Shawarma Empire

The reviews speak for itself! My boyfriend and I wanted to find a food schwarma place since we haven’t been to a decent place in awhile. Came across this one on Unilocal and so far all the best eats are in scarb! It was definitely in the grundgier part of Scarb with a plaza full of middle eastern stores. It’s a quick sit down restaurant owned by a family. After taking the first bite I could taste the love that they put into cooking their food. We ordered a chicken schwarma plate and everything was made fresh especially the chicken. It was flavourful and tender. The rice that they served was middle eastern rice with some mixed beans. It was unique and tasty! And not to mention the price was pretty cheap for a plate it was about $ 8 where most other places would charge minimum $ 10! They also have a special: 2 schwarma sandwiched for $ 8. Now thats a deal!
While we were there one if the workers accidentally dropped a pop can on the floor and it burst everywhere and got some pop on my boyfriend’s clothes but they immediately apologized and made sure to take care of the mess right away.
Truly great service and delicious food. A hidden gem worth trying if you are in the area!

If you like a good shawarma, you will love Shawarma Empire.
This is another Scarborough gem. The food is plentiful, tasty and very affordable.
Lines are long, but good things come to those who wait.
This place is all about the food. If you want atmosphere this is not the place.
Enjoy!

Right in my hood I had passed this place a dozen times but the parking lot was full and I was just lazy to stop and fight for a spot. However I ventured out a few days ago right after they opened to try them out. First, even though they just opened there was already quite a few people ahead of me. Not an issue because they have enough staff to handle it and they are fast.
A small place with about 4 – 5 tables to sit I would say this is more of a takeout kinda place. You can get plates for about $ 8.00 -$ 9.00 or the sandwiches for just under $ 5 (chicken or beef or mixed for either the sandwich or the plate). There are a multitude of toppings and you get get it spicy if you wish.
I ordered the chicken sandwich and it was STUFFED with big and juicy pieces of chicken that were wonderfully seasoned and since I asked for spicy it was just that! Definitely can’t go wrong with the price point!
I also ordered the mixed (chicken/​beef) plate — comes with salad, rice (lentils/​rice) and hummus. It was delicious although I wish they were a tinier bit generous with the rice because I love rice.
You can get sides — I saw tabbouleh salad for example, but I didn’t get any sides and they have combo deals with a side/​pop.
They only take cash so keep that in mind and since this place is located in a strip plaza (get your adult needs next door! haha) the parking can be crazy. But if you can put up with crazy for a bit you will be rewarding.
Definitely coming back!

Great shawarma. Love the bread they use. Generous portions of meat.
The thicker pita ensures the shawarma doesn’t disintegrate.
Both the beef and chicken shawarma are excellent

Overall — 4.0÷5.0
My go-​to joint for shawarma cravings and it never fails to impress me. Great value and consistently tasty. The desserts are also a hidden gem.

Shawarma sandwiches still amazing here, stuffed and fresh. $ 4.65 each or 2 for $ 8.00 choice of chicken, beef or mixed.

You know when everybody double-​parks to eat at a place that it’s probably good. The best shawarma I’ve had in the city. My wife raves about the made to order falafel.
There’s no shortage of shawarma in the city, but we drive 20 mins and line up to eat here.

Back off! get your own…
Hard to beat this spot for taste. Their hot sauce is home made and magical. This would get 5 stars if it had slightly better decore and maybe even something better than a floppy paper plate to eat off of…
But dont get me wrong, the shawarma is first class. I much prefer the pocket style they do over the wraps that some other places use.

These Unilocal Reviews do not lie. I would like to thank my fellow Unilocalers for such amazing reviews and recommendations for this amazing Schrawma place. Parking was busy on a Friday night in the Plaza but it is worth fighting for a spot.
I ordered the beef ad chicken plate which came with Salad, Rice, and Salad all for $ 7.99 which is a Steal of a deal and they gave me huge portions. I was beyond Full and the food was delicious. You can tell that they put Love in everything that they do here and the staff is extremely nice to their customers.
There are a TON of other places you could go to around here but this place is the best and the reviews do not lie. I will definitely be coming back for more Plates!

If there’s one thing in this area of town that you can find everywhere it’s shawarma. A lot of them good, some of them bad but this place never fails to satisfy.
The pita are rather small so it’s typical to order two even if they’re filled to bursting with the salad. In fact that’s one of the options on the menu. There’s two things to expect however, there’s going to be a line at all hours of the day. It doesn’t matter when you go there, there’s going to be a line sometimes out the door. This is a good thing as it means they’re serving something people like. The other thing is the parking is congested and often times it’s hard to find a place to park. You might have to wait a bit for parking.
Once inside however service is surprisingly fast. They do shawarma, falafel and other plates but most of the people come in for the shawarma and it’s obvious why. The chicken and beef usually have a nice browned edge to them giving a nice texture and flavor boost. I typically order it spicy even if it’s not that hot.
Whereas a lot of places you only go when you’re close, this place is oftentimes worth a bit of an extra drive.

Cash only. Be prepared.
And…ummmmm… did they just put caramelized onions in the shawarma plate? Yes they did!!! *yuummm
Just $ 9 for a shawarma plate. The chicken is well seasoned and has nice and crispy edges.
As for the restaurant itself, it is mostly walk in and narrow. Has some seating.

