Lazeez Shawarma — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

I visited the 10909 Yonge St, (Yonge and Elgin Mills Location) in Richmond Hill and was looking forward to what is advertised as a healthy salad. I asked for a chicken shawarma Salad with no onion or sauce. What I received was a Donair full or onions and Sauce. When I informed them I had asked for Chicken Shawarma they quickly acknowledged this was Donair. I then agreed and asked them for what I ordered and they simply open the package and put Chicken and Sauce and Onions on top of the Donair. I really believe the employee was not aware but rather not properly trained. I emailed head office I was promptly told by Navleen that the franchisee manager would be contacting me. I found this strange as I thought it he head office would appreciate the feedback for future Quality control but I never received a response from Navleen from head office or the franchise manager after I followed up by email several times. The Web page indicates the founders story begins with the universal passion for great taste each having different and unique stories, backgrounds and personalities, found a strong connection over their common love for great tasting Middle Eastern food and vision to share the cuisine that they loved so much.

My experience was far from that from both the franchise and head office. I would invite the founders or upper management to the many family operated restaurants in the Richmond Hill community to have an understand or what might have been once, but no longer is. It's a shame that another beautiful story of success for a Canadian franchises quality will be destroyed by ill Quality control measures for there food and franchisees for the sake of profit.

Highly disappointed

August 27 2024- As an update to this original post responded to the owner as posted and still await a call...

I tried this place for the first time since it opened and ordered a chicken shawarma wrap. The pita bread they were using seemed to be of a low grade or quality as it kept breaking on them. The server threw out the first one as it crumbled in her had, than as she filled the next slice of pita bread and began folding it, it also broke on her and had to throw it out as well. A male server saw what was happening, and grabbed another slice of pita bread and began stuffing another sandwich, as he was folding it, it slightly broke, but he supported it with the white wrapping paper and put it on the grill.

You only need to put it on the grill for about 2-3 minutes, but it was now approaching close to 5 minutes and I was worried the bread would harden and break further since it was already a low grade. When I told the male server about my concern, he didn't seem to understand or know this would happen. He removed it, and luckily it was just at the threshold before it would harden. It broke on me a little as I tried to eat, but I was able to get through it. The sandwich was okay, the chicken was sliced so small , that it was like eating minced chicken. You couldn't really taste the flavour of the chicken shavings a typical shawarma sandwich typically offers. I didn't really enjoy the sandwich, and the low grade pita bread they are using didn't leave me...

I’m honestly shocked this place is still in business. The food here was terrible. The shawarma was dry, flavorless, and tasted like it had been sitting around for way too long. The sauces were bland, and the portions were ridiculously small for what they charge. I’ve had better meals from a microwave.

And as bad as the food was, the service was somehow worse. The staff clearly didn’t care about their jobs or the customers. They were rude, inattentive, and acted like it was a burden to even take an order. I had to wait way too long just to get someone’s attention, and when I finally did, they couldn’t have been more indifferent.

The place itself? Absolutely filthy. The floors were sticky, the tables hadn’t been cleaned in who knows how long, and the kitchen looked straight-up unsanitary. I wouldn’t be surprised if this place is violating multiple health codes. It was so gross, I couldn’t even finish my meal without wondering what was going on behind the scenes.

Bottom line: terrible food, horrible service, and dirty conditions. Save yourself the disappointment and go somewhere else. This place isn’t...