History of Shawarma: From Ottoman Roots to American Favorite
Shawarma has traveled from 18th-century Turkish street stalls to mainstream American fast-casual dining. Here is the full story of how a vertical spit changed the way the world eats.
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A Dish That Changed Street Food Forever
How a simple cooking technique from the Ottoman Empire became one of the most widely consumed foods on the planet.
Shawarma is one of the few foods that can be traced along a single, unbroken line from its point of origin to kitchens on six continents. The story begins in the Ottoman Empire during the 18th century, when a cook in the Turkish city of Bursa stacked seasoned lamb onto a vertical iron rod, placed it beside a charcoal fire, and let it rotate. That single idea -- roasting stacked meat on a turning spit -- proved so effective that it spread across the entire Middle East within decades and across the globe within two centuries.
Along the way, the technique spawned at least five major regional dishes: Turkish doner kebab, Greek gyro, Lebanese shawarma, Egyptian shawarma, and Mexican tacos al pastor. Each kept the vertical spit but wrapped the meat in local breads, paired it with local sauces, and seasoned it with local spices. The result is a family of foods that share a common ancestor but taste distinctly different depending on where you eat them.
At Taza Shawarma & Falafel in Falls Church, VA, we follow the Levantine tradition -- the Lebanese and Syrian lineage of shawarma that is built on garlic sauce, tahini, pickled turnips, and a warm spice blend of cumin, cinnamon, and cardamom. Our chicken shawarma pita starts at from $9.95 and the beef at from $9.95. The history is old, but the shawarma is made fresh every day.
Ottoman Roots: The Birth of the Vertical Spit
18th-century Bursa, Turkey -- where a practical cooking solution became a culinary revolution.
The vertical spit was not an act of culinary artistry. It was a solution to a logistical problem. Ottoman-era street vendors needed to serve large numbers of customers quickly from a limited workspace. Grilling individual portions of meat was slow and required constant attention. Oven roasting required expensive fuel and large equipment. The vertical spit offered a middle path: stack a large quantity of seasoned meat on a single rod, place it next to a heat source, set it spinning, and shave off cooked portions as orders came in. One cook, one fire, one preparation -- serving customers continuously throughout the day.
Historical accounts place the earliest vertical-spit cooking in Bursa, a city in northwestern Turkey that served as the first major capital of the Ottoman Empire. Bursa was a commercial crossroads, drawing merchants, soldiers, and travelers from across Anatolia and beyond. Street food was essential for feeding this transient population, and the vertical spit proved ideal for the task. The original meat was lamb -- the dominant protein across the Ottoman lands -- seasoned simply with salt, pepper, and whatever local spices were available.
The technique had several advantages that guaranteed its survival. First, the rotating spit cooked meat evenly without requiring the cook to constantly flip or turn anything. Second, the vertical orientation allowed rendered fat to drip down and baste the lower layers, keeping the meat moist. Third, the outer layer could be shaved off while the inner layers continued cooking, meaning the spit never had to stop producing food. Fourth, a well-loaded spit could feed customers all day from a single preparation, reducing waste and labor.
By the 19th century, the technique had spread from Bursa to Istanbul, Damascus, Beirut, and Cairo through the networks of the Ottoman Empire. Soldiers carried it to garrison towns. Merchants adopted it in market districts. Immigrant cooks brought it to every city where Ottoman administration reached. The vertical spit became as much a fixture of Middle Eastern street food as the bread ovens and spice markets it stood alongside.
The Name: From Turkish 'Cevirme' to Arabic 'Shawarma'
How the word followed the food across languages and borders.
The word "shawarma" is a linguistic trail marker that tracks the food's journey from Turkey into the Arabic-speaking world. In Turkish, the technique was called "cevirme," derived from the verb "cevirmek," meaning "to turn" or "to rotate." This is a straightforward description: the meat turns on a spit, so the dish is called "the turning." The related Turkish word "doner" (from "donmek," also meaning "to turn") became the name for the Turkish version of the dish -- doner kebab.
When the technique migrated south into Lebanon, Syria, and the broader Levant, Arabic speakers transliterated the Turkish word. "Cevirme" was adapted through Arabic phonology and became "shawarma." The Arabic root carries the same meaning: turning, rotating. In some dialects, the word appears as "shawirma" or "shawerma," but the meaning is consistent.
