Baba Shawarma and Bakery

Absolutely Delicious & Heartwarming Experience! We had an amazing visit to Baba Shawarma & Bakery! The mixed shawarma platter and the chicken shawarma sandwich with hummus were full of flavor and perfectly seasoned. The arayes were incredibly delicious, and the kibbeh was truly mouth-watering — you can taste the authenticity in every bite. The owner was so kind and generous, even giving us free fresh bread. One was filled with spinach and the other with potatoes — both absolutely amazing! The restaurant proudly features its Palestinian roots, and it truly shines through the food, hospitality, and atmosphere. We’ll definitely be going back, and we encourage everyone to support them. Highly recommended! 🌟🍽️💚

I was bummed to hear Kanoon closed down in Central Jersey, where we don't have great smoked meats or BBQ. But we also don't have good shawarma spots down here, and Baba Shawarma is filling that gap nicely! The owner is an incredibly kind and inviting host, and although I was just getting a quick bite to eat, he allowed me to sit in the restaurant and eat as if I was dining in (meaning they cleaned up after me, very nice of them to do!). In addition, we got to talking and in between our conversation, one of the customers who was leaving remarked that the bakery bread looked very good. The owner gave it to him on the spot, and refused to take any payment! After I was seated, he saw that I didn't have a drink (I just went for a quick bite), and he gave me a complimentary mint lemonade! The lemonade was fantastic, the shawarma was exactly what central jersey is missing, and the hospitality was unparalleled. They are still in their trial phase and haven't hired full staff or opened up fully yet, but I can tell they're going to be successful! And I already went back again to try more food, and the meat sampler was very, very good! I recommend the beef shawarma as well. Everything I had I enjoyed and I don't think other restaurants in the area offer similar taste.

The food and the service was excellent. We got the hummus with the beef Shawarma, which was a 10 out of 10. I also got a mixed grill and a chicken crispy Shawarma sandwich with french fries and everything was so fresh and delicious. I will definitely be back here and recommend this place.

Someone sent me for their crispy chicken shawarma and it definitely was a good sandwich. Loved the sandwich with fries and the platter. The place was very clean and the waiters were always asking if we needed anything. Loved their fresh bread made on premises!

1. Please don’t go and waste your time and money. 2. It took 35 mins for 2 Shawarma sandwiches, 1 Arayes and 1 Shawarma platter. I am not exaggerating, the server was embarrassed and said so himself. 3. The Shawarma is ‘gyro’ meat, not actual Shawarma chunks like are served in Paterson middle eastern restaurants. Maybe that was my expectation from a place that calls itself ‘Baba Shawarma’. 4. Fries were good, but they felt like Restaurant Depot fries. Hummus was below average. 5. Music was so loud that we couldn’t talk amongst each other. We had to request them to lower it down a bit, which they did right away. 6. They charged us 18% gratuity automatically for such horrible service. i would have never paid that had i known they would tag it on their own. We had been there before when it was called Qanoon and were disappointed before as well. I thought perhaps moving away from being a BBQ joint to a Shawarma joint would improve it and we would get a closer location that served authentic shawarma in Central Jersey. That really disappointed us, frankly. You may see fancy influencers dancing and ton of meat on tables, but please know that’s all a show. If you want to try your luck and and possibly waste a $100.00, you can give it a shot.

Lovely experience, great customer service and lovely food. The shawarma was AMAZING both the chicken and beef were so good, get the platter you can’t go wrong with it! Definitely will be making the drive to New Jersey just for this

An authentic Palestinian cousin- offers delicious traditional foods along with beautifully presented enrich culture and life. Setting arrangements are very favorable to have a round table gossiping and making memories! 👌

