September 7, 2020

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There are a lot of shawarma joints in Mississauga and the landscape keeps changing. We went to dozens of different shawarma joints and some places put Tupperware-stored chicken in my pita while others used chicken from the spit and then grilled the shavings with seasoning -- the way a good shawarma sandwich/wrap should be made!

My breath will forever smell like garlic due to this research but it was all worth it to give you the top 5 Shawarma joints in Mississauga:



5 - Lazeez Shawarma

Lazeez Shawarma is located in the No Frills plaza at Creditview and Britannia. When I first walked in it was busy, but it's always nice when the person working behind the counter acknowledges you and just says "I will be with you in one minute" with a smile. Needless to say, the service was the best out of all the shawarma joints I went to. The shawarma itself was absolutely delicious. It was sliced off the spit, grilled and seasoned. The toppings were super fresh and the sandwich was a good size. They have great daily specials, so if you head over just look for them.

4 - Osmow’s Grill

With locations all over Mississauga and the expansions coming fast and furious, Osmow’s has created a great process to make a mean shawarma. When you order your shawarma, it is shaved off the spit and grilled for some extra seasoning before going in the pita. They have a pretty cool way of setting up the pita bread, too. It's like they take two pitas and combine them together to give you the super wrap. Origami with pitas! At the end of the day, the chicken shawarma was a perfect balance of seasoning in the meat, fresh toppings and heat.





3 - Shawarnado

If you’re in the mood for something with fierce flavour, look no further than a family-owned Middle Eastern restaurant located just south of Eglinton on Tomken. Shawarnado (which has a great name) sells everything from shawarma wraps and shawarma plates on skillets (only at the restaurant obviously) to salads and desserts. They definitely know how to make a shawarma wrap, which is an art in and of itself. The restaurant packs the pita with the right amount of meat and condiments without allowing the bread to rip and leak sauce all over the place. There will be no holes in your wrap here, which is a huge plus. Shawarnado is definitely one of the best in Mississauga. I wonder how they came up with the name?

2 - Roman Zaman

My visit to Egypt in 2011 wouldn't have been complete without trying a typical shawarma sandwich according to my sister. She took me on a tour of the country and taught me about our heritage and our first stop was to try her favourite shawarma sandwich. It was different from what I was used to in Canada - it was stuffed with french fries, which is very common in Egypt. Since returning to Mississauga, I could only reminisce about that fry stuffed shawarma since there weren't any spots that I knew of doing it that way - until I dined at Roman Zaman. Roman Zaman is a full-service Middle Eastern restaurant which specializes in Damascene cuisine and the restaurant is hidden in a small plaza along Confederation Rd. and Central Pkwy. The space is captivating from the moment you step into the restaurant. The shawarma sandwich is served in a sandwich bun with large pieces of chicken shawarma, french fries and authentic garlic sauce. It is extremely flavourful and I could have probably eaten two of them but instead, I saved room to try other dishes on their expansive menu.

1 - Original Shawarma

You will never be without options for shawarma joints in Mississauga, that’s for sure! Without a doubt we all have our favorites that it might be difficult to even think about trying yet another shawarma joint.



However, as unoriginal the name of this new joint is, it is far from it. Original Shawarma should be on your list to try, especially the Lamb Saj which has just a few key ingredients (garlic sauce, pickles, onions, tomato, and pomegranate molasses), and it really is all you need. The balance of ingredients plays up the lamb’s flavour without overdoing it, and the pomegranate molasses is a unique, or shall I say original, touch to the shawarma. Saj bread is a thin, round, and unleavened flat bread that takes this shawarma to the next level of flavour, along with their garlic sauce, which is so good, that I can eat it on anything. They also offer their shawarma’s on your typical pita bread, on a bun, on rice, and on fries.



Located at the corner of Burnhamthorpe and Wolfdale Road, it took over the Pizza Hut’s dining room, which downsized to a take-out only location.



Original Shawarma is the most flavourful shawarma I have ever had this side of the Atlantic and they have everything from chicken, lamb and veal that is shaved off the spit to order.