How Shawarma Is Made: The 12-Hour Process

Most people picture shawarma being made the way they’ve seen it on TV: a big rotating stack of meat, someone shaving it off with a knife, sandwich assembled on the spot. That’s the last 10 minutes. The first 11 hours and 50 minutes are where the real work happens.

Hour 0 to 1: Picking and trimming the cut

For our beef shawarma, we use specific cuts of halal-sourced beef chosen for their balance of fat and lean muscle. Too lean, and the spit dries out as it spins; too fatty, and it goes greasy. Trimming is done by hand — we want the silver skin and connective tissue out before the marinade goes on, so the spices reach the meat directly.

Hour 1 to 2: The marinade

Our marinade is a family Iraqi-Mediterranean recipe — a baharat blend (warm seven-spice), garlic, lemon, olive oil, and a few proportions we don’t share publicly. Each batch of beef gets fully coated and worked in by hand. This isn’t a quick brush; the meat needs to be massaged so the marinade penetrates beyond the surface.

Hour 2 to 14: The rest

The single most important step, and the one most shawarma shortcuts skip: a long, cold rest. We marinate overnight, minimum 12 hours. This is when the spices actually do their work — salt and acid in the marinade break down protein structures, and the flavor seeps deep into the meat instead of sitting on the surface.

Hour 14 to 14:30: Stacking the spit

The vertical spit is loaded by hand, layer by layer. We alternate fattier and leaner cuts in a specific pattern so the fat renders downward through the lean cuts as the spit rotates. Done right, every layer bastes the layers below it. Done wrong, you get dry zones and greasy zones.

Hour 14:30 to closing: Slow roast

The spit fires up to medium heat — not high. High heat sears the outside while the interior stays raw; medium heat lets the outside caramelize into the dark, glossy crust shawarma is known for, while the inside stays moist. The spit rotates continuously. As the outermost layer cooks through, we shave it off with a long knife, exposing fresh meat to the heat. The cycle repeats all day.

The shave

Every order gets shaved off the spit at the moment you order it. The crust gets sliced thin, the meat below it stays warm, and the whole thing goes onto your plate within 30 seconds of being cut. No heat lamps, no holding bins, no pre-pulled trays. If we run out at the end of the night, we run out — we’d rather close than serve held meat.

Why this matters

A lot of restaurants run flat-top “shawarma” — pre-cooked meat reheated on a griddle. It’s faster, cheaper, and looks similar on the plate. It does not taste similar. The vertical spit and the 12-hour rest are what give real shawarma its texture: crispy at the edges, tender at the center, layered with spice instead of glazed in it.