Shawarma Joint — Restaurant in Champaign

I've eaten from Shawarma Joint 10 times, which is a lot considering they just opened in Spring 2021. Those first 9 times were great! I got the same thing each time --- falafel wrap. On the 10th time, I got mildly sick from it. My partner also got sick from their wrap as well, and had similar symptoms/sensations. It was a "I need to vomit" feeling just below the sternum. Lasted about an hour and then passed. But I threw out the other half of the wrap. We tried to think about what it could be? Not keeping foods to the right temp? The dressings/sauces? Not sure. I hope they figure it out! I've seen only one other review mention something like this, but in that review they also mentioned their friends experienced this sick feeling from eating the food as well. My partner said he had Shawarma Joint earlier in the week, and had similar but worse illness, but thought it was just him, not the food. So, something's going on with the food if it's affecting a lot of people, and people more than once. I really want this place to succeed, so I hope they figure out...

This place is one of the best places on Green St hands down. It's a bit chaotic inside since they seem to still be finding their groove at handling a lot of customers but that's to be expected from a new business. The food is so great that I am willing to overlook all of that.

I got the steak bowl with the spicy rice (which isn't really spicy but has a well-seasoned smokey taste to it). I really enjoyed adding their garlic and tahini sauce to my bowl as it added a lot of taste. I haven't had much exposure to authentic Middle Eastern food before but I would say it's a yummier fresher version of Naf Naf Grill (a middle eastern chain in Chicago) as they both have the "Chipotle-like" menu option of picking your toppings down the line. If I had to be just a tad bit picky, I would wish you could get more toppings on your bowl since all the options look delicious but I guess I'll have to try more of them in...

The joint has a good number of clients on a Sunday lunch hour. We ordered 4 different items, and the spicy chicken sharwama was not in the least spicy. The bread is more like a Indian chapati and when toasted twice laminates with the paper wrap. The shrak bread or pita that other sharwama eatery uses goes well with the filling, just not this one. It is chewy and rubbery when it gets cold.

The combination of Jerusalem salad as topping probably contributed to the tasteless nature of the wrap along with other toppings like sumac onions. Even with the spicy sauce, it was not even at 0 in a 0 to 10 scale. The taste of chicken did not come through nor the Baba ghanoush. The fries with the beef sharwama were good; otherwise, most of the ordered food were half eaten. The price is reasonable, but the management must do something about taste, especially if they are to call something spicy when it is not the...