Taza Shawarma & Falafel is a halal Levantine restaurant at 5820 Seminary Rd Ste O in Falls Church, Virginia, near Bailey's Crossroads. This page is about two things: what our name means, and what our kitchen actually does. We'd rather tell you what you can see for yourself at the counter than give you a story you have to take on faith.
The Food Came First
The menu at Taza comes from the street food and bakery traditions of the Levant: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. In cities like Beirut and Damascus, the shawarma counter and the neighborhood bakery are part of daily life. Shawarma is carved off a turning spit and wrapped to order. Falafel comes out of the oil hot. Flatbreads come out of the oven topped with zaatar, cheese, or spiced meat, and people eat them while they're still warm. Those are the three things our kitchen is built around.
- Shawarma, chicken and beef, carved off the vertical spit
- Falafel, fried to order
- Manaeesh, pita, and pies, baked in the oven
- Hummus, baba ghanouj, and labneh to share
- Bowls, pitas, and shrak wraps with 14 free toppings, your choice, built at the counter
Levantine food is built for sharing. A traditional meal starts with mezze, a spread of small dishes like hummus, baba ghanouj, labneh, pickles, and fresh vegetables, eaten with bread torn by hand. Main dishes come after, and everyone eats from the middle of the table. Even quick street food follows the same logic: a shawarma sandwich is meat, bread, pickles, vegetables, and sauce, a whole small meal in one wrap.
Seminary Road: Where We Are
Taza sits on Seminary Road in the Bailey's Crossroads area of Falls Church, in Fairfax County. It's one of the most diverse parts of Northern Virginia, with neighbors and businesses from across the Arab world, South Asia, East Africa, Latin America, and beyond. Seminary Road is a working street, the kind of place where people stop for lunch because they're nearby, pick up dinner on the way home, or grab something late at night.
That's the kind of place we try to be: easy to get to and open when you need it. There's free parking at the door. We're open seven days a week from 11 AM to midnight, the same hours every day. You can walk in and order at the counter, call (703) 340-1014, or order online through Clover for pickup.
What "Taza" Means
"Taza" (طازة) means fresh. In Levantine and Egyptian Arabic, taza is the everyday word for fresh food: bread just out of the oven, vegetables bought that morning, fish caught today. A market vendor calling out "taza, taza!" is telling you their produce is fresh. In formal Arabic the related word is tazaj (طازج).
We think it's the right name for a shawarma and falafel shop, because so much of this food depends on timing. Falafel is at its best within minutes of leaving the fryer. Shawarma is best carved straight off the spit. Manaeesh is best straight from the oven. The name is a reminder of what this food is supposed to be.
Behind the Counter
The vertical spit is the first thing many people notice when they walk in. Marinated meat is stacked onto the spit and turned slowly in front of the heat, so the outside browns and crisps while the inside stays juicy. Each order of chicken or beef shawarma is carved off in thin slices. The method goes back to the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century, and it's still the only way to get shawarma's particular texture.
Next to the spit is the fryer, where falafel is fried to order. Levantine falafel is made from soaked, raw-ground chickpeas, herbs, and spices, which is why it's green inside. Then there's the oven, where manaeesh, pita, and pies are baked. If you watch it for a minute you'll see pita puff up into a ball as steam inflates the pocket, and manaeesh come out with crisp edges and bubbling zaatar and olive oil.
Halal, Every Item
Everything at Taza is halal. For many of our guests that's a religious requirement, and it means they can order anything on the menu without asking twice. For others it simply comes with the food. Halal means permissible in Arabic. For meat, it refers to how an animal is slaughtered and handled under Islamic dietary law. If you have a specific question about how something is prepared, ask us at the counter or call (703) 340-1014.
- Halal meat, chicken and beef
- Open 7 days a week, 11 AM to midnight, the same hours every day
- Free parking at the door
- 14 free toppings in store, your choice, built at the counter; up to 6 of 11 online
- Catering for 10 to 200+ guests, with delivery available
Visit, Order, or Cater
If you're new to Levantine food, a good first order is a Chicken Shawarma Pita, a Falafel Pita, and a Hummus to share. That covers the spit, the fryer, and the dips. Add a Zaatar Manaeesh from the oven if you're hungry. If you're feeding a group, Taza caters events from 10 to more than 200 guests, with delivery available; call to plan the menu and timing.
You'll find us at 5820 Seminary Rd Ste O, Falls Church, VA 22041, open every day from 11 AM to midnight. Pull up to the door, come in, and tell us how you want your order built.