each mouthful was made up of crispy greens and a bite of chicken chunks. A satisfying meal indeed!
Plus — the separation of duties kept the money out of the hands which handled the food.
Minus — I *just* realized that they may have overcharged me… I ordered the $ 4 chicken skewer, my friend the #7 chicken sub $ 5.50, and the menu states that taxes are included, but we were charged $ 11… I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was an accident since the cashier guy was dealing with already wrapped meals, but I’m going to pay attention next time.
5÷22÷09 Edit: I wonder if because I ordered the chicken skewer and bread, and asked about getting salad… maybe I ended up with a different order? A $ 5.50 order? Hmmm…