I visited this restaurant on two separate occasions, and unfortunately both experiences were disappointing. First Visit: I arrived around 8:45 PM (the restaurant was open until 10 PM) and asked for a simple chicken shawarma wrap to go. I was told they were “out of everything” and advised to “come back earlier next time.” This left a bad first impression, but I decided to give the place another chance. Second Visit: I returned with a group of seven friends. As soon as we walked in, I overheard the owner speaking rudely to a customer placing a takeout order—telling her it would take 50 minutes and refusing her polite request for a phone call when the order was ready. The dismissive attitude was hard to ignore. When it was my turn, I asked for a table for eight. The restaurant was only at half capacity with several open tables, yet the owner told me there would be a 50-minute wait. I said we didn’t mind waiting, but also asked if one of the open tables could be used. Only then did the owner agree to clean the table. We all ordered chicken shawarma dinner plates. The food took roughly 80 minutes to arrive, and when it finally did, it was cold, dry, and lacked flavor. The manager who served the plates seemed disengaged and wouldn’t even make eye contact. We also attempted to place a to-go order afterward, but again were met with the same attitude: “It’ll take an hour—are you sure you want to order?” To make matters worse, an 18% gratuity was automatically added despite the poor service. Additionally, around 8 PM—three hours before closing—the owner was turning away customers, telling them they were “closed” with no explanation, and in a noticeably rude manner. Overall, the lack of basic customer service combined with mediocre, flavorless food makes this a restaurant I cannot recommend. If you’re looking for quality Mediterranean food and a welcoming environment, I strongly suggest taking your business elsewhere.

The food was really nice. We ordered the mix grill, chicken and chicken chops. The service was good and the ambience was really nice As we were waiting, we glanced over at the other tables and the food that they ordered was also looking really good. It gives us another reason to go back and try the other dishes.

Starting with the food, the steak was excellent and was the best dish. The lamb shoulder was dry and the bread served with food was cold. I did find a discrepancy on the pricing on their menu and that displayed on their website. The steak is priced at $10 more in the restaurant. I came to know about the pricing during the bill as I have dined in the Clinton branch before. I feel the wrong pricing is unfair and misleading to customers.

They removed my review on Google, I didn't even know that was possible. So I'm resorting to yelp. I was extremely disappointed with the food I received. I ordered the grilled chicken platter for takeout, but when I opened it, the rice was wet and mushy. The chicken was tough, lacked flavor and was barely seasoned, with only the tiniest drizzle of BBQ sauce on top. The rice was just plain white rice-soggy/wet and overcooked -despite the menu describing it as "smoked rice." I couldn't finish the meal, because it just didn't taste good at all. The platter was also way too overpriced for the quality I received. I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant since the other location is far from me, but after this experience, I won't be returning.

Came for my graduation lunch and it was a lovely experience that I would highly recommend. Lunch and an unexpected show with their flame thrower like kitchen torch! Every food item was flavorful and the smoke meats were amazing with this sauce that came with the Buffalo wings. The homemade seasoning for the rice was spectacular! Fresh vegetables were served first and a wonderful opener. The mint lemonade was amazing and I had two! Service was pretty fast and the decorum is on point and very clean. The owner takes pride in the dishes made and they truly are made with love. I have seen that other reviews have stated lack of flavor but I highly disagree. Salt may be low for some dishes but that is what the sauce is for! Will be returning!

This place steals a lot of money I was there yesterday and ordered, according to what I saw, the price for one pound was $39, but I also ordered one pound. After I ate, I was surprised that the bill came out to be two and a half pounds, and I paid $120, including taxes and services. They charge $30. This place is a scam. It gives you your order without saying that this is an order of more than a pound. You will be surprised after eating. Be careful of this restaurant.

Delicious! Love the chicken platters, everything cooked to perfection, even the rice!

