DC Shawarma

Fabulous chicken shawarma sandwich. I had one today — minus the hummus — and it was a delight. I’ll definitely be back.

Maybe I’m not a professional falafel taster but I’ve had better. Like waaaaaayyy better. I’m not sure what that mystery item was in my wrap. The wrap itself was ok but the falafel wasn’t what I’ve had before at other places. Maybe they mixed my order up and it wasn’t that after all. Before I ban them completely, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t order it again to have a confirmation. Call me a glutton for punishment if you will. I’d like to think of it as making sure I wasn’t duped. I also ordered sweet potato fries and were giving regular fries. This is what lead me to believe there may have been a mix up.
To be continued…

The Falafel platter was outstanding! The falafel was hot, tasty w/​a bit of spice, and the perfect texture inside and out. The hummus was creamy (moreso than I’m used to) but I loved it. The salads were really fresh and flavorful. The pita was soft and also seemed fresh.
The price is right and the service was quick and cordial. I will definitely be back.
I wish someone would review the chicken shawarma, I hesitate to try it when I already know how great the falafel is.

After months of the same food options around 12^th and D SW, I was ecstatic to see the DC Shawarma food truck outside my building.
My fatty alter ego told me to get a platter, but my less fatty, yet still fatty normal self said to get the falafel sandwich, and I was not disapointed! It was amazing, fresh, tasty, really great tabouleh and onions, etc, but all of this goodness was ruined by fries. Who puts FRIES in a falafel sandwich? The addition of fries on an already thicker pita bread raised the carb intake meter over the edge. it was a bit much, but overall the fresh, tasty fillers all wrapped into a soft, warm pita made it one of my best falafel experiences ever. And the greek yogurt sauce they use in the falafel? Omgggggg. Good stuff.
Will definitely try the chicken shawarma sandwich next time!

GREAT falafel platter #thatisall

Great experience with DC Shawarma. I’m still grieving the retirement of Eat Wonky and their poutine fries, so it’s reassuring to know there is another top notch food truck in DC serving up some poutine. The serving is huge, you should consider splitting it with a friend, or several. I can also vouch for the falafel platter, which is very generous and came with a little bit of everything I love: falafels, rice, a salad, tabouli, hummus, and pita. Recommended and I’ll be sure to be back when I can!

Generous portions and friendly staff, but overall I would say that in addition to the food being average, it is exacerbated by a menu that I believe is not very conducive to foodtrucking.
I had the falafel platter which came with at least 4 – 5 larger than golfball size falafels, and I mean fully rounded, not flattened in any way. They were chewy and dense, rather than your usual crispy outside, softish inside falafel. The fries were leaning towards soggy and limp (yet warm) — you know those fries where you ask yourself why you’re still bothering to eat them?
The tabouleh wasn’t bad. Generous amount of parsley which I enjoyed. Hummus was average, as was the pita. The platter also came with rice which was slightly undercooked. They also threw in a dollop of the cheese curd that generally accompanies the poutine.
It was like a sampler platter on steroids (not a bad thing :)
Overall, not a horrible meal by far, and certainly a very hefty platter, but the sum of its parts just wasn’t as high as I would have liked.

I ordered the falafel sandwich and the taste was good. The biggest problem I had was that they used french fries as a filler in my sandwich. No where on the menu description did it say that there were french fries in the sandwich. It just said «Falafel with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles, hummus, tabbouleh, tahini and garlic sauce».

I am downgrading my review to 3 stars. I was finally able to try the lamb shawarma after 3 tries and it was disappointing at best. The meat was bland and tasted a bit like shredded steak-​um. Additionally, the sandwich was overloaded with sauce and had no pickled vegetables that I could discern. It was really served more like a gyro than like a traditional Shawarma.

I had the falafel sandwich. $ 7 even and they take credit cards. Delicious. If and when I see them again I’m getting the chicken shawarma sandwich without hesitation.
Update: I went back again and went for the falafel. They used a different kind of pita bread, which was still very good.

This was very good — I’d almost give it a full 5 stars except the pita was a generic store bought pita and very dry and crumbly. But I didn’t get the sandwich, I got a platter so it didn’t kill the meal. The chicken was very good. The rice was fantastic. Great hummus. Great tabouleh. I didn’t care for the salad but rarely do. All in all, this truck is great. I’m a fan and will frequent them. I do wish they offered better bread though, something like the laffa bread at Roti or frankly the higher quality pita that any of the halal trucks have. I suspect that a sandwich from this place would not be very good unless they upgraded the bread.

I just moved here and this was my first food truck experience. So I know I’m not a food truck expert by any means, but I thought this place was awesome for the price. I was in a hurry and needed somewhere close and this truck had no line but I saw good reviews, so I decided to give it a shot. I got the plate for $ 9 with a falafel thrown in for free. which is good marketing. But this food is really awesome and not too greasy like you’d expect for this type of food. The chicken is cut right off the thing that spins the meat while it cooks… This was definitely great for the price and I definitely will go again!

Honestly, if this truck is close to a Roti and you can choose between them, I would go with Roti over DC Shawarma.
When the yogurt garlic sauce is the star attraction, I find that to be a problem. As tasty as it was, it did not make up for the tough pieces of chicken that was served, not tender pieces I’ve gotten from other trucks. It was all served up with some nice mixed vegetables and very average pita. Baklava was very sweet and I found it quite chewy.
I’m glad I checked it out, but if I see this truck parked next to some of my other go to trucks, I will have to pass on this one.

**** 4.5 stars ****
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert in shawarma, far from it, but I like to think my opinion on food trucks in general is at the very least well-​informed, and based on that I can say this is one of the best values I’ve had in quite a long time, mobile or stationary. In fact, I’m totally blown away that DC Shawarma has only been in operation since last week, and fully expect that once they roll out the whole menu featuring beef and lamb varieties, along with poutine and 10 different sauces, that I’ll be bumping this review up to a full 5 stars.
I will admit I was pretty disappointed after hearing about this truck and then seeing the only menu options today were chicken and falafel, as a sandwich or platter. I’ve exhausted my patience for trying to find falafel I actually enjoy and I generally hate paying for chicken unless it’s fried or oven roasted because everything else leaves it horribly dry and bland. Nevertheless, I had already walked over to Farragut Square and I wasn’t leaving there empty handed, so I went with the platter when the lady in the window told me everything it contained.
The platter here is monstrous (
), you can feel it as you’re walking away, and is a mimicry of a «best-​of» Lebanese tasting menu. There’s a big bed of rice topped with their marinated and grilled chicken and tahini sauce that alone could make most people full, with sides of tabouleh, Lebanese bitter yoghurt, spiced hummus, some pita, and a small salad. All of this is just $ 9, and I’m rarely so full and so satisfied from a truck at the same time. I don’t know how much of these side items are made in-​house versus picked up from Costco and dumped out, but they were all pretty good regardless, especially the yoghurt mixed in with the chicken and rice.
Baklava is another item I’m not too familiar with, mainly because too many tough and chewy versions turned me off of the dessert and so I always passed it up when offered. I splurged today though and was rewarded for my bit of optimism with 2 pieces of really moist, yet firm, and succulently sweet delight. The flakiness of the pastry is exactly where it should be, and the filling inside is dense without being so tough. For $ 3 this was worth every calorie.