The Greek adaptation followed a similar pattern. "Gyros" comes from the Greek word "gyros," meaning "circle" or "turn" -- yet another language independently naming the dish after its defining characteristic: the rotation of the spit. Three languages, three names, one shared idea. The food is defined by its motion.
In the United States, "shawarma" has become the dominant term for the Levantine and Middle Eastern version of the dish, while "doner" refers to the Turkish-German version, and "gyro" refers to the Greek version. At Taza, we use "shawarma" because we follow the Lebanese tradition in preparation, spicing, and presentation.
Turkish
Cevirme / Doner
Meaning: "Turning / Rotating"
The original Ottoman term; 'doner kebab' remains the standard name in Turkey and Germany.
Arabic
Shawarma
Meaning: "Turning (transliterated)"
Adopted across Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and the broader Middle East. The dominant term in American usage.
Greek
Gyros
Meaning: "Circle / Turn"
Independent Greek translation of the same concept. Used for the Greek ground-meat adaptation.
Regional Variations: Five Traditions, One Spit
How Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece each made the vertical spit their own.
The vertical spit is the common thread. Everything else -- the meat, the spices, the bread, and the sauces -- changed as the technique crossed borders. Each regional variation reflects the local ingredients, culinary traditions, and eating habits of the people who adopted it. Understanding these differences is useful both for ordering and for appreciating why shawarma tastes different from doner or gyro.
Lebanon
Levantine ShawarmaThe style that defines shawarma for most of the world. Chicken or beef is marinated in a blend of cumin, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, garlic, and lemon juice. The finished meat is served in pita or shrak flatbread with toum (whipped garlic sauce), pickled pink turnips, tahini, lettuce, and tomato. The garlic sauce is the signature -- a whipped emulsion of raw garlic, lemon, oil, and salt that is bright, pungent, and addictive. This is the tradition Taza follows.
Syria
Syrian ShawarmaSyrian preparations share many elements with Lebanese shawarma but tend toward a lighter hand with fat and a stronger presence of lemon and sumac. Syrian cooks often use thinner slices of meat on the spit, producing a more delicate texture. The accompaniments may include pomegranate molasses, a wider variety of pickled vegetables, and less reliance on heavy garlic sauce. Aleppo pepper sometimes replaces paprika in the marinade.
Egypt
Egyptian ShawarmaEgyptian shawarma leans toward a heavier, more aggressive spice profile. The marinade features cumin, coriander, black pepper, and sometimes fenugreek. Egyptian street vendors typically serve shawarma in aish baladi (local flatbread) or as a sandwich in a baguette-style roll. The sauces tend toward tahini mixed with lemon rather than the pure garlic sauce of the Levant. Ketchup and hot sauce are common additions on the street.
Turkey
Doner KebabThe original vertical-spit preparation. Turkish doner can use lamb, beef, chicken, or a combination. The meat is often ground and mixed with fat before being pressed onto the spit, creating a denser texture than Levantine shawarma. Doner is served in thick ekmek bread, thin lavash wraps, or over rice as an iskender kebab with tomato sauce and melted butter. Yogurt-based sauces are more common than tahini. The dominant fast food in Germany, Austria, and across Northern Europe.
Greece
GyroThe Greek adaptation uses a blend of ground beef and lamb, seasoned with oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme -- Mediterranean herbs rather than Middle Eastern spices. The meat mixture is pressed into a cone shape on the spit. Gyro is served on thick, pillowy pita with tzatziki (yogurt, cucumber, garlic), sliced onion, and tomato. The texture is denser and more uniform than shawarma because the meat is ground rather than whole-cut. Read our full comparison at Taza.
Shaved to Order, Never Pre-Sliced
Every serving of shawarma at Taza is shaved directly from the rotating spit the moment you order it.
How Shawarma Came to America
Immigration, halal carts, and the slow path from ethnic specialty to mainstream staple.
Shawarma's American history begins with immigration. In the 1960s and 1970s, waves of Lebanese, Syrian, and Egyptian immigrants settled in cities with established Arab-American communities: Dearborn, Michigan; Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; Astoria, Queens; and the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. These immigrants opened small restaurants and grocery stores that served their own communities, and shawarma was a staple from the start.
