Orléans Food Spot Review - Shawarma Palace

Sometimes, I think I make local discoveries. But then I’m quickly brought back down to earth by my wife who quickly reminds me that… “I told you that, like a year ago”. Ok, fair enough, but in case YOU don’t know about this, I have to tell you about a discovery I recently made in Orléans. Sure, it’s hard to miss along its prime retail location along Innes Road, but this Orléans food spot kind of blew my mind, especially when it came to the value extraction I experienced here. Also, it was a very tasty value extraction.

Tucked into a plaza on Innes Road, the Orléans branch of Shawarma Palace is a lot bigger and more ambitious than your average shawarma joint. The exterior makes its intentions clear before you even walk in: a bold storefront with the name spelled out in marquee-style bulb lettering, flanked by two blue Greco-Roman columns topped with stylized flame motifs. It's part diner, part palace, and fully committed to the bit.

Inside is where it gets fun. Soaring ceilings with exposed wooden beams and trusses give the space an airy, almost barn-like feel, while deep navy booths, marble-look tabletops, and globe pendant lighting keep things modern. The showstopper, though, is a vintage red pickup truck, complete with the green cedar of the Lebanese flag painted on its side, mounted up on a wooden platform above the dining room.

There's a corrugated-metal accent wall, leafy plants throughout, a Honey Drip dessert bar, and even glass-door coolers stocked with every soft drink, juice, and sports drink you could want. It's clean, bright, spacious, and family-friendly, with plenty of seating for big groups. The whole place leans into a playful, over-the-top energy that makes it feel like an occasion rather than a quick grab-and-go.

The menu is refreshingly focused: this is a place that knows what it does well. The core lineup runs across Beef, Chicken, BBQ Chicken, and Mixed shawarma, each available as either a plate or a sandwich. Plates come loaded with rice (white or brown), hummus, garlic sauce, pickles, salad, and those spicy garlic potatoes. From there it branches into kabab territory, Kafta Kabab, Beef (Shish) Kabab, Chicken Kabab, and a Mixed Kabab: plus Trio Meals that bundle a sandwich, potatoes, and a bottled Coca-Cola for a friendlier price point.

You can also add individual skewers à la carte. Behind the counter, a row of vertical rotisserie spits turns through chicken and beef all day, with steam trays of golden garlic potatoes, seasoned rice, and falafel ready to plate. Pricing sits in the mid-$20s for most plates, which on paper reads as a little steep, until you actually see what lands in front of you.

I had the Chicken Shawarma plate, and it was ridiculous in size. Absolutely massive portion. A towering mound of shaved, crispy-edged rotisserie chicken piled over a generous bed of rice, with garlic potatoes, fresh greens, and a dollop of garlic sauce rounding it out. The chicken was well-seasoned and had those lovely caramelized bits you only get off a proper vertical spit; the garlic potatoes were a standout, crispy and herby; and the rice soaked everything up nicely.

And what’s great is that if you order a plate like me, you get to basically pick what winds up on your plate from a variety of the buffet-style options, and in what proportion.

Here's the kicker on portion size: it was enough to feed me a larger lunch, and the leftovers were enough for our family of 3 to have dinner. One plate. That's two full meals across four people. Which honestly might be the best takeout/restaurant deal in terms of food for value in all of Orléans, a huge deal considering the rapidly rising cost of food in Canada right now. When a single $25-ish plate stretches that far, the math flips entirely in your favour.

Chicken Shawarma Plate - ⭐️ 4.8 stars out of 5

⭐️ 4.7 stars out of 5

Shawarma Palace nails the things that matter: bold, fresh, well-executed food, a genuinely fun space, and portions so generous they border on absurd in the best possible way. The atmosphere makes it worth dining in, but the value really shines on takeout, where one plate can quietly feed your whole household. If you live in Orléans and you're tired of watching your grocery and restaurant bills creep up, this is one of the smartest food-for-your-dollar plays in the area. Come hungry, plan for leftovers, and look up, there's a truck on the ceiling.