Shawarma Near Me on Second Street in Belmont Shore: Open Sesame Long Beach

Open Sesame, at 5215 E 2nd St in Belmont Shore, has served Lebanese food to Long Beach for more than two decades. If shawarma near me means a proper sit-down meal a few blocks from the beach, its Long Beach menu lists a chicken shawarma pita at $16, made with breast and thigh meat, garlic sauce, tomato and wild cucumber pickles, and a beef shawarma pita of prime top round with tahini at $17. The shawarma main plates are $25 for chicken and $26 for beef.

Open Sesame's story page is signed by Ali Kobeissi, who writes that the restaurant has been sharing a taste of Lebanon with Southern California since 1999. His own food story starts earlier, at 15, when he spent summers working at a neighborhood spice factory in Lebanon. That background shows up in the menu's use of sumac, garlic and lemon, and in the house garlic potatoes.

The homepage calls it a family-owned Lebanese restaurant that has served Southern California for over 27 years. It quotes the Los Angeles Times describing the food as sinfully filling and says local readers have voted it Best Lebanese Restaurant and Best of Long Beach. The family also runs a second restaurant on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, but the Belmont Shore dining room is the one most Long Beach regulars know.

The two shawarmas here are seasoned and dressed quite differently. The chicken version mixes breast and thigh, which keeps it juicy, and comes with garlic sauce and wild cucumber pickles, the classic Lebanese pairing. The beef version uses prime top round with grilled tomato, parsley, onion, sumac, pickles and tahini, so it eats brighter and more herbal.

As a main plate, each comes with pita bread and a choice of one dip and one salad, which makes the $25 chicken plate and $26 beef plate full dinners rather than sides. Rice can be added to the chicken plate for $2. If you prefer to share, either shawarma can be added on top of a plate of hummus, for $7 with chicken or $8 with beef, which turns a dip into a light meal for two.

The best-value way to eat shawarma here is the weekday lunch special, served Monday to Friday. The chicken shawarma lunch special is $19 and the beef is $20, and each comes with a choice of fattoush salad, hummus or soup. For a lunch near the beach, that is a full Lebanese meal for less than the price of a dinner plate.

Weekday reservations are offered during the lunch period, which helps if you are bringing a group or a client. On evenings and weekends the restaurant uses an online waitlist instead, and the Join Our Waitlist option on its website works only during business hours.

The homepage singles out chicken tawook, falafel, hummus, shawarma, French cut lamb chops, tabbouleh and garlic potatoes as its signature dishes. The chicken tawook plate, marinated breast with garlic sauce and pickles, is $25, and the French cut lamb chops with lemon, garlic, olive oil, parsley, onion, sumac and basmati rice are $37. The mezza sampler, with grape leaves, olives, hummus, tabbouleh, labne and yogurt dip, is $27 and works well as a starter for the table.

For larger gatherings, the party platter for four to six people is $140. It brings lamb, beef, chicken tawook, kafta, chicken kafta and both chicken and beef shawarma on one spread. Shawarma can also be added to any salad, at $12 for chicken and $14 for beef, if you want something lighter.

This is a table-service restaurant with servers, indoor and outdoor seating, and a full menu, so allow time for a relaxed meal. The menu asks diners to tell their server about food allergies, notes that an automatic 18 percent gratuity may apply to parties of six or more, and lists a $20 corkage fee if you bring your own wine.

Takeout, delivery and catering are also offered, so the shawarma and garlic potatoes can travel to a beach picnic or a party at home. For getting there without a car, the restaurant points diners to the free Circuit shuttle, which runs door to door within its Long Beach service area.

Second Street is the main street of Belmont Shore, a long run of shops, cafes and bars between Alamitos Bay and the ocean. After dinner, walk a few blocks to the Bay Shore Neighborhood Library, a small branch of the Long Beach Public Library that reopened in January 2025 after a renovation and sits right beside the calm water of Alamitos Bay.

Head south a few blocks toward the ocean instead and you reach Rosie's Dog Beach on Ocean Boulevard, between Granada and Roycroft avenues, the city's off-leash stretch of sand. Even without a dog, it is a pleasant place to walk off a shawarma plate and watch the light over the water.

Open Sesame suits couples and families who want a sit-down Lebanese dinner near the beach, groups who need a party platter, and weekday lunchers looking for a full shawarma meal at a lunch price. It is also a good choice for mixed groups with vegetarians, since falafel, tabbouleh and the mezza sampler cover a lot of ground.

It is not the place for a five-minute wrap on the run. Service is at the table and evenings can involve a waitlist, so if you only want a quick shawarma pita, order takeout and eat it on the sand.

Address: Open Sesame, 5215 E 2nd St, Long Beach, CA 90803. Phone: (562) 621-1698. Hours from the official site: Sunday to Thursday 11:30 am to 9:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30 am to 10:30 pm. Reservations: weekdays at lunchtime; online waitlist at other times. Services: indoor and outdoor dining, takeout, catering and delivery. Prices quoted are from the restaurant's Long Beach menu. Founded: 1999; owner Ali Kobeissi.