Shawarma Near Me on Balboa Boulevard in Granada Hills: Furn Saj Bakery

Furn Saj, at 11146 Balboa Blvd in Granada Hills, opens at 7 am six days a week and closes all day Monday. It is a Lebanese bakery first, but anyone searching shawarma near me in the north San Fernando Valley should know the chicken shawarma plate here is $25 and arrives with two sides, garlic sauce and a sheet of saj bread. The Infatuation put it on its list of the 12 best shawarma spots in LA, updated in February 2026.

The name is a short lesson in how the kitchen works. Furn is the Arabic word for oven, and saj is the domed griddle the thin bread is baked on, and the official site spells out both meanings. The business describes itself as family-run and baked to order, and it now runs three shops: Granada Hills, Calabasas and San Diego. No public source names a founder, so the story worth telling is the food rather than a biography.

Eat the World LA, which tracks immigrant restaurants across the county, called it a seven-year-old restaurant and bakery in 2020 and added an editor's note in March 2024 that it was past ten years. That puts the Balboa Boulevard shop well over a decade into its run. The same writer pointed to the multiple shawarma spits and an unusually light falafel as the two things regulars argue about when they explain why they keep driving up the 405.

Start with the plate if you are hungry and splitting. The Chicken Shawarma Plate costs $25 and comes with garlic sauce, while the Beef Shawarma Plate is $26 and is paired with tahini instead. Both include two sides of your choice and saj bread. The Infatuation described the chicken as sweet and juicy with ample char on the outside and said the portion is almost enough for two people, which matches what most tables do here.

The wraps are a different experience rather than a smaller plate. Each costs $18 and is rolled, then pressed to a crunchy toast on the saj. The beef version gets a spread of hummus, tomatoes, onions and tahini, and the chicken version gets garlic spread, tomatoes and pickles. Add avocado to any wrap for $1.50. If you cannot choose between meats, the Half Shawarma Half Lamb Gyro Plate is $26 and swaps in tzatziki.

Two other shawarma formats show up on the menu and are easy to miss. Hummus with Chicken Shawarma is $18 and works as a shared starter, topped with sliced chicken and served with one warm saj bread. Chicken Shawarma Bites are small baked parcels sold at $18 for a half dozen or $30 for a dozen, and they travel better than anything else in the case if you are taking food to a party.

Ignoring the bread side of the room would be a mistake. The menu runs past 70 items, and the backbone is manaeesh, the open-faced flatbreads that Lebanese families eat for breakfast. The Zaatar Mana'ish is $6 and is topped with thyme, sesame, sumac and olive oil, baked in the oven until the edges blister. It is the cheapest way to taste what the furn actually does, and it pairs well with a shawarma wrap if two people are sharing.

Breakfast is served all day, according to the official FAQ, so a late riser can still order a zaatar flatbread at 3 pm. Vegetarians have real choices too. The Falafel Wrap is $16 with parsley, turnips, tomatoes and tahini, and vegan dishes are labeled on the menu, including a vegan chicken plate and a vegan cheese melt mana'ish. An honest note: the vegan chicken is fine, but the falafel is the stronger meat-free order.

The rhythm of the room changes sharply by hour. On weekend mornings The Infatuation watched a steady stream of people order at the counter and then walk carefully to their cars balancing towers of pastry boxes. That crowd is mostly buying bread and pastries, so if you only want shawarma, arriving after 11 am on a Saturday means the bakery line has thinned and the spits are fully loaded for lunch.

Weekday lunch is the calmest window, and Tuesday is a useful target because the shop has just reopened after its Monday closure. Furn Saj is open Tuesday through Sunday from 7 am to 9 pm. At lunchtime, according to The Infatuation, nearly every table is sipping jallab, the fragrant date and grape drink, alongside shawarma. If the counter queue stretches out the door, place an order through the official online menu and collect it instead.

Service is counter style. You order and pay at the register, take a number and pick a seat in the dining room or on the sidewalk patio facing the plaza parking lot. The patio is the better choice on a warm Valley evening. Seating at this counter-service shop is first come, first served, so a big group should send one person ahead to claim tables while the others order.

There is no alcohol, so plan on mint lemonade or jallab with your plate. Parking is free in the shared plaza lot, which gets busy on Saturdays because a grocery store shares it. For groups, the catering menu lists a Shawarma and Skewers tray for 15 guests at $350, which is useful for birthday parties at nearby parks. Call (818) 368-4000 for large orders a day ahead.

The shop sits in a strip plaza on the west side of Balboa Boulevard just south of San Fernando Mission Boulevard. Most visitors drive, but LA Metro Line 236 stops at Balboa and San Fernando Mission and at Balboa and Index, each roughly a three-minute walk away. Drivers coming off the 118 freeway can take the Balboa Boulevard exit and continue south to the plaza.

Make it a short errand loop rather than a sit-down meal if you are pressed. Trader Joe's shares the same plaza a few doors north, so it is easy to stock up after lunch, and Juice Barrel next door makes cold-pressed juices if you want something lighter than jallab. A dozen shawarma bites in a box also makes an easy contribution to a picnic or a party later in the day.

Address: Furn Saj, at 11146 Balboa Blvd, Granada Hills, CA 91344. Phone: (818) 368-4000. Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 7 am to 9 pm, closed Monday. Expect about $25 to $26 for a shawarma plate and $18 for a pressed wrap. If you are coming from the Westside and want shawarma closer to the Valley's south edge, the Calabasas shop is the sister location, but the Granada Hills kitchen is the one the guide writers reviewed.