The first major exposure for non-Arab Americans came through New York City's halal cart revolution in the 1980s and 1990s. Egyptian and Afghan entrepreneurs set up street carts in Midtown Manhattan, serving a simplified version of the shawarma plate: grilled chicken or gyro meat over yellow rice with white sauce and hot sauce. The carts were cheap, fast, and filling -- perfect for the lunch rush. By the 2000s, there were thousands of halal carts across the five boroughs, and "chicken and rice" had become a New York City food identity as recognizable as pizza or bagels.
The 1990s and 2000s brought a second wave of growth. Middle Eastern restaurants expanded from ethnic enclaves into suburban strip malls and commercial corridors. Food media -- television shows, newspaper reviews, food blogs -- began covering shawarma as a category rather than an oddity. The Zagat guides and early Yelp reviews introduced suburban diners to restaurants they might not have found otherwise.
Then came the cultural tipping point. In 2012, Marvel's The Avengers included a post-credits scene of the entire superhero team eating shawarma in silence. Google searches for "shawarma" spiked by over 300%. Shawarma restaurants across the country reported increases in foot traffic from customers who had never tried the food before. The scene did not invent American interest in shawarma, but it accelerated it in a way that no food critic or restaurant review ever had.
The Northern Virginia Connection
How Falls Church and the surrounding area became a national destination for shawarma.
Northern Virginia has one of the largest and most established Arab-American communities on the East Coast. Beginning in the 1970s, Lebanese, Syrian, and other Middle Eastern families settled along the Route 7 corridor, in Falls Church, in Bailey's Crossroads, and across Arlington and Fairfax County. They were drawn by proximity to Washington, D.C., employment opportunities in the federal government and defense sectors, and existing community networks that made resettlement easier.
These communities brought their food traditions with them. Within a decade, the area around Seven Corners, Skyline, and Seminary Road in Falls Church had become a concentration point for Middle Eastern restaurants, bakeries, and halal butcher shops. Shawarma was a centerpiece of this culinary corridor -- recognizable, affordable, and appealing to both the Arab-American community and the increasingly diverse population around them.
What makes the Northern Virginia shawarma scene distinctive is competition. With so many restaurants serving shawarma within a small geographic area, quality standards are high. Customers know what authentic shawarma should taste like, and they have multiple options within a short drive. This competitive pressure keeps restaurants honest: the meat has to be fresh, the spice blends have to be correct, and the accompaniments have to be made in-house. There is no room for shortcuts.
Taza Shawarma & Falafel sits at the heart of this corridor, at 5820 Seminary Rd Ste O, Falls Church, VA 22041. We serve the Levantine shawarma tradition -- spit-roasted chicken and beef with garlic sauce, tahini, pickled turnips, and 14 fresh toppings -- to the community that built Falls Church's reputation as one of the best places to eat Middle Eastern food in the entire D.C. metropolitan area.
Falls Church, VA
The heart of Northern Virginia's Middle Eastern culinary corridor. Seminary Road and Route 7 are home to dozens of Arabic restaurants, bakeries, and markets.
Arab-American Community
One of the largest Middle Eastern diaspora communities on the East Coast, with roots stretching back to the 1970s and active cultural organizations.
Competitive Quality
Multiple shawarma restaurants within a few miles push each other to maintain high standards. Customers know the difference and expect freshness.
Traditional Methods
The best restaurants in the corridor -- including Taza -- use vertical spits, in-house marinades, and halal-certified whole cuts of meat, not pre-formed cones.
Open Late
Taza is open 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM, Open 7 Days a Week. Late-night shawarma is a long-standing tradition in the area.
Growing Recognition
Falls Church shawarma restaurants are regularly featured in Washington Post, Washingtonian, and Eater D.C. coverage of the region's best food.
Shawarma in Popular Culture
From the Avengers to food media -- how shawarma entered mainstream American awareness.
For decades, shawarma existed in American culture as a niche food -- something you found in ethnic neighborhoods or college towns with Middle Eastern populations. That changed in stages, and the most dramatic single moment came from an unlikely source: a superhero movie.
In May 2012, Marvel Studios released The Avengers, which earned $1.5 billion worldwide. During the film, Tony Stark (Iron Man) mentions that he wants to try shawarma. After the credits roll, the audience sees the entire Avengers team -- Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye -- sitting silently at a small shawarma restaurant, eating in exhausted silence. The scene was filmed last-minute at the Elat Burger stand in Los Angeles and was not included in early screenings.
