By Ahmed Hesham on August 24, 2026 Verified by Google

I had a fantastic experience at Shelby’s Shawarma in Ottawa! The shawarma bowl was packed with flavor, incredibly tasty, and made with super fresh ingredients.
The staff working were absolute sweethearts—extremely helpful, welcoming, and accommodating throughout our visit. The only sad part (jokingly, of course!) was that Yasser Ali and Abbas weren't there on shift! But the team working completely crushed it and provided top-tier service.
If you're looking for delicious food, great vibes, and awesome customer service, Shelby's is a must-visit. Highly recommended!

By Farooq Mian on July 15, 2026 Verified by Google

Had a good experience here with family. The fresh Saj bread makes a big difference in their shawarmas. Bowls, wraps, sides and desserts are all of good quality and tasty. Small area to sit, more of a take out restaurant. Would definitely come back when in town. The kunafa is fantastic. حالال.

By AsHu Tanwar on July 7, 2026 Verified by Google

I visited Shelby Shawarma on Monday between 11:30 PM and 12:00 AM. I had three orders, and at first I was told the wait would be about 10 minutes, which was completely understandable. I waited patiently.

What disappointed me was the service from one of the female employees. She seemed completely distracted and confused while handling orders. She had her earphones in and appeared to be talking to a friend or family member instead of focusing on customers. She was chatting in her native language while people were standing there waiting for their food. It honestly felt like she didn't care about the customers or the growing line.

I also work in a kitchen, so I understand that things get busy, especially during rush hours. Mistakes can happen, and delays are sometimes unavoidable. However, wearing earphones and being on a personal call while serving customers during a busy period is unprofessional and creates a poor experience.

To the owner: it may be worth reviewing staff expectations and ensuring employees stay focused on customer service during busy hours. Good service is just as important as good food, and I hope this feedback helps improve the experience for future customers.

This version is firm and critical without using unnecessary profanity, which generally makes a review more credible and likely to be taken seriously.

By Samantha Lunny on April 5, 2026 Verified by Google

The packaging is beautiful! However the chicken is a VERY poor quality of brown chunky meat. As soon as my husband opened his bowel up, there was a hair in it, gross. We were quite disappointed as this bowl could be fantastic with more cleanliness and a much better quality of chicken. The flavours are good but the chicken and obviously the hair in husbands completely turned us off, therefore we will never order this again.

By Dorothy D on November 19, 2025 Verified by Google

Go to literally any other shawarma spot in Ottawa.

The shawarma wrap itself was honestly just sad. It was tiny, missing filling, and oily at the bottom. I’ve never finished a shawarma and still felt hungry, but this place managed to make that happen… after an hour-long wait.

I was excited to try this place because it went viral online. I wish I could say this was just an off day, but the experience was rough. We only ordered two traditional wraps and waited nearly an hour for our order. The staff had given our food to someone else and when my husband asked about it, they insisted our order was still being made, then later tried to blame him for “not speaking up” when someone walked off with it. They even asked if he wanted the other person’s order instead of immediately remaking ours, and when he said no, they didn’t bother to fix the situation or make it right in any way. The employee working between 7-8pm on Nov 18th also refused to give her name when asked—never a good sign.

Ottawa has plenty of shawarma spots that offer better food, better service, and faster turnaround. This one missed the mark completely! Would not recommend.