Shawarma King (Brookline, MA)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: The Shawarma is very well wrapped with the pita toasted to perfection.  Great reviews on Zabihah.com as well.

Negative: Meat quality is sub par and food taste cannot compare with places in New Jersey, New York, or Virginia.

Overall: If you are really craving meat and/or shawarma then give it a go.  Otherwise I’d look somewhere else.

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want to have some good shawarma in boston, don’t go to this king!

While visiting Boston for a few days I quickly realized that being on a vegetarian diet could make a meat eater go crazy.    So I looked up a Halal restaurant on Zabihah.com and saw that Shawarma King was rated high with the most reviews (which are the two things I would recommend looking for when using that website).  I did the obvious and headed over to Shawarma King, located in Brookline.  I was actually pretty excited to eat at the restaurant after reading many of the great reviews.

My family ended up getting a Chicken Shawarma, Spicy Chicken Shawarma, and Falafel.  First the nice thing, the food was wrapped very tightly, neatly, and the bread was toasted to perfection. It made a big difference when eating food that is normally pretty messy. However, that is where the good parts of the restaurant ended.  I was not very impressed with the food. The falafel was not freshly made and did not have any taste at all. The shawarma meat lacked flavor as well. The spicy shawarma was a bit better because of the added tabasco sauce.

Overall, the food was not anything special. Despite all the good reviews, I was very disappointed and wished that I had tried another halal restaurant instead.

(from sameerseats.com):

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Saad’s Halal Restaurant (Philadelphia)

REVIEW FROM 11/26/2010: 

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price, & Staff

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Positive: High quality, flavor-full meals served the “maroosh way”.

Negative: The surrounding area may seem somewhat run down if you are not from Philly.  The owner is very busy and therefore may seem to be a bit unfriendly on some days.

Overall: Excellent, Flavorful Middle Eastern and American dishes for which you would want to come back every time  you visit Philly or go to school in the surrounding area.

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There is a reason why saad’s is highly rated!

After researching restaurants on Yelp I was surprised to find that Saad’s was one of the top restaurants in Philly, it being Halal and all.  First time I made it out there it was closed (since it was Sunday).  Second time I made it out there it was closed because it was Ramadhan.  The third time I made sure I verified the day, time, month and the restaurant’s timings before going.   Finally, third time was a charm and I got a chance to experience Saad’s food first hand.  The wait was definitely worth it!

Every time I have been to Saad’s it is fairly busy.   Sometimes you have to wait a good amount of time to find seating, and other times you just get lucky.  The owner, Saad, is very busy managing everything and does not pay attention to your questions or concerns.  I don’t blame him though, he’s a busy guy.

My family had the Chicken Falafel and various platters and sandwiches “the Maroosh way” (ie. with a soft roll rather than pita) when going to Saads.  The Chicken Falafel and Chicken Maroosh are unique and definitely worth having. I haven’t tried their american dishes but I have a feeling they will be equally excellent.  The food is very tasty and mouth-watering. It makes you happy that food like this is available for you to enjoy.

The surrounding area is somewhat run down if you turn into an adjacent street.  But that shouldn’t shy you away from visiting Saad’s.  The street on which Saad’s is located is well lit, close to University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, and usually has some sort of traffic.  Across from Saad’s is a Masjid as well.

I have gone to Saad’s a few times and plan on going every time I visit Philly (as long as the time is right, sun is aligned in the right direction, and Saad’s is actually open!).  Joking aside, its a great place and I don’t have to say anything for you to believe it.  Check out reviews on Yelp and eat for yourself.

UPDATED 8/20/2011:  (from sameerseats.com)

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Saad’s Halal Restaurant Website

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