The effect was immediate and measurable. Google Trends data showed that searches for "shawarma" increased by over 300% in the week following the film's opening. Shawarma restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, and other major cities reported spikes in orders from customers who specifically mentioned the movie. The Elat Burger stand where the scene was filmed became a tourist destination.
Beyond the Avengers moment, shawarma's mainstream profile grew through food media throughout the 2010s. Anthony Bourdain featured shawarma in episodes of Parts Unknown filmed in Beirut and Istanbul. Food YouTube channels dedicated entire videos to the vertical spit technique. The New York Times, Bon Appetit, and Serious Eats published long-form guides to making shawarma at home and finding the best versions in American cities.
By the 2020s, shawarma had crossed fully into the American food mainstream. It appeared on fast-casual menus, in grocery store prepared-food sections, and in frozen-food aisles. But the gap between mass-market shawarma and the real thing -- spit-roasted from whole cuts, with fresh-made sauces and proper spice blends -- remained wide. That gap is what restaurants like Taza in Falls Church continue to fill.
The Modern Evolution of Shawarma
Bowls, fast-casual formats, and new audiences -- how shawarma adapted to 21st-century dining.
The traditional way to eat shawarma has not changed: meat shaved from a vertical spit, tucked into flatbread, dressed with garlic sauce and pickles. That format still accounts for the majority of shawarma orders worldwide. But the 2010s and 2020s brought new formats that expanded shawarma's reach without changing its core preparation.
The shawarma bowl was the most significant adaptation. As American dining shifted toward bowl-format meals -- driven by Chipotle, poke shops, and the broader "grain bowl" trend -- shawarma restaurants recognized an opportunity. The same spit-roasted meat could be served over rice, greens, or hummus in a bowl format that appealed to customers who wanted a breadless option or a more customizable eating experience. At Taza, the chicken shawarma bowl starts at from $12.45 and the beef bowl at from $12.45.
The fast-casual restaurant model also changed how shawarma was sold. Traditional shawarma restaurants operated as counter-service or takeout shops with minimal seating and no frills. The new generation of shawarma restaurants -- including Taza -- combined the same traditional cooking methods with cleaner interiors, visible prep areas, online ordering, and delivery partnerships. The food stayed the same; the experience around it modernized.
Meanwhile, creative variations pushed shawarma into new territory. Shawarma fries -- seasoned fries topped with shaved meat and sauces -- became a popular appetizer and late-night snack. Shawarma nachos, shawarma pizza, and shawarma quesadillas appeared on fusion menus. These crossover dishes introduced shawarma flavors to diners who might not have walked into a traditional Middle Eastern restaurant on their own. The purists may debate whether these count as shawarma, but they undeniably brought new customers to the table.
Traditional Pita & Wrap
From from $9.95
The original street-food format. Shaved meat in fresh pita or rolled in thin shrak flatbread with toppings and sauces. Still the most popular order at Taza.
Contemporary Bowl
From from $12.45
Same spit-roasted meat, served over rice, greens, or hummus. No bread. All 14 toppings layered on top. The modern format for low-carb and high-protein eaters.
Taza's Approach: Traditional Preparation, Modern Setting
How we carry forward the Levantine shawarma tradition at 5820 Seminary Road.
Taza's shawarma is made the way it has been made for generations in the Levant. Whole cuts of halal-certified chicken and beef are marinated in-house with a blend of 12+ spices -- cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, sumac, garlic, paprika, allspice, black pepper, coriander, lemon juice, and olive oil. The marinated meat is stacked by hand onto vertical spits and slow-roasted for hours until the outer surface is deeply caramelized and the interior is tender and juicy.
The sauces are made fresh. The garlic sauce (toum) is a traditional Lebanese whipped emulsion of raw garlic, lemon, oil, and salt -- not a mayonnaise with garlic powder. The tahini is ground from sesame seeds, thinned with lemon and water. The hummus is made in-house from dried chickpeas, not from a can. These details matter because they are the differences between a shawarma that tastes like the ones served on the streets of Beirut and one that tastes like a generic fast-food sandwich.