Everybody should Taste their good shawarma.
I could say best shawarma place in this area.
Always busy line up. this shows how people satisfy with their service!

Kind of hard to find as its located in a small plaza, but its mostly because I’m direction blind and get lost easily.
I went during the lunch hour and it was busy… really busy. However they move fast and efficiently so I did not have to wait long to get my order. One thing I notice about restaurant is how the staff changes when the restaurant gets too busy. They’ll lose their cool and the air gets kind of thick with pressure to get the orders completed. As I got my order they thanked me with a huge smile that caught me by surprise and I noticed how well they treated each customer. It’s rare to find that in a small shawarma place.
The food is cheap, I mean 2 Shawarmas for $ 7? Can’t go wrong with that. I got the chicken schawarma, spicy, with everything, but the platters looked great as well. Each bite had a good amount of meat and veggies in it as I believe thats why they layer meat at the bottom and at the top after the veggies. The chicken was juicy and had crispy pieces that added crunch and flavour.
Overall a great place would be my go to place for shawarma in mid/​uptown.

One of the beat shawerma in Ontario. … it’s really amazing different.. I would recommend it to everyone.
It’s not expensive! And really fullin.
Keep it up guys

Holy schnikeys! This is probably the best shawarma I’ve ever had! I got 2 chicken shawarmas for $ 7 + taxes… personal suggestion would be to try «chicken with everything with hot sauce.» Tried one with white sauce as well — it was a nice alternative but ultimately, the shawarma with hot sauce was better. The balance of flavours is just amazing and the first bite was heavenly!
2 shawarmas is a very solid lunch, but they have salad and soup options if you are not up to the challenge.
Highly recommended and nice/​friendly customer service to boot.
Will be back to try the falafel and tabbouleh… and soups in the fall!

Without a shadow of a doubt… The best Falafel I’ve ever had in Toronto. Unbelievably good.
Another well kept secret is their desserts! Homemade by the owner’s wife. Exquisite.

I’ve been coming here for the past six or seven years at least, and since the first time I had it, it’s been the best shawarma place I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to quite a number of shawarma places, including most of them ones on Lawrence in the surrounding neighborhood. They renovated a few years ago, and the renovation really helps the place look considerably less dingy. It’s quite welcoming now. I like that. Their prices haven’t changed in years, which I really like as well.
Soup ($ 2? $ 2.50?) — Today’s was lentil. I’m not a fan of lentil soup, but this was not bad. It was quite creamy, although obviously legume. It also tasted slightly of cumin, which was interesting.
Humus ($ 2.99) — For $ 2.99, I was expecting more hummus. That being said, their hummus is one I actually quite enjoy. The takeout version was served with a few pieces of pickled beet and a generous portion of fresh parsley. It isn’t served with pita though.
Chicken Shawarma plate ($ 6.99) — I’ve had both their beef and their chicken shawarma. Their beef is hit and miss. Today’s wasn’t super dry, but it wasn’t juicy the way their chicken consistently is. Their beef also doesn’t have the same crispy bits their chicken does. The plate comes with rice, salad, hummus, pita and either chicken or beef shawarma. One pita comes with every meal, and it’s cut in half. I like to scoop everything else (including the rice) into my pita and make my own shawarma in a pita. There’s a reason for this, which I’ll get to in a bit. The rice has onions and some kind of legume in it. It’s really tasty. They skimped on the portions today though. That was kinda sad. The salad has beets, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, onions and some other things I’m forgetting to name. Fresh stuff. Very tasty. I’ve mentioned their hummus above. They drizzle olive oil on it and it makes the hummus that much better. I ask them to cover my entire plate in tahina. Mmm.
I don’t get the 2 shawarma wraps for $ 6.99 because I prefer having the rest of my plate to eat after I finish my one handmade shawarma wrap, and there’s considerably more left over in my plate after I stuff my one handmade shawrama wrap silly than there would be if I got the 2 shawarma wraps.
Today was grandpa’s first time having shawarma. Even before eating it, he took a look at the shawarma and said, «You know what? I’m pretty sure that’s going to taste good.» He was right.

If not the best sharwarma in Toronto, it ties with that from Arz close by. Though the line can be long, it moves fairly quickly and make sure you have coin because it’s cash only. I prefer my shawarma fully loaded and so should you!

In an ugly strip mall area, a nice place to eat.
I was in the area and I quickly Unilocaled the best spot to eat and found Shawarma Empire.
Definitely lived up to it’s name. The popularity kept a constant flow of clients. I didn’t see the short line die down at all. They are quick to serve, so the wait wasn’t much. Maybe seven minutes.
The Shawarma’s were delicious. I am now a big fan of the chicken… Can’t go wrong with cheap and tasty… oh and healthy :)
I would have given this place four stars but the tables needed wiping down. It wasn’t a comfortable place to dine in. I grabbed my shawarma’s and ate them outside on the curb…

Upgrading to full 5-​star honors.
Having learned from experience that I prefer the chicken over the beef, I went for 2 chicken today, both with extra white sauce, and one with hot. I can conclude that the one with hot is the way to go. There is just such a good balance of everything in this pocket of goodness, and having tried out some competition since my last review (fuzz box, Ibrahim’s), I can say with authority that empire is tops in this town in this category.