Jerusalem Shawarma Downtown — Restaurant in Calgary

I don't know where to start. I'm so disappointed. So utterly disappointed with the food, the food quality, the experience, 😕.

We've heard about this place for a long time...The Halal Guys... finally, we made time to try it. Hey, at least I can say I've tried it and can give my 2 cents if I'm ever asked...

We ordered a wrap and a platter. One with chicken and one with beef gyro. They come with standard lettuce and tomato, choice of sauce (white, hot or barbecue) and your choice of jalapeno, olives, onions and green pepper. The platter also comes with a couple slices of pita, and rice. We opted for tomato, onions and jalapeno for the wrap and olives, tomato, onion, jalapeno for the platter. We also ordered a side of fries and a fountain drink.

There were a few things incorrect with the order, despite them getting the order correct in the system (I'll attach my receipt for your reference). I understand mistakes can be made but this, unfortunately was quite drastic.

We received the chicken wrap, with the toppings suggested. One thing I'd point out is that the toppings aren't added on-top of the meat, but rather beside, so you get a few mouthfuls of just white onion--no thank you. The chicken is frozen chicken breast, seasoned with what tastes like a lot of salt and pepper, cooked on the flat top. I've had similar chicken at a stadium once, that was to compete with the masses...not what I expected here at this restaurant. I should have been tipped off when I noticed no meat on the spits. It isn't worth $13.00. Not the size, nor the taste. I'm sorry.

The regular platter was $17.00 and also was not worth it. The biggest issue here is that there was green pepper spread throughout (the ingredient we were trying to avoid) and it had very little onion and no olives. The gyro, like the chicken, was over salted and just mediocre. The rice was quite plain, despite its bright colour and the veggies were just veggies... But the wrong ones, so I expect to be sick tomorrow.

The fries were good. They were fried fresh, so that's a plus. They were salted and ketchup was provided on the side. The portion however was not very good at all for $5 fries. I understand things are costly now... however we're talking about crinkle cut fries, which I should think there would be more in the order. The tray was sparse.

The fountain drink was good...it was cold, and just the right amount of fizz and syrup. There was a nice selection too.

It's a nicely decorated place with a fun cartoon on the wall, a really neat manhole cover inside and an easy to read menu.

Folks working there were good. I was greeted with a "hello" when I got there and my order was eventually taken --I think they were busy with fulfilling an online order, so I'm not going to say much except they could say "I'll be right with you" or something like that.

Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be dining at The Halal Guys again, especially not with the chicken being cooked up that way. For the price we paid, we expect better. If tipping was customary after the meal, I don't think I would have tipped. We of course provided some sort of tip before the meal, as you pay ahead.

Thanks for reading and I hope something can be gained from this. I detest giving 1 stars but I don't know what else to do here.

Parking: street parking...if you go at the right time, it...

The Halal Guys: A Flavourless Disaster - A Culinary Catastrophe Unveiled

Entering the restaurant, I immediately saw 2 red flags being waved by satan himself. The restaurant was completely empty, no workers in sight, and there was no meat on the skewers. Immediately, a wave of uneasiness flowed through me. I placed my order for a small platter, costing me a whopping $18.64. I accepted the charge, hoping the world renowned taste of their food would make up for it. After waiting a substantial period of time, my food was finally ready. While I was expecting my “chicken” platter to be mainly chicken and rice, I was so mistakenly wrong. Half of my entire platter was lettuce. I grabbed my fork and ate some of the chicken. I was heavily disappointed. The red flag from when I first entered the restaurant climbed out of hell and came back to haunt me. Those empty skewers that were supposed to be full of chicken were empty, meaning that my chicken was not fresh in the slightest; the taste completely exemplified the stale state that the chicken was left in before it was served. But perhaps the chicken wasn’t the worst attraction in this amusement park of fire. After digging through my chicken, I was completely repulsed to see that my rice was thoroughly orange. The grains that have been used to feed civilisations through a millennia, utterly desecrated. Their taste was even worse, completely dry and stale, just like the chicken which could have well been the burnt flesh of sinners in hell. The rice was as hard as a rock and when I bit a few grains of it, I had actually thought that a piece of my tooth had chipped off and that I was chewing it. I would spit out this unknown alloy thinking I had just permanently damaged my teeth, but I would just see a little grain, orange from the flames of satan’s temple. I tried continuing my plate, but my body just couldn’t. I threw away the platter, hoping that it would return to the underworld for which it came from. I left Halal Guys turned into a man who was filled with food prepared by Lucifer. While you’re not necessarily allowed to give a rating of zero when giving a critique of something, satan doesn’t play by the rules, so neither...

This is my first visit to Jerusalem Shawarma, and I couldn't be more impressed. I really like King of Donair, so I had plans to go in for a donair, but after asking the difference between shawarma and donair meat, it was explained to me that donair is basically like ground beef while the shawarma is homemade. I found the flavor to be very different and honestly just as good or better than meat (and I love donairs and donair pizza). The flavor was very different almost like a roast beef with delicious seasonings and sauces, plus fresh hummus and veggies and great sweet sauce. I actually asked them to cut it in two so I could eat half there and take half home, and I'm glad I did because the jumbo is a huge portion. The atmosphere is great, it's in a brand new space that looks right out onto the street, has bright menus an open kitchen, and while I was looking at the menu and drinking a glass of the water pitcher they left out for customers a staff member offered me a glass of tea. I'm not sure if some of the people were owners but I will say that all of the staff really cared if the business was successful. That's what really puts it over the top the people were great here. Very nice very helpful, I'm very happy and friendly. Thanks to everyone that was working tonight at around 9:30. And I'm going to thank you again right now because I just finished off my delicious jumbo beef shawarma. I really appreciate everything and I'll definitely be back. Sorry I didn't take a picture but, I took bites of both halves before I could take a picture. 🤣 I'll try harder next time, it was just too delicious to worry about...