What’s the thing about shawarma, you ask? It’s one of those foods where there is very little middle ground – it’s good, or it’s not.  For years, a co-worker talked about the chicken shawarma he got every time he went back to Furman.  Then my daughter, whose best friend lives in Greenville, was raving about this shawarma place there.  I finally put two and two together and ended up with the Pita House.

A Greenville institution, the small family run grocery and sandwich shop has been serving middle eastern delights to the masses for nearly thirty years. They make and serve nearly 1,000 pieces of fresh pita bread daily and we stood in (what is said to be a daily) line to place our order.  My beloved ordered the chicken shawarma over hummos, which was served with olives, pickles and tomatoes and tahini salad.

The hummos, of which she shared a taste, was very well seasoned and perfectly creamy.  I went with the straight shawarma plate, with the same sides.

The key to shawarma is the roasting process, where the meat is cut into thin strips and stacked into a conical shape, then roasted on slow turning vertical spit.  Yep – just like the meat you see at the mall gyro place that they slice and put in your pita – it’s the same thing.  The seasoning at the Pita House is perfect and the pitas served with every plate are beautiful pillows of dough that make the perfect wrap for these thin slices of heaven.  I know why both folks were fans.