Nidal’s Shawarma King — Restaurant in Kalamazoo

I WANT TO LIVE THIS PLACE, but they make it difficult. They have great food, but it's difficult to order when they always have some excuse for not answering phone. I physically saw them ignore it and then take it off the hook after it stopped ringing, never having answered the caller.

Two nights ago, their phone was "busy" from 9:05 pm until I arrived at 9:25. It was off the hook.

Last night, I called 5 times. The first three calls were unanswered, and finally it went to a fax, the next two gave me a busy signal. I asked about it when I arrived. Their answer is that they quit taking phone orders at 9:30 pm (and that's when I placed my first call). I would suggest an answering machine message that informs the caller that they've reached the right number, but phone orders aren't accepted after 9:30, yet they are open until 10, and people are more than welcome to come in and order at the counter. What if the call was for a lunch catering opportunity the next day or an emergency room trying to reach a person who worked there? There's endless possibilities of missed opportunities, and the unprofessionalism is unfathomable to me. Anything would be better than endless ringing or busy signals, which are very confusing to the clientele, who don't even know they've got the correct phone number.

I arrived at 9:40, and the atmosphere of chairs on tables and mopping at the door prompted me to ask if I could still order. After a pause and a glance at the time, I was told yes, but I definitely wasn't welcomed. They close at 10. I've worked in restaurants, and I'm sure they want to lock the door at 10 and walk out, but clients should never feel or see this, but should feel welcomed. Period. And then if there's an issue, clients should be gently, lightly informed (with levity) of the restaurant's internal "rules" so everybody gets along in the end without any negativity.

Both nights, had I been able to place order by phone (both small, easy-to-prepare orders), I wouldn't have had to then hang around with the staff all gathered hanging out at the counter because it was the only place I wouldn't have been in the way of the mopping that was overwhelmingly unpleasant smelling, for however long it took for then to complete the order, and their kitchen would have had one less "late" order and could have been even closer to being out the door at 10. If they had answered the phone like a functional business open to the public, and explained their rules and told me that while they're open until 10, they don't allow any orders after 9:40 and that they can't (don't) take phone orders after 9:30, then I'd have been a much happier and could abide by this as could any other consumer, and everybody'd be on the same page, whether or not in agreement about the practice. Many restaurants go to a limited menu toward the end of the night to ease closing. A late night menu could be an option to satisfy all, and allow customers to order those easy things after 9:30. There possibility after possibility for how the situation could be handled professionally, keeping their rules behind the scenes and customers happy at the same time.

As I said, they do have really good food, but the less than ideal experiences, one right after the other, left a lasting negative impression. I spent almost $20 on a meal for just myself last night, which included a sandwich, fatoush (which was old, soggy, and only partially edible), and babaganoush. While a bit expensive, I'm not opposed to paying for good food, but overall, paying $20 for a $2 experience combined with the previous night's frustrations, all-in-all, it's been disappointing to say the least, especially when it's related to a local business I'd like to frequent...

I’ve eaten a lot of shawarma in my day from NYC to PDX to Dublin to London. I had high hopes and and open mind for my first Shawarma King experience and sadly it did not deliver.

I ordered the chicken shawarma wrap as is. It was so oily and bland. The pickles were just plain cucumbers— no other picked veg I’d expect like onions or peppers. It seemingly was spiceless, which is the opposite of what I want from shawarma! The sauce (garlic) was extremely oily and had no detectable garlic taste to it— it was oily and had no depth of any flavor. I’d expect shawarma to come with both garlic (white) and pepper (red) sauces, and the garlic sauce was extra and maybe they don’t have pepper sauce??

The bread it was wrapped in was tasty with a good texture and chew. But the meat was greasy and flavourless as if there was no seasoning on it at all.

The salad was also pretty sad. Extremely oily with a hint of mint (the only real spice I detected in the experience).

The baba ghanouj was very yummy. I slathered it on every bite of the shawarma to choke it down.

Maybe I ordered wrong? I’d be willing to give SK another try as a dine in next time. But sheesh. This was bad.

Shawarma King- I’m sad to write a bad review, but please give we the people of Kalamazoo SPICE and depth of flavour! This is what we want from Lebanese food. Give...

Amazingly delicious food!! The resturant is cozy and inviting. When we arrived we were greated at the door by the friendly staff and seated right away. They have an extensive menu of shawarma plates, sandwich wraps, salads, small plates, and appitizers. For drinks we ordered the mint lemonade and King tea. The mint lemonade was refreshing and sweet. The king tea is absolutely fantastic and came with free refills. We ordered several appitizers to try including the samosas, fried eggplant, falafel, grape leaves, fatoush salad, and pita with garlic. Every thing came out fast and was delicious. We also ordered the chicken shawarma plate with rice to share. The chicken breast was moist and well seasoned. It was the best shawarma I have ever had. The rice was buttery and delicious. We ordered one of each of the baklava. Everything was so good we ordered more to take out and eat later, and came back the next day for lunch. For lunch we tried the shawarma wraps. I ordered the shawalfel; a sandwich wrap with chicken, beef, and falafel with hommous, tabbouli, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles. Basically the works. It was fantastic. So amazingly good, you have to try it. I can't wait to go back to K-zoo just...