Where Taza departs from strict tradition is in the format options and the dining experience. You can order your shawarma as a pita sandwich (from from $9.95), a shrak wrap (from from $11.45), or a bowl over rice or greens (from from $12.45). Every order comes with your choice from 14 fresh toppings at no extra charge. The restaurant itself is clean, well-lit, and designed for both quick takeout and comfortable dine-in.
We are located at 5820 Seminary Rd Ste O, Falls Church, VA 22041, open 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM, Open 7 Days a Week. You can order online for pickup, order delivery through DoorDash or Uber Eats, or call us at (703) 340-1014. The history of shawarma spans centuries and continents, but the best way to understand it is to eat it. Come see what 250 years of culinary evolution taste like, made fresh on Seminary Road.
Shawarma Through the Centuries
Key moments in the 250-year journey from Ottoman street stall to American mainstream.
The Vertical Spit Emerges in Bursa
Ottoman cooks in the city of Bursa, in present-day northwestern Turkey, developed the technique of stacking thin sheets of seasoned lamb on a vertical iron rod next to a charcoal fire. The meat rotated slowly, and the outer layer was shaved off as it cooked through. This solved a practical problem: one cook could serve dozens of customers from a single preparation without stopping to grill individual portions.
Spread Across the Ottoman Empire
As Ottoman trade routes connected Istanbul to Damascus, Beirut, Cairo, and beyond, the vertical spit traveled with soldiers, merchants, and itinerant cooks. Each region adapted the seasoning and accompaniments. Turkish cooks used yogurt-based sauces. Levantine cooks introduced garlic sauce, tahini, and pickled turnips. Egyptian street vendors added heavier spice blends with coriander and cumin seed.
Regional Variants Take Shape
By the turn of the twentieth century, distinct regional styles had solidified. Lebanese shawarma emphasized garlic sauce (toum), pickled pink turnips, and a warm spice profile built on cinnamon and allspice. Syrian preparations leaned lighter, using less fat and more lemon. Turkish doner settled into a format served in thick bread (ekmek) with onions and peppers. Greek gyro emerged using a ground-meat blend shaped onto the spit.
Lebanese Immigrants Bring the Spit to the Americas
Lebanese emigrants carried the vertical-spit technique to Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. In Mexico City, the method was adapted to marinated pork with chili peppers and pineapple, producing tacos al pastor -- one of the most recognized street foods in the Western Hemisphere. In South America, shawarma restaurants opened in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires, serving Arabic-speaking immigrant communities.
Turkish Doner Arrives in Germany
Turkish guest workers brought doner kebab to Berlin and other German cities. Kadir Nurman and other Turkish entrepreneurs began selling doner from street stalls, adapting the format to a bread roll (Fladenbrot) with lettuce, tomato, and yogurt sauce. By the end of the decade, doner kebab was on its way to becoming Germany's most consumed fast food, with over 1,500 shops in Berlin alone by the 2000s.
Shawarma Reaches America
Lebanese, Syrian, and Egyptian immigrants opened the first shawarma restaurants in New York City, Dearborn (Michigan), and Northern Virginia. NYC halal carts began appearing on Midtown sidewalks in the 1980s, introducing millions of office workers to the chicken-and-rice platter -- a simplified version of the shawarma plate. Falls Church, VA, became a hub for Arab-American-owned restaurants along the Route 7 and Seminary Road corridors.
The Avengers Shawarma Scene
Marvel's The Avengers featured a post-credits scene in which the entire superhero team sat silently eating shawarma at a small restaurant. The scene was filmed at the Elat Burger stand in Los Angeles. Google searches for 'shawarma' spiked by over 300% in the days following the film's release. Shawarma restaurants across the country reported a measurable increase in orders.
Fast-Casual Boom and Modern Evolution
Shawarma entered the American fast-casual mainstream alongside bowls, grain bowls, and customizable-format restaurants. New formats like shawarma bowls over rice or greens, shawarma fries, and shawarma nachos appeared on menus from food trucks to sit-down restaurants. Northern Virginia's Arab-American culinary corridor continued to grow, with restaurants like Taza in Falls Church serving traditional Levantine preparations to an increasingly diverse customer base.
