The Garlic King — Restaurant in Ottawa

Really unimpressed with your customer service :( I drive here today out of my way to order because I heard it was amazing compared to your local downtown shawarma fast foods. Not the case!

First the staff was an older man who couldn’t tell a joke if tried. He made everyone in line uncomfortable with his joking. I explained it was my first time there and heard it was good, he was very arrogant with his response about the quality of the food. After tasting it I have to say it’s not as good as Prince Gourmet restaurants (even the ones that changed to private owned locations).

Second,The food was kinda cold but warm enough to ruin your salad by the time you get home (10mins). I was made fun of for the side I ordered (falafel), being told that is a weird choice. I was sternly told that if I get any side of sauce or whatever in a wee little container it will cost me more, (1.43$ I think) unless it’s in the box mixed on top of your food. When paying you feel obligated to tip using the POS-machine as it gives options of how you want to tip (I find that soooo tacky) when home the food is a mess because it’s all mixed together, they charge you for containers! So you can’t separate your foods unless you pay more. Note: no other pace does this.

Third issue is that the portion size was super small compared to what I am use to for the price I paid and the pitas are whole so if I wanna make a sandwich with leftovers I can.

Now I have confronted the regular customers who recommended this place to me about the older male employee that was working today who can’t tell a joke and I’ve been told this guy makes everyone uncomfortable, especially the women. In fact most of the “wife’s/women/mom’s” wait in the car while their man goes in to order. I’m writing this in hopes that the owner can be informed, he clearly has not been made aware.

Note: please do not respond with hate. I’m just pointing out areas you could improve. I would enjoy coming back but not sure I will if the response is ridiculous like other responses you have made here to valid constructive...

As I approached the location, I spotted the Garlic King van in the parking lot sporting a flat tire - and that really set the tone for the visit. As I walked in, I was surprised that there were no customers in the restaurant on a Saturday night… never a good sign.

I ordered a beef shawarma wrap, a chicken shawarma wrap, and an order of garlic potatoes. The meat for both wraps was so dry that it was actually hard to swallow. I imagine because it had been sitting there for a long time without any customers coming in.

The wrap preparation was worrisome. None of the staff wore gloves, at least one person went from the cash to food. Nice. The person making my wrap was super friendly, but she clearly didn’t know how to wrap pita. As the wraps were being prepared, the manager (?), who I guess was involved in training (??), made sarcastic comments about the employee’s ability to prepare the food. Kinda awkward.

Upon eating my food, I have to say the wraps were…..OK (great garlic sauce and crispy veggies)……. even though one of them totally fell apart and both were as dry as the Sahara desert. But the garlic potatoes, in particular, were horrible - borderline slimy.

Overall, hard pass on this place. If you do find yourself here, go another 200ft and you’ll be at a McDonald’s where you’ll pay less money for better food. I wanted to like this place (because the royalty thing is too funny), but as it stands, more emphasis needs to be on the food quality than...

My boyfriend and I went there the day before yesterday and the food gave us food poisoning in ways i much rather not share ( imagine the worst...). Aside from our major concern for our health, the customer service was also questionable. We felt pressured to make an order quick, and to pay before we even got to see our food being assembled ( which i didnt care at the time but found it strange, is it usually the other way around in shawarma places? ). The cashier was helpful in providing us menus, but we were not permittted the time or space to think through what we wanted to eat without getting pressured and pulled by every direction between him and the owner. Aha ordering the food was unresonably stressful! Once we got our food (steak beef and chicken family platter), the steak beef and chicken was dry and some bits where even hard, which come to think of it now must of indicated that it was sitting there for awhile. The potatoes were white, not cooked and appeared like they were soaking in water or something.( ewie!) Moreover, I was really shocked and confused when the owner was rude to me by saying " i'm doing great thank you for asking" in a smug tone when i was just being patient WHILE my boyfriend was ordering the food with the cashier. Very strange experience. I am a great supporter of privatedly owned business but i felt a responsibility to share my unusual experience. Thought i'd give you guys a heads up! Please, take care of your...