From Arlington Heights
Shawarma near Arlington Heights, IL
The Shawarma Spot is in Palatine, on Algonquin Road — about 13 minutes and 5.6 miles from Arlington Heights, usually via E Euclid Ave.
- 13minutes
- 5.6miles
- E Euclid Aveusual route
- 1kitchen, in Palatine
Making a trip of it from Arlington Heights
A slow morning from Arlington Heights
Coffee downtown → Recreation Park → us, after eleven
- Start downtown: CoCo & Blu in downtown Arlington Heights, 15 minutes from us.
- Recreation Park is fourteen minutes from us and has tables, which is the thing a long drive actually needs.
- Then us, thirteen minutes along Euclid. It is the longest run of the three towns, and the grills are what survive it.
Lunch, thirteen minutes out
Us → back to downtown
- Thirteen minutes along Euclid means the drive picks the order rather than the appetite: kufta kebab and chicken tawook hold, the fries and the kibbeh want eating sooner.
- Ring ahead if you are coming on the hour. That is the busiest stretch of our day and the wait is shorter with an order already in.
Dinner, then the Metropolis
Us → the theatre on Campbell Street
- The Metropolis is twelve minutes from us, so collecting on the way in costs almost nothing — doubling back afterwards costs the drive twice.
- Bowls eat tidily in a seat and the smoked rice keeps its heat. Kunafeh afterwards, if the interval is generous.
Places near us are named to say how far away they are, nothing more. Check their own hours before you set off.
On near Arlington Heights soon
The Rock N' Horror Halloween Concert
Friday 30 October · Metropolis Performing Arts Centre
12 minutes, which is platter and bowl territory -- they hold their heat under a lid where anything fried does not.
Dates are the venue’s — check before you set off.
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical
Thursday 5 November · Metropolis Performing Arts Centre
12 minutes, which is platter and bowl territory -- they hold their heat under a lid where anything fried does not.
Dates are the venue’s — check before you set off.
The Christmas Schooner
Tuesday 24 November · Metropolis Performing Arts Centre
12 minutes, which is platter and bowl territory -- they hold their heat under a lid where anything fried does not.
Dates are the venue’s — check before you set off.
How far it is from around Arlington Heights
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From Metropolis Performing Arts Centre — about 12 minutes, 5.8 miles. Photo R7mathews, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons -
13 min 5.4 mi
From Northwest Community Hospital
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From downtown Arlington Heights and the Metra station — about 13 minutes, 5.6 miles. Photo Wendy, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons -
From Recreation Park — about 14 minutes, 6.2 miles. -
…and what to bring with you
Times are typical driving times and vary with traffic.
What people from Arlington Heights order it for
Recreation Park and anywhere with a table
Fourteen minutes is the longest drive on this page, which rules a few things out and makes the choice easier. Grills hold under foil — kufta kebab, chicken tawook — and the sandwich platter arrives in one piece. Fattoush is the salad to take; it is dressed to be eaten a little while after it is made.
Downtown, before the Metropolis
Twelve minutes to the theatre on Campbell Street, which is a pickup on the way rather than a detour. Bowls eat tidily in a seat and the smoked rice keeps its heat; kunafeh afterwards, if the interval is long enough.
A shift at Northwest Community
Thirteen minutes, and a hospital runs on its own clock rather than ours — so this is the order to place ahead for a set time. Wraps travel individually wrapped and get eaten whenever somebody is free, which is the point.
Everything above is off our own menu — see all of it, or ask for a catering quote.
Asked from Arlington Heights
Thirteen minutes is a fair drive — will it still be hot?
The grills will be. Kufta kebab and chicken tawook sit under foil and arrive in good order, and the bowls keep their heat under the lid because of the rice. What will not survive is anything fried: the potato fries and the kibbeh are at their best much sooner than thirteen minutes.
Is this Mediterranean food, or something more specific?
Both, really. Mediterranean is the shelf it sits on — mezze, grills, salads, flatbread — and what we actually cook is Levantine: shawarma carved off the spit, kufta and shish tawook over flame, hummus and muhammara made here each day. If you are driving thirteen minutes for Mediterranean food, that is the kind you will get.
Can I pick something up on the way to the Metropolis?
That is the easier way round, yes. The theatre on Campbell Street is twelve minutes from us, so collecting on the way in costs almost nothing, whereas doubling back afterwards costs the whole drive twice.
Can you deliver to a shift at Northwest Community?
Delivery is the apps’ call, not ours — Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash each set their own area, so the app will say whether it covers the address. For a shift, collection ordered ahead for a set time tends to work better anyway: the hospital is thirteen minutes away and wraps keep perfectly well wrapped until somebody is free to eat.
Something not answered here? Ask us.
What our customers say
I had the chicken shawarma sandwich here and it was SO good. The garlic sauce was absolutely delicious.
You have to try this place! It's amazing authentic middle eastern food! It's a family owned business.
The drive from Arlington Heights
Google's own directions, so they stay current with the roads.
Getting it from Arlington Heights
Pick it up. Order online and collect it on Algonquin Road. Ordering direct goes through our own system rather than a delivery app.
Or have it delivered. Delivery is handled by Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash. Each app sets its own delivery area and fees, so the app will tell you whether it reaches your address — we do not run our own drivers.
Catering in Arlington Heights
We cater shawarma, grills, family platters, salads and vegan dishes for offices, celebrations and community events. Give us the date, headcount and whether you want it collected or delivered, and we will quote it — see catering.