Pita Boss
Pita Boss relocated from an original Mississauga spot over to this space, bringing their signature shawarma with them.
Totally halal-certified, they take shawarma to the next level here by putting it in flame-grilled wraps and on poutine.
The long, narrow space affords lots of seating, though it is a trek to the cash register all the way at the back of the restaurant.
Pita Boss inherited a massive pizza oven from the pizzeria that used to be here, which they use for things like smoking peppers for hot sauce and possibly even making shawarma pizza.
Chicken for shawarma is marinated for 48 hours and stacked by hand onto the rotisserie.
A dehydrated onion, garlic and fennel spice mix is incorporated into pretty much every part of shawarma dishes, infusing them with an extra boost of flavour.
A chicken shawarma wrap ($7.99), like all wraps, is glazed on every side with a roasted garlic and spice baste and toasted over an open flame charcoal grill.
Every wrap is also finished off with a hit of the garlic spice mix powder.
The relatively-typical range of toppings for wraps includes lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber and garlic sauce.
The Final Boss Special wrap ($9.99) adds pineapple, beef bacon and a "meticulously selected mix of specialty spices" to a shawarma wrap for a super-sized sandwich.
Small pineapple chunks are actually relatively subtle, and smoky beef bacon adds a crispy crunch throughout. You definitely need an appetite to finish this one.
Falafel are made from scratch to order here, chickpea-based but with a blend of spices and other ingredients that add a different, earthy twist to the flavour. They're a little small and not as fluffy on the inside as some, but are nicely crispy on the outside.
A falafel dinner ($7.99) comes with sides of lemon garlic rice, hummus and Greek salad, all of which go beyond the expected. Fragrant rice is cooked using a proprietary stock which simmers all day, hummus is silky and garnished nicely with oil and an olive, and Greek salad has a house honey, red wine and raspberry dressing.
The falafel are also drizzled with house hot sauce, garlic sauce, and little bit of another special house sauce with a bold, curry-like flavour.
Fries are all made fresh in house, crispy and lightly seasoned.
They provide the base for shawarma poutine ($8.99), which I'm a little disappointed has a scant amount of shredded mozzarella, rather than cheese curds.
A veggie gravy and lots of finely chopped shawarma meat still provide a rich, chicken-y flavour.
Don't miss out on scratch hot sauce made using scotch bonnet peppers smoked with charcoal in the pizza oven.
Fareen Karim