Shawarma & Co in Oklahoma City: Levantine Sandwiches and Slow-Roasted Meat
Shawarma & Co is a counter-service Mediterranean restaurant in Oklahoma City that specializes in shawarma, grilled kebab, and mezze plates drawn from Levantine cooking. The operation is small and focused, with a straightforward menu built around meat cooked vertically on a spit or char-grilled over open flame, served in pita or over rice with yogurt sauces and pickled vegetables.
What Shawarma & Co actually is
The restaurant occupies a compact storefront designed for quick ordering and eating at a handful of tables or taking food away. The kitchen is visible from the counter, and the cooking method is fundamental to the product: chicken, beef, and lamb shawarma are stacked and rotated on a vertical spit, then sliced to order and assembled into sandwiches or plates. This approach matters because the meat develops a crust from contact with heat while staying moist inside, a texture you cannot achieve through grilling alone. Kebabs are charred over an open flame. The style is Levantine, rooted in the cooking of the Levant region (Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan), which means heavy use of cumin, sumac, pomegranate molasses, and tahini-based sauces rather than heavy cream or tomato-heavy reductions.
Menu and pricing
Shawarma sandwiches run $10 to $14 depending on meat choice, with chicken the entry point and lamb the highest tier. Each sandwich includes pita, the sliced meat, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a choice of garlic sauce or tahini-based sauce. Plates build the same protein over rice with hummus, fattoush (crisp pita salad with sumac), or tabbouleh (parsley salad with lemon and bulgur) at $14 to $17. Kebab plates, with two or three skewers of chicken, beef, or lamb grilled to order, cost $16 to $19 and come with rice, grilled vegetables, and sauce. Mezze for sharing, such as hummus, baba ganoush, dolmas, and falafel, run $4 to $8 per item. Prices remain consistent day to day; no promotional discounting is typical.
How Shawarma & Co compares to other Mediterranean options in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City's Mediterranean restaurant landscape splits between full-service restaurants with broader Middle Eastern menus and small shawarma or kebab specialists. Petra, located in Midtown, offers similar Levantine cooking but with a wider mezze selection and table service in a sit-down setting; it suits diners seeking a longer meal and more variety, whereas Shawarma & Co serves those wanting speed and a tighter focus on roasted meat. Zest Mediterranean Grill, also in Midtown, centers on Greek and Turkish grilled kebabs with a similar counter-service model but emphasizes gyro-style meat cooked on a vertical spit less prominently in its menu copy. The distinction matters if you are specifically seeking the architectural precision of vertical spit cooking, where Shawarma & Co is explicit about the method.
Who Shawarma & Co suits and who it does not
This restaurant works best for lunch or casual dinner when you want a complete meal in under 20 minutes, need familiar Levantine flavors without negotiating a large menu, or are traveling solo or in pairs and prefer counter service. The menu contains vegetarian mezze (hummus, baba ganoush, falafel, tabbouleh) but is meat-forward; vegetarians will find sides and starters rather than a dedicated vegetarian entrée. The space is compact and best suited to eating at one of the small tables or taking food away rather than lingering. Anyone seeking full table service, extensive wine or beer pairing options, or a broader Arabic or Middle Eastern menu will be better served at a larger dining room.
What the first visit involves
Walk to the counter and order from a menu board listing all proteins and plate configurations. You will see the shawarma spit and open flame kebab grill from your position. Tell the counter staff which meat and which delivery format (sandwich or plate) you want, which sauce, and whether you want any sides. Payment happens at the register after ordering. Food is prepared and plated while you wait, typically in five to ten minutes. Take a seat at one of the small tables, or collect your bag and go. Drink options are limited to bottled water and sodas; no alcohol is served.
Hours, parking, and logistics
Shawarma & Co operates Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and is closed Sundays. Parking is street or lot parking in the immediate area; the location does not have a dedicated lot. Confirm current hours before visiting, as restaurant schedules in Oklahoma City occasionally shift seasonally. The restaurant is fully accessible from the street with no stairs at entry.
Shawarma & Co fills a specific niche in Oklahoma City's restaurant mix: fast, Levantine cooking centered on one technique done consistently well, without pretension or wait times.
