Ibrahim Halal B.B.Q. Shawarma — Restaurant in Toronto

Visited Ibrahim after a long time, first stopped at sumaq across the street since i was recommended this place however as I went to sumaq and noticed the brother sharpening the knife over and over but never wiped it clean before cutting the meat, after not being received well despite providing positive feedback I left and went to Ibrahim I guess it was my worst luck because while inside speaking to the kind brother in the glasses the one who I said hello to outside came and started cutting the shawarma but wait before he did that he was ofcourse sharpening his knife and I said oh God here we go again I hope he wipes but nope he sharpened and started immediately cutting the meat, this was all while I was just speaking to the brother with the glasses about my experience I just had across the street, he was kind about it told me his boss told him it's best practice to wipe the knife after sharpening and change of gloves after every 4 orders, the brother went to the back promised me a clean knife and as he was being kind and positive about it I decided I would eat but wait it didn't end there I heard the brother speak to the one cutting the meat, he hands the knife and guess what the brother started sharpening again and without wiping right in front of me started cutting meat again I asked the brother in the glasses I'm like brother we just spoke about this and his response to me was he doesn't speak English I'm like brother you can explain to the brother in Arabic as you did but after that I felt terrible and just decided i would not eat there with all due respect to the kind brother with glasses making the orders. If you're gonna eat at shawarma places Locally in that area know that Sumaq, Empire and also Ibrahim now are confirmed knife sharpeners who don't wipe clean their knives before cutting meat and that is just unclean and not right they know it but apparently being so busy they lose track but it wasn't busy when I went in but it may be small thing for others but to witness that at these locations its not right for us the customer and despite Ibrahim being the only one to receive my kind feedback positively the practice continued in front of me and due to that...

!!BE AWARE OF LITERALLY GETTING ROBBED IN THAT PLACE AND YOUR POCKETS EMPTIED BY THIS EMPLOYEE!! The place is usually good and I hate giving bad reviews, but today was an experience I've never had in any country I traveled to. I went today to buy two wraps and a plate to change the downtown seen a bit. I gave one of the female Asian looking worker a $100 and paid $5 in change. A gentleman I've never seen before, wearing glasses and seems a little on the darker side Middle Eastern (a little on the bigger body weight side), gave me back the $100 after I already paid. He told me the bill was fake and started taking money from my pockets. I had a $125 in cash and told him no problem as I pulled out my debit card to pay. After that I noticed he actually took from me an extra $20. I told him, yet he kept arguing. I personally spare myself the headache in general and ignore. Rather than argue, I gave him an extra $5 tips for the workers and told him it's for the girls. This place is usually good and their food is fantastic, but they definitely lost a loyal customer who came all the way from downtown to eat their food and they lost my customers too. I always promoted them to all my clients and friends. It's very disappointing that I felt unsafe at a restaurant in Canada. I waited in the car and took his picture. Never bother dealing with him if you're ever there. He is absolutely rude. Watch for your pockets getting robbed in bright daylight and you can't do anything about it. Note: even before entering the store he screamed loud 4 people at a time only, yet when a girl passed ahead in the queue, he didn't bother telling her anything and the total now became 5 people at a time. He also came speed walking towards the cash and without even looking at the note properly, he screamed it's fake. Maybe he has a vendetta against someone who looks like me with the mask on. To be fair, I'm going to the bank and check if the bill is indeed fake or not. You'll see me give you an update.

Update: the bank said it was real. They replaced it with 20s for me too. I think he just treats people...

I dont know if this place has new owners now but I dont recognize the new faces here anymore. The quality of the vegetables gotten better but I do agree with the rest of the folks here doing their reviews - you'd think they would have already by now improve on their hygiene with the glove thing 😕. On top of that I could sense that there was favoritism going on (basically your staff is a little racist). When I came in I did not get served for like 15-20mins ( nobody was in the restaurant but a man eating his food.) Then the lady comes out and says give to her a moment as she is cleaning her station- which i did patiently. But why is that the lady quickly responds to the guy sitting down already eating, butts infront speaks to her in Arabic and offers him service for another round of food? At the same time an African-American steps in line behind me and we're both still waiting to get served (felt like another 15 mins or so). Then there is a guy that comes out from the back and the lady finally serves me. A family walks in and then the guy from the back acknowledges the family but ignores the man behind me. What is that? What was funny is the that the man behind me even called them out on it. So do I have to speak Arabic to get served 🤔? I'm Asian but I think I got better service still with the other old staff. There's a senior staff member I would always see working like a dog ( even with a leg he limps on) would always be polite and say hi - hes even Arabic too. Oh and I even think the owner was there in the back - I see him delegating work for the guy. Obviously, they're speaking in Arabic amongst each other making the two non Arabic customers feel uncomfortable 😐 😕...