Shawarma History: Common Questions Answered
Shawarma originated in the Ottoman Empire, most likely in the city of Bursa in present-day Turkey during the 18th century. Ottoman cooks developed the technique of stacking seasoned lamb on a vertical iron rod next to a charcoal fire and rotating it slowly. As the Ottoman Empire expanded, the technique spread to Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and across the Middle East, with each region adapting the spices, sauces, and accompaniments to local tastes.
The word 'shawarma' derives from the Turkish word 'cevirme,' which means 'turning' or 'rotating.' This is a direct reference to the vertical spit that rotates the meat during cooking. As the technique traveled from Turkey into Arabic-speaking countries, 'cevirme' was transliterated into Arabic as 'shawarma.' The Turkish version retained the name 'doner' (from 'donmek,' also meaning 'to turn'), while the Greek version became 'gyro' (from 'gyros,' meaning 'circle' or 'turn').
All three use a vertical rotating spit, but they differ in meat preparation, spicing, and accompaniments. Shawarma uses whole marinated cuts of chicken or beef with a Middle Eastern spice blend (cumin, cinnamon, cardamom) and is served with tahini, garlic sauce, and pickled turnips. Doner kebab often uses ground meat pressed onto the spit, seasoned with Turkish spices, and served with yogurt sauce in thick bread. Gyro uses a ground beef-and-lamb blend with Mediterranean herbs (oregano, thyme) and is served with tzatziki on thick pita.
Shawarma arrived in the United States primarily through Lebanese, Syrian, and Egyptian immigration during the 1960s through 1990s. The first shawarma restaurants appeared in cities with large Middle Eastern communities: New York City, Dearborn (Michigan), and the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. NYC halal carts in the 1980s introduced a wider audience to chicken-over-rice platters, a simplified version of the shawarma plate. Mainstream recognition grew steadily through the 2000s and accelerated after the 2012 Avengers shawarma scene.
Northern Virginia, particularly the Falls Church, Arlington, and Fairfax corridor, has one of the largest Arab-American and Middle Eastern diaspora communities on the East Coast. Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, and other Arab immigrants settled in the area beginning in the 1970s, opening restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores along Route 7, Columbia Pike, and Seminary Road. This concentration of Middle Eastern culinary businesses created a competitive market that pushed quality higher. Today, Falls Church is recognized as one of the best places to eat shawarma in the entire D.C. metropolitan area.
Marvel's The Avengers (2012) featured a now-famous post-credits scene in which Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye sit silently eating shawarma at a small restaurant. The scene was filmed at the Elat Burger stand in Los Angeles. Google searches for 'shawarma' increased by over 300% in the days following the film's release, and shawarma restaurants across the country reported a noticeable increase in first-time customers. The scene turned shawarma into a cultural reference point for millions of Americans who had never tried it.
Taza follows the traditional Levantine method: whole cuts of halal-certified chicken and beef are marinated in-house with 12+ spices (cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, sumac, garlic, and more), stacked on a vertical spit, and slow-roasted for hours. The meat is shaved to order, never pre-sliced or reheated. The sauces -- garlic sauce (toum), tahini, and hummus -- are made fresh. Where Taza adds a modern touch is in the format options: you can order your shawarma in a traditional pita, a shrak flatbread wrap, or a contemporary bowl over rice or greens. The chicken shawarma pita starts at from $9.95 and the beef at from $9.95.
In the early twentieth century, Lebanese immigrants settled in Mexico, particularly in Puebla and Mexico City. They brought the vertical spit and the technique of slow-roasting stacked meat. Mexican cooks adapted the method to local ingredients: instead of lamb or chicken with Middle Eastern spices, they used pork marinated in chili peppers, achiote paste, and pineapple. The result was tacos al pastor ('shepherd-style tacos'), one of Mexico's most iconic street foods. The al pastor spit is visually almost identical to a shawarma spit, and food historians consider it a direct descendant of the same Ottoman cooking technique.
Taste the Tradition at Taza
Open 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM, Open 7 Days a Week at 5820 Seminary Rd Ste O, Falls Church, VA 22041.
Address
5820 Seminary Rd Ste O, Falls Church, VA 22041
Hours
11:00 AM - 12:00 AM -- Open 7 Days a Week
Phone
Taste It for Yourself
Spit-roasted daily from whole cuts of halal chicken and beef. 14 toppings included. Pita, wrap, or bowl. Order online or visit us on Seminary Road in Falls Church.