A first look at a Levantine menu can be a lot: pita or shrak, bowl or wrap, manaeesh or pie, and a row of sauces and toppings with Arabic names. This guide walks through ten dishes on the menu at Taza Shawarma & Falafel, 5820 Seminary Rd Ste O in Falls Church, with what is in each one, the menu price, and where it comes from in Levantine cooking. Prices are the starting prices listed on our menu; check the online menu for the current price before you order.
1. Chicken Shawarma Pita (from $9.95)
This is the dish most people mean when they say shawarma. Marinated chicken is stacked on a vertical spit and roasted as it turns, so the outer layer browns and crisps while the meat underneath stays juicy. At Taza each order is carved off the spit and tucked into a warm pita with garlic sauce, pickled turnips, fresh vegetables, and a drizzle of tahini. The pickled turnips matter more than they look: their sharp, slightly sweet bite cuts through the richness of the chicken and the garlic sauce. If you only order one thing on your first visit, start here.
The pairing of chicken shawarma with garlic sauce is a Lebanese and Syrian convention. Beef shawarma is traditionally served with tahini, and chicken with the white garlic sauce Lebanese cooks call toum. Many shops, including ours, let you have both, which is how a lot of people end up ordering it.
2. Beef Shawarma Shrak (from $11.45)
Shrak is the paper-thin flatbread of the Levant, traditionally baked on a domed griddle called a saj. It is much thinner and softer than pita, so a shrak wrap rolls tight and long instead of being stuffed like a pocket. Our Beef Shawarma Shrak wraps beef carved off the spit in shrak with tahini, garlic sauce, pickled turnips, and fresh vegetables. Beef shawarma is usually seasoned with deeper, warmer spices than chicken, and the tahini gives it a nutty, slightly bitter edge that suits the darker meat.
3. Falafel Pita (from $8.95)
Levantine falafel is made from chickpeas that are soaked and ground raw with herbs, onion, and spices, never from cooked or canned chickpeas, which turn to mush in the fryer. The herbs are why a good falafel is green inside. At Taza, falafel is fried to order, so it reaches you with the crust still crisp. In the Falafel Pita it comes with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, and tahini sauce. It is a fully meat-free meal and one of the cheapest ways to eat well on the menu.
4. Chicken Shawarma Bowl (from $12.45)
The bowl takes everything in a shawarma sandwich and drops the bread. You pick the base: basmati rice, mixed greens, or hummus. Then comes chicken carved off the spit, with Arabic salad, pickled turnips, garlic sauce, and fresh herbs on top. Arabic salad is the everyday chopped salad of the Levant: diced tomato, cucumber, and onion with lemon and olive oil. A bowl is the easiest way to get a bit of everything in each forkful, and it is a good pick if you are eating at a desk or want more vegetables than a pita holds.
5. Hummus ($4.95)
Hummus bi tahini is chickpeas blended with tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. The proportions decide everything: more tahini makes it richer and nuttier, more lemon makes it brighter, and a long blend makes it smooth rather than grainy. Ours comes finished with extra-virgin olive oil and a dash of paprika, served with warm pita. Across the Levant hummus is eaten as part of a spread of small dishes, so it works just as well as a starter for the table, a side with a sandwich, or a light meal of its own.
6. Baba Ghanouj ($4.95)
Baba ghanouj starts with eggplant roasted over fire until the skin blackens and the flesh collapses. That char is the point: the smoke soaks into the soft eggplant, and once the skin is peeled away the flesh is blended with tahini, lemon, and garlic. Ours also has a hint of cumin. If you like hummus, try baba ghanouj next to it. The two dips share tahini, but one is mellow and nutty while the other is smoky and a little tangy.
7. Zaatar Manaeesh ($6.95)
Manaeesh are Lebanon's flatbreads: dough stretched thin, topped, and baked. The zaatar version is the classic. Zaatar is a blend of dried wild thyme or oregano, tangy red sumac, toasted sesame seeds, and salt, mixed with olive oil into a paste and spread over the dough. At Taza, manaeesh are baked in the oven until the edges crisp and the zaatar turns fragrant. In Lebanon it is the standard breakfast, bought warm from the neighborhood bakery and folded in half to eat on the way to work or school.
8. Lahm Bi Ajin Manaeesh ($8.95)
Lahm bi ajin means meat with dough in Arabic, and that is what it is: a thin flatbread topped with minced meat, tomato, onion, and warm spices, then baked until the edges crisp. It shows up across Lebanon, Syria, Armenia, and Turkey (where it is lahmacun), and every region seasons it a little differently. If you think of it as a Levantine meat flatbread rather than a pizza, you will get the idea right. It works as a meal, or cut it up to share with the table.
9. A Bowl Built Your Way
If you like to customize, the toppings are where Taza gets interesting. In store there are 14 free toppings, your choice, built at the counter: you tell the crew what you want and they build the order. Ordering online, you can pick up to 6 of 11. Start with a base of basmati rice, mixed greens, or hummus. Add chicken or beef shawarma or falafel, then choose from options like pickled turnips, parsley, mint, black olives, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, tahini sauce, garlic mayo, hummus, and baba ghanoush. Warm meat over cool vegetables and something sour on top makes a bowl that stays interesting to the last bite.
10. Avocado Boost Smoothie ($5.95)
Avocado smoothies are a fixture of juice shops across the Middle East, and they surprise people who only know avocado as a savory ingredient. Our Avocado Boost blends ripe avocado with milk, honey, and mixed nuts, so it comes out thick, creamy, and only mildly sweet: closer to a light milkshake than a fruit smoothie. It is a cool, rich contrast to garlic and warm spice. If avocado is not your thing, the smoothie menu also covers fruit blends like the Classic (banana and strawberry) and Lemon Mint.
How to Build Your Perfect Taza Order
To sample widely on a first visit, start with Hummus and Baba Ghanouj to share with warm pita. Have a Chicken Shawarma Pita or Falafel Pita as your main, add a Zaatar Manaeesh or Lahm Bi Ajin for the table, and finish with an Avocado Boost. That one order covers the spit, the fryer, the oven, and the blender. Everything on the menu is halal. We are open 7 days a week, 11 AM to midnight, with free parking at the door, and you can order online for pickup through Clover.
- Chicken Shawarma Pita: carved off the spit, garlic sauce, pickled turnips
- Beef Shawarma Shrak: thin shrak bread, tahini and garlic sauce
- Falafel Pita: fried to order, tahini, fresh vegetables
- Chicken Shawarma Bowl: your choice of rice, greens, or hummus base
- Hummus: chickpeas, tahini, lemon, olive oil, paprika
- Baba Ghanouj: fire-roasted eggplant with tahini and a hint of cumin
- Zaatar Manaeesh: the Lebanese breakfast flatbread, baked in the oven
- Lahm Bi Ajin Manaeesh: thin flatbread with spiced minced meat
- A bowl built your way: 14 free toppings at the counter, up to 6 of 11 online
- Avocado Boost: avocado, milk, honey, and mixed nuts