Shawarma Stop — Restaurant in Houston

Both times I came here I called and asked if they had hummus (for dipping) and pita bread and they said yes. I went there and got falafel wraps which were good and hummus but when I got home-no pita to eat with the hummus. Then about a year later my roommate who is from Jordan wanted late night Arabic food so I told him about this place. I said i really want humus and pita though if we gonna eat that. I said maybe the pita being left out last time was a mistake. So we called again. I asked him in English he said yes they have, then Jawad asked in Arabic and they said that yes they have. So we drove there, and by now the food truck had moved locations. When we got there, I told the guy I wanted falafel wrap, and on the side pita with hummus. Jawad told him also in Arabic. Before we left we double checked with the guy that there was pita for the hummus this time and he said no. Jawad asked can we have pita please, and can you believe the guy just handed us an open package of pita bread with unheated pita just like you would buy in a grocery store ○_○ ....Are you kidding me? If i wanted it like that i would have run to Kroger or Randalls grocery store which are open till 1am and got it in a package. Then when we get home and get a closer look, i see no hummus on side at all this time...basically they put the hummus inside the wrap with falafel. I don't know what I would have to do to get them to make something so simple that literally every other Mediterranean restaurant I have ever been to always does. I know enough about this food to know this is a typical side dish. And I've worked at this style of food restaurants on the past. I give up..for now..Unless someone convinces me to go there with them, I won't go on my own because I really like hummus and pita side dish-unless maybe one day I would go alone for just their falafel wrap which on a plus note-the falafel wrap I had the first was good, which is why 2 stars instead of 1. Also my roommate liked their food so that is good. All in all, this place is might be ok if you don't want hummus and pita, and are okay with a possible lack of order comprehension even when speaking the same language (Arabic). And remember to try the...

Arrived at 11:36am on a Thursday to grab some lunch.

Ordered: #21, Arabic beef schwarma plate, comes with fries and cole slaw - came out to exactly $10 with tax.

Food:

1. The fries have a unique seasoning (I won't try to infer what was used), but they were pretty oversalted.
2. Cole slaw was well balanced. It's not drowned in whatever sweet, mayonnaise-like dressing that most American cole slaw is. Glad I didn't sub it out.
3. Schwarma was also good - meat had good flavor. Some vegetables were pickled, but not overly sour, so it contrasted well. They toasted/crisped the outer (pita?) layer perfectly. I enjoyed it a lot with the spicy garlic sauce I asked for.

Service: The cashier guy (I guess he helps run the place or co-owns it?) was really nice. Quite extroverted, is very generous with recommendations and suggestions on sauces and sides (I somehow received 3 garlic sauces that doesn't normally come with my order, 2 of them spicy). Gave a very personable farewell as we took our order to go.

Pricing: It's quite a decent amount of food. I can really put away a lot of food, and this had me breathing a little heavy towards the end, and it was just a medium. $10 for a to-go box of food that could split into two meals sounds great to me.

Ambience: Can't really comment on this since it is inside of a gas station, and most patrons just order their food to go through the drive-thru. They had two tables that can sit four each comfortably, and what looks to be some sort of bar table with bar stools they kind of attached to the side of their counter. There's space to sit, but not a...

Not authentic or good.

Sorry for the short feedback, I believe in giving people a chance to improve.

We drove from Austin directly to this place because it was recommended to us by a friend.

The restaurant is clean, workers are professional and nice. 5*.

The food though didn't taste fresh, the chicken tasted old and bland, and unfortunately didn't live up to the hype, maybe I had big expectations.

We ordered 6 sandwiches, we ate 3, and just threw out the rest. We like to order extra so we can munch on the left overs later or next day, it didn't taste fresh right off of the skewer, (can't actually confirm that it did actually come off the skewer because I waited outside), I don't want to think about how it would taste later or the day after.

We were really disappointed especially that there are plenty of other options that we could've tried around Houston.

To the owner: TBH - I don't know if will be able to try it again, since as mentioned, there are plenty of other options to try, but since I believe in giving restaurants a chance to improve, and since you seemed to care about feedback, I will try it again so I can change my review. We are back in Austin but will visit the next time we go to Houston. What are you going to do to improve? Did you have a bad batch? Looking forward to...