The Schwarma Co — Restaurant in Gauteng

#Delatedpost

We recently went back to The Schwarma Company after a very long time. This time, we sat down to eat and were given a seat upstairs.

The service that day was definitely not on par. We ordered 3 coffees. 2 arrived, and more than 15 minutes later, we were still waiting on the other one, which I walked to our waitress to cancel. The upstairs was reasonably busy, but some tables were open. We decided we would still order, a friend told me about the ribs so I decided why not, and then we ordered a schwarma and a wrap. We placed the orders, yet you still have to go downstairs to pick the items you want on your food. I'm not sure why there isn't a list given to ask the patrons to tick off what they want on it, to make it easier than standing in a queue with people buying takeaways?

Anyhow that was done and our food arrived a while later. I have to compliment the ribs. Even though a bit fatty, the meat was tender and easily fell off the bone. The chips needed some spice. The other food was also OK, but they were not wowed as how everyone talks about the place.

When I asked our waitress (forgot her name), she said the system wasn't working. Hence, they had to keep going down stairs to place orders, and that's where the hold up was. But then tell us, don't just disappear, let us know there is a system glitch so we can understand better why everything was so slow. A friend of mine also mentioned that the service has been a bit slack lately, and he is a firm lover of this place.

We ordered a takeaway hot beef on rye, which was apparently tasty, with sufficient meat on the sandwich. So that was another tick as a positive.

They do sell other items in the shop. We didn't even order Baklava as the experience was a little disappointing.

Will try again some other...

I ordered a haloumi lafa and chips today. I have a severe allergy to sesame, and I am aware that this is an ingredient used in middle Eastern food. I checked with the staff at Schwarma Co. if they could make my order without sesame, and they assured me that they could. I have eaten at other Middle Eastern restaurants before, and they have always catered to this request or advised me if they are unsure. On this occasion, however, I had a near life-threatening allergic reaction. When my wife called the restaurant to advise them of what transpired and asked them to check the ingredients again, the manager was rude,right from the outset and blamed us for bad judgement essentially told us not to eat there again. The manager has no sense of courtesy, which would be a great trait to have in this kind of business. Instead, all he thought about was his own "backside" and proceeded to deflect blame on me, the customer. On rare previous occasions where I have had an allergic reaction at a restaurant, the management prioritized my well-being and focused on being helpful rather than projecting blame. Perhaps something you can consider Schwarma Co. given that you are in the hostility, sorry, hospitality business. All I did was ask you to verify the ingredients so that I could learn if I might have a reaction to a new allergen. All you did was tell me how wrong I was. Really....get a personality Schwarma Co, learn some courtesy and regard for people. This is not the middle east where behaving like a brut might be the social norm. Look around you and try...

I've been visiting The Schwarma Company pretty much since opening day and even though it is a fair bit out of my way, I go as often as I can. Top Mediterranean food prepared freshly in full view of diners. The owner is always around, knows his customers and always makes time to say "Hi" and find out how one is. He leads an excellent team of chefs and waitrons, who clearly enjoy hands on training and I'm assuming get well looked after, because I haven't noticed any major staff turnover! Deserves 10 stars! It is always full and the take out counter equally busy. They also have products on sale such as bottled Humus, Tahina etc., and will make up take away's of fresh products from the wide array of salads, sauces and "add-ons". A great range of meals on the menu AND will cater for your variations, should you have any! I would recommend TSC to any and everyone who enjoys this sort of quisine and want a nice atmosphere. There is parking in the street, but Norwood's main drag, Grant Avenue (where they are situated), is a very popular restaurant scene and as one of Johannesburg's older suburbs, the infrastructure has not been able to keep up with the added vehicular demands, so one could drive around a bit if Street parking is one's thing, however there is paid parking with excellent security, behind the restaurant, shared with a couple of other businesses (The iconic Norwood Spar, being the main tenant), - useful if one needs to grab some groceries at the same time. There is also a Woollies...