Before starting, this is the first bad review I leave for any restaurant. Because of the management. Went there in a larg group of six families. Each one Separate check. Here is what I got with my family. 1. Food came 1 dish at a time. However we planed to share couple dishes at the same time but every dish is served after almost finishing the dish before. But we didn't complain. Just a bad luck with the kitchen. 2. Confirmed with the server on a specific dish that it will be served as one pound only but at the end we get charged of extra over half pound. When other families with us get charged only for one pound. And the managers himself called us cheap when we showed disagreement. Then the server apologized and said it was his false and fixed it. But going back to pay to that rude two managers he declined the adjustment. 3. Prices in there online menu is different when you go there and the place just opened for 2 months. 4. Managers there in need to know what is customer service is, instead of being rude and trying to just make customers leave with bad experiences. After all, I'll go back to Meat Moot in Paterson. Hundred times better food and service.

Food presentation was excellent. Food and Service was absolutely amazing. Mint Lemonade was very refreshing and the steak was cooked very well and the was great on seasoning

Restaurant is nice but overpriced. Service is ok. Over all the food was bland. Vegetable salad, kebabs all were in a dire need of salt. Except for the appetizer platter everything was bland. Amount of "pita" given with the appetizer was very small, instead we were provided with lots of fries? No ice water or tap water are provided. They only provide bottled water.

The ambience is great but can't say the same for the food. The bread for the table was cold and felt stale. The food was ok for the price charged. Won't be returning to this one

Instagram caught my eye , thats how i heard about kanoon. My buddy and i see new places on instagram and we randomly say lets go! So we get to kanoon and the ambiance was great. I loved that the employees spoke broken english . They brought a couple things to start that were on the house . We got the spare ribs and rack of lamb . And for dessert we got this pistachio pastry with real vanilla bean ice cream . 10/10 recommend. Great for parties or just a random Thursday outing

The service and the atmosphere was good. However this restaurant is overpriced and the food is under seasoned to bland. I ordered the Beef Shank with smoked rice. My husband and daughter ordered the lamb chops with rice and they said that it was just alright. The white sauce was rancid that came with the lamb. I had 3 sauces , mint, relish and a spicy sauce. i can tell that the mint sauce was just mint leaves blended to a paste with no flavor at all. Who eats relish with beef shank anyway? I travelled over an hour because I wanted to support this business as a Muslim And was anticipating great food. They definitely have good marketing I'll tell you that. Overall very disappointed. Any restaurant owner and Executive chef should know that you have to taste, taste, taste before serving the food. With that said please season the food better because if the food is tasty people will pay. I will not be going back ever again. You only have one shot to make a great impression and I was not impressed at all.

food is alright, vibes/ambiance and customer service is 12/10!! had so much fun coming with family they definitely lit the place up LITERALLY

Outrageous food and service. The presentation of the food was beautiful presented. The lemonade to die for. Had a bit of everything! Hummus, smoked brisket, kabob! Yum!!! A must go to! Everything fresh!!

When we arrived, the restaurant was nearly empty, but we were shown to the worst table next to the kitchen. The humus and the tabuleh salad were so-so. The pita bread was very good. No alcohol is allowed. We were charged a 3% "service charge" which we presumed was in addition to whatever tip we were to leave. We left our customary 20% tip to be fair to the server, but thought the service charge was unusual. It is unlikely we will return to this restaurant.

I am grateful they were open on EID! the ambience was very attractive and cozy and were seated upon arrival as we had reservations. The waitresses came three of them with no food coming to take orders and brought no appetizers or drinks. We reminded them someone else took the order already still they came many times. Parts of the order was missing and we had to wait to get it, the fries and smoked brisket came nearly cold and wrong as we didn't want cheese on the fries for allergy reasons. The lamb chops and kabobs were cooked to perfection needed salt and the Kufta kebob needed more seasoning to taste Mediterranean. Garden salad was all fresh which was refreshing. We spent $300 plus and the food was not SEASONED! the garlic sauce needed some affection and the babouganush (eggplant dip) fell flat on all notes missing the elements that heighten the dish twang and salt. Although, people were polite and hostess at the counter wore a beautiful garment, this place is struggling. Coordination of order taking and receiving it complete was an epic fail. I find the site in Paterson is waaayyy Better hands down. The experience here was nice just costly for no reason..