Best Food Near Ballston, Arlington VA

Ballston is one of Arlington County's most active urban neighborhoods, centered on the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and N. Glebe Road in the heart of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. The neighborhood is anchored by Ballston Quarter, a mixed-use development that combines retail, dining, entertainment, and residential towers. The Ballston Metro station provides Orange and Silver line service, making the neighborhood a transit hub for commuters across Northern Virginia and into Washington, D.C.

The dining scene around Ballston Quarter reflects its role as a high-traffic urban center. National chains, fast-casual concepts, and bar-and-grill formats dominate the restaurant landscape. Variety exists, but most of it operates within a narrow band: prepared ingredients, standardized recipes, and volume-oriented service. What is notably absent from the immediate Ballston area is a dedicated Mediterranean and Middle Eastern kitchen that operates with proper technique -- shawarma cooked on a vertical rotisserie rather than a flat grill, falafel formed from raw chickpea batter and fried to order, manaeesh and meat pies baked in a working stone oven, and halal certification covering the full menu without exception.

Taza Shawarma & Falafel fills that position. Located at 5820 Seminary Road (Ellery Square) in Falls Church, Virginia, the restaurant is approximately 4.5 miles south of Ballston. The most direct route follows N. Glebe Road (Route 120) south from Ballston, crossing Arlington Boulevard (Route 50) and continuing to Route 7 South (Leesburg Pike). From Route 7, turn left onto Seminary Road. Taza is on the right at the Ellery Square shopping center with free parking. The drive takes about ten minutes in normal traffic.

The centerpiece of Taza's kitchen is the vertical rotisserie. Chicken and beef are marinated overnight -- a minimum of twelve hours -- in yogurt, fresh lemon juice, and a seven-spice blend that includes cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, coriander, and cumin. The marinated meat is stacked in tight layers on the vertical spit with ribbons of fat between each layer. As the spit rotates against open flame, the exterior develops a caramelized crust while the fat renders downward, basting everything beneath it. When you order, the meat is carved directly off the spit into your pita, shrak wrap, or bowl. Nothing sits in a warming tray.

Beyond shawarma, the menu spans falafel (hand-formed from chickpeas, herbs, and spices, fried to order), stone-oven manaeesh (za'atar, cheese, spinach, and lahm bil ajin), specialty pies starting at $2.95 each, creamy hummus and smoky fire-roasted baba ghanouj, fresh-blended smoothies and juices, and traditional Lebanese desserts -- baklava with crushed pistachios in rose-water honey syrup, and rice pudding perfumed with cinnamon. Every item is halal certified, every ingredient is prepared the same day, and every piece of pita comes out of the oven fresh.

For Ballston residents and office workers, the connection via Glebe Road makes Taza a practical option for lunch, dinner, or late-night meals. The route is direct with no highway ramps required -- just surface roads south through residential Arlington to Route 7. Delivery through DoorDash and Uber Eats extends Taza's reach directly into Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon, Cherrydale, and all surrounding Arlington neighborhoods. Orders typically arrive within 25-35 minutes.

Pricing at Taza stands out against the Ballston dining market. A Chicken Shawarma Pita is from $9.95. A full Chicken Shawarma Bowl is from $12.45. Za'atar Manaeesh from the stone oven is $6.95. Specialty pies are $2.95 each. These are not token portions -- they are full-sized, made-to-order items from a kitchen with a vertical rotisserie, a stone oven, and a commitment to preparing everything fresh that day. Open from 11 AM to midnight, seven days a week.