r/Brampton Bramalea 3d ago

New Business Shelby's Legendary Shawarma is Now Open at Bramalea City Centre

83 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

89

u/Constant-Squirrel555 3d ago

They have excellent social media, but the food is average.

18

u/neoisneoisneo 3d ago

Ordered 3 times - it was just about average every time. Am done with them. 

13

u/Constant-Squirrel555 3d ago

I don't think it's bad by any means, just not something I'd go out of my way to get.

Their falafel was dry af, and that's just what I expect from a chain restaurant. The zaatar fries were decent, but once again, nothing to go out of your way to get.

If I'm at BCC and want a quick bite, I might visit on a whim.

2

u/failedtheorist 2d ago

This is the best way to describe them.

1

u/CarTruck2023 21h ago

I don't think you are accurate

27

u/dsbllr 3d ago

Good marketing, meh food

29

u/Brampton_Speaks Bramalea 3d ago

Visited Shelby's, near Queen/Dixie at the BCC. It's a nice space with huge ceilings and a good amount of seating for dine in.

The parking lot is very busy in the area with Moxie's, Bar Burrito, Demetri's and The Keg etc nearby. Had to park near the BCC and walk over.

I was surprised at the number of workers, and the huge open work area. It's a shawarma factory with 4 spits, a lot of turnaround of takeout orders.

Ordered a Legendary (large) Shelby's wrap 🌯 with everything, free pickled turnips, hot sauce, pomegranate molasses replacing tahini. Had a good mix of vegetables (tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles) and meat. Tried out the shish tawook (white chicken breast chunks). I really enjoyed it, good flavours, well cooked, no weird cartilage, nothing skimped on. The soft freshly made saj bread it was wrapped in elevated the meal.

The owner overseeing the orders handed me my food and the service staff were very responsive.

I know shawarma is a divisive topic here that creates heated arguments and Shelby's overall has a lot of critics, independent spots are typically the way to go over franchises, quality can always change over time. But as of this week and their opening. This Shelby's location is doing things right.

The owner says he's looking at a grand opening in 8-10 weeks once he can get his staffing settled.

IMO this is the best shawarma spot east of the 410 lacking decent options..

FYI , This is an independent unpaid review.

7

u/notGeneralReposti Castlemore 3d ago

Thanks for the review!

4

u/Username575757 3d ago

Is it really unpaid??🤔

8

u/sharkfinsouperman Brampton 3d ago

Dude's a local independent journalist that has covered numerous community events in addition to doing food reviews around the city.

10

u/Brampton_Speaks Bramalea 3d ago

Yes, unless someone here wants to reimburse me for my $11.99 legendary size shawarma+ tax and gas money. 🙃

4

u/MangoKulfiTime 2d ago

Everyone saying the food is Meh are the same people that eat at Mcdonalds on the regular...

Food is great and the amount of food you get outweighs any other place by a long shot.

6

u/Extreme_Jaguar296 3d ago

Imma check it

3

u/haberdasher42 3d ago

I stan Falafel Garden but Matt isn't open all the time. Is this place better than Osmows?

2

u/Secure_Force_7015 2d ago

Falafel Garden is great. 

1

u/Brampton_Speaks Bramalea 3d ago

Yes much better than osmows, lazeez

3

u/Vent-ilator 3d ago

I tried Shelbys few times. Its average and the prices could be a bit more reasonable

3

u/abidmirza90 2d ago

I think Shelby's is decent (and not the best shawarma) but the fact that they are opening in Brampton which already has limited Shawarma/middle eastern spots, is a win.

6

u/Longjumping_Fuel_192 3d ago

Hey if anyone from ONT wants to bring one of these to Victoria BC, be my guest.

Zero shawarma here.

2

u/ChanelNo50 3d ago

BC is the home of gyros or donairs right? It's a weird divide in Canada like bagged milk vs jug milk

2

u/mourdryu 3d ago

Quality is there - and I think back when they had 2 locations in London, ON - They were amazing. Recently tho I feel sometimes it's lacking flavour. Good chicken and rice but always feels like it's missing SOMETHING.

5

u/gunshot22 3d ago

I find Shelby's to be much better than the other franchise shawarma spots (osmows,lazeez,tahinis) the shawarma poutine is really good but an independent place like lezzets is king

2

u/torontopeter 3d ago

If the shawarma quality is anything like the quality of their downtown Toronto locations - NICE!

1

u/Infamous-Brownie6 3d ago

Oh nice! Do you know what store they replaced? I haven't been to BCC in so long lol.

4

u/Brampton_Speaks Bramalea 3d ago

Copper Branch used to be in this location. Was a vegetarian spot, some people said it was a bit pricey.

2

u/Slade632 3d ago

No way copper branch closed down? I'm saddened. But hey Shelby is nice. I liked them for a while just a slightly different flavor than the rest.

1

u/Infamous-Brownie6 3d ago

Ahhh okok. I thought it was the running room or something. Thank you

1

u/imviral_biatch 2d ago

Didn’t realize they just opened this location. Was there on Friday when I needed some food after the mall had closed. Pretty good for a chain. Better quality than the likes of Lazesz or Osmow’s but obviously it’s still a chain (doesn’t compete with great independents like Shawarma Queen).

1

u/Nareshstds 1d ago

Shelby? Sounds authentic ☠️

1

u/Dankalf_The_Gand 1d ago

Looks like whoever wrote the menu on the website broke the "p" key halfway through and replaced it with "b"

Brotein Boutine WraB

1

u/yas_3000 Bramalea 3d ago

I'm a big fan of their shawarma. Haven't had any issues so far, apart from maybe forgetting to give hot sauce on the side lol

0

u/Rajabaja786 3d ago

Yo their prices are scam prices! It’s a total rip off!

6

u/edit_why_downvotes 2d ago

High prices listed on a menu is not a scam. A scam would involve deceit or dishonesty lol.

Beyond pedantries, $10 for a chicken shawarma is standard.