Shawarma Near Me by Universal City, Chicken Thigh Pitas: Joe's Falafel

Joe's Falafel, at 3535 Cahuenga Blvd W in the Cahuenga Pass, is a small family-run restaurant that calls Studio City home and sits a short drive from Universal City. When shawarma near me means a quick, honest lunch on the way to or from the studios, its chicken shawarma pita, made with thigh meat, hummus, lettuce, tomato and tahini, is $13.95 on the restaurant's own menu. The full shawarma plate with rice, salad and hummus is $18.95.

The restaurant's story page describes Joe's Falafel as a small mom-and-pop restaurant that started in Studio City and stayed family-run. It has a better record than most strip-mall lunch counters: Yelp put it on its Top 100 Places to Eat in the US list in 2015 and again in 2016. Two years in a row on a national list is rare for a place with a menu built around pitas, bowls and plates.

The business is registered today as Joe's Falafel E&B, according to the website footer, and the site does not give a founding year or name an owner, so the story here sticks to what the restaurant says about itself: family recipes, friendly service and a short menu of Lebanese and Mediterranean staples. Its frequently asked questions list gyros, shawarma, kebabs and hummus among the dishes it is known for.

The key detail is the cut. Joe's uses chicken thigh for its shawarma, which stays juicier than breast meat and takes on more of the marinade. In the pita, the thigh meat is layered over a spread of hummus with lettuce, tomato and tahini sauce, a lighter build than the garlic-heavy wraps of Little Armenia. The lafa version, wrapped in the larger, thinner flatbread with the same fillings, is $15.95.

The shawarma plate, at $18.95, is the most complete way to eat it: chicken thigh, hummus, salad and rice, served with pita. For a smaller add-on, a half order of shawarma is $6.95, useful if you want to put meat on a falafel plate or share a little extra at the table. Hummus topped with chicken shawarma and served with pita is also $18.95.

The dish the restaurant features most prominently is the large shawarma bowl at $18.95. It is layered rather than tossed: rice at the bottom, then spicy fava beans, chicken shawarma, tahini sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese and house dressing, with pita bread on the side. The fava beans give it an earthy heat that sets it apart from a standard rice bowl.

The falafel that gives the restaurant its name is the other reason to come. The falafel pita is $12.95, and the falafel plate brings six falafels with hummus, salad, rice, pita and tahini for $17.95. For a bigger appetite, the combo grill at $26.95 adds chicken kabob, beef kabob, kafta and chicken shawarma to hummus, salad and rice, served with lafa bread. A gyro pita with tzatziki is $13.95.

Joe's lists dine-in, outdoor seating, takeout, delivery and catering among its services, and vegan options are marked on the menu. The online menu on the restaurant's website handles pickup and delivery orders, so you can order ahead and collect the food at the counter instead of waiting for it to be cooked.

The kitchen also does catering, so a spread of falafel, hummus and shawarma can be arranged for an office meeting or a group gathering nearby. Sunday is the one day with a shorter schedule, opening at noon and finishing an hour earlier than the rest of the week.

The restaurant describes itself as a Studio City spot, but its address on Cahuenga Boulevard West, ZIP 90068, places it in the Cahuenga Pass on the Los Angeles side of the hills, just south of Universal City. Cahuenga Boulevard West runs alongside the Hollywood Freeway, which makes Joe's an easy stop for drivers heading between Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley.

If you come by Metro, the Universal City/Studio City station on the B Line is about half a mile away in a straight line, or roughly 0.7 miles on foot along Cahuenga Boulevard West. That puts a shawarma lunch within reach of a day at Universal Studios Hollywood, which is reached from the same station by a free shuttle up the hill.

Right beside the Metro station is Campo de Cahuenga, California Historical Landmark No. 151. It marks the site where the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed in 1847, ending the fighting in California during the Mexican-American War. The small adobe-style building and its grounds make a quiet stop before or after lunch, a contrast to the theme park across the street.

From there, Lankershim Boulevard heads north into Studio City and North Hollywood, while the studios and Universal CityWalk sit up the hill to the east. A shawarma lunch at Joe's followed by a walk to Campo de Cahuenga is a simple way to see a piece of early California history in a part of town better known for movie sets.

Joe's suits studio workers, Universal visitors and Valley drivers who want a filling, fairly priced Middle Eastern lunch without a long sit-down meal. Vegetarians and vegans eat well here thanks to the falafel, hummus and marked vegan options, and the thigh-meat shawarma is a good choice for anyone who finds breast-meat versions dry.

It is less of a destination for a long dinner with drinks or a mezze feast for a big table. The menu is short and the restaurant is small, so treat it as an excellent everyday lunch rather than a night out. If you want a celebration-style Lebanese dinner, the full-service rooms of Glendale are a better match.

Address: Joe's Falafel, 3535 Cahuenga Blvd W, Suite 105, Los Angeles, CA 90068. Phone: (323) 512-4447. Hours from the official site: Monday to Saturday 11 am to 9 pm, Sunday 12 pm to 8 pm. Services: dine-in, outdoor seating, takeout, delivery and catering, with vegan options. Getting there: Metro B Line to Universal City/Studio City, then about 0.7 miles on foot. Recognition: Yelp's Top 100 Places to Eat in the US in 2015 and 2016.