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In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Citizen is rolling out one fact each day for 150 days until July 1, highlighting the odd, the fascinating and the important bits of Ottawa history you might not know about.

Ottawans and shawarma share a long — and delicious — love affair. The city now counts dozens of restaurants serving the garlicky, shaved meat wraps, but its first shawarma shop was reportedly Maroush, a former Elgin Street eatery (in the spot now inhabited by El Camino) that hosted wild after-parties for bar-goers in search of late-night Lebanese fare.

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— Patrick Butler