Shah's Halal Food - Providence — Restaurant in Providence

I was craving a gyro and wondered if Andrea's had reopened, but sadly it had not. To my surprise I found Shah's Halal Food directly across the street serving gyros so I decided to give it a try (despite the crazy loud rap blasting from speakers outside its doors) I almost turned right around after entering... I felt like I entered the gates of hell with the neon orange and red-orange paint covering everything. But I was hungry so I ordered a lamb gyro with some veggies and a watery yoghert sauce on top (they offered beans and BBQ sauce and all kinds of odd selections but I declined). I immediately regretted my selection. The tiny pieces of lamb were completely tasteless and overcooked. I'm not even sure it was lamb. The watery yoghurt sauce was also tasteless. The grilled bread was not bad so I ate that until I could not take the blaring music any longer. It's beyond me how this place even survives. Shah's Halal Food is...

I've been here a few times now and I'm confident saying it's a new favorite. Think Chipotle but for halal food.

Food is unique and flavorful. You can get it to a solid spiciness level with the sauces. I appreciate all the nice fresh veggies too. I've had the chicken and lamb, and both are great. Despite my initial worry that we didn't need yet another middle eastern restaurant on Thayer, Shah's is really doing something different from the other guys, appealing to a younger audience.

Price is extremely reasonable for the portion. Dinner under $15 bucks, easy.

Service is good, staff are attentive and friendly.

Ambiance is fine and very clean- some not decoration wouldn't kill them but it's not distracting.

Overall, give it a try, ...

Went to pick up and had a to wait a little bit, which was fine. While I was waiting I asked for a cup of ice, as I wanted to put it in the water in my water bottle. The girl at the counter looked confused and said “We don’t do that here.” Fine, I get it. Was surprised she didn’t at least charge a small fee, but whatever. The problem is when I finally took my food and went to eat there was NO CHEESE on the chicken CHEESE steak I ordered. This made the sandwich dry. I had a side of fries which they gave a lot of and were hot, but no ketchup. The bag was stapled so I wasn’t able to check until I sat down and ate. Instructions when making my food is a big deal for me....