Discover Santa Clara: Shawarmaji
By Loureen Ayyoub
Beef and lamb stacked onto a vertical rotisserie greet diners walking into Shawarmaji, a Bay Area eatery that co-owner Feras Abutaha says is filling a long-missing niche in the region’s crowded Mediterranean food scene.
“There’s a lot of Mediterranean food throughout the Bay Area, but that distinct Jordanian flavor didn’t really exist,” said Abutaha, co-owner of Shawarmaji.
With simple, Jordanian street-food style ingredients, Shawarmaji has attracted diners from across the Bay Area.
Beginning with its Oakland location and, more recently, to a second restaurant in Santa Clara, the menu features items such as extra green falafel and a house-made garlic sauce so fresh it’s often noticed before customers reach the counter.
Abutaha said the focus on house-made ingredients has helped build a loyal and growing following.
“We’ve gotten a lot of love from Santa Clara; we’ve done really well here. We appreciate the community,” he said. “And I think the community also appreciates us, too, because everything we make is from scratch.”
The variety of sauces has proven so popular that Shawarmaji now ships them nationwide.
Still, Abutaha said the restaurant’s biggest draw remains its classic shawarma wrap — a simple combination of meat, pickles and garlic sauce, just as you would encounter it on the streets of Amman.
“Once they take a bite, that first bite, and they see the flavor profile, they truly enjoy it, and it’s helped our success,” he said.
Located near Levi’s Stadium, the Santa Clara restaurant also offers gluten-free options, catering to San Francisco 49ers fans before and after games. With the team enjoying recent success, Abutaha said the atmosphere has been especially upbeat.
“It’ll be even more exciting if they actually make it to the Super Bowl, so we’ll have a home team at the Super Bowl,” he said.
For Shawarmaji, that excitement, paired with the steady aroma of freshly prepared shawarma and garlic sauce, has helped turn first-time visitors into everyday regulars.
