Shawarma Near Me in Bay Ridge, Halal Plates From $18: Lava Shawarma

Lava Shawarma, at 374 86th Street, is the Bay Ridge branch of a small halal shawarma group whose family story goes back to Bethlehem in 1920. If shawarma near me means a filling plate in south Brooklyn, its menu lists a chicken shawarma plate and a lamb and beef shawarma plate at $18 each, wraps at $15, and a Palestinian-Jordanian mansaf for $28. Everything the restaurant serves is halal, according to its own site.

Lava's story page traces the business to 1920, when the family's grandfather began selling hummus and baba ghanouj in Bethlehem. The family name, Khaleel Salman Al Tamiri, is presented as the thread that runs from that first stall to the New York shops, and the recipes are described as handed down through the generations rather than developed for a modern fast-casual chain.

The first Lava opened on the Lower East Side in 2017, serving shawarma and falafel. The group expanded to Bay Ridge in 2025, and its timeline says the next step in 2026 is Lava Diner on Long Island. In the city, the current website lists three shops: this one on 86th Street, one on Third Avenue on the Upper East Side, and one on Thompson Street in SoHo.

The menu treats shawarma as a full plate first and a sandwich second. The chicken shawarma plate, at $18, comes with Jerusalem salad dressed in tahini sauce, rice and garlic sauce. Jerusalem salad is the finely chopped cucumber and tomato salad served all over Palestine, and here the tahini makes it creamy enough to work as a second sauce for the chicken.

The lamb and beef shawarma plate is also $18 and is the one to choose if you like a deeper, fattier shawarma. Mixed lamb and beef is common at Palestinian and Jordanian shawarma stands, and it gives the meat a richer edge than the chicken. Two people can order one of each and split them, which is a good way to compare the two styles in a single meal.

For something you can eat with one hand, Lava sells three wraps at $15 each: the Lava chicken wrap, the beef and lamb Lava wrap and the Lava mix wrap, which combines both meats. Fries can be added for $4. The kitchen also turns its chicken shawarma into a chicken shawarma burger or a set of chicken shawarma sliders, each listed at $16, an easy pick for children who are wary of a full plate.

Vegetarians and vegans are not stuck with falafel alone. The Lava vegan shawarma, at $16, is made with mushroom and cauliflower, fries, tahini and pickles, and it borrows the spice profile of the meat versions. The menu also lists Egyptian koshari, the rice, lentil and pasta dish topped with tomato sauce and fried onions, at $17, and a wagyu burger at $19.

The dish that sets Lava apart from a standard shawarma counter is mansaf, the celebration dish of Jordan and Palestine. Lava's version is lamb shank over basmati rice with flatbread, toasted almonds and yogurt sauce. One piece of lamb is $28, and two pieces are $40, which is enough for a pair of hungry diners to share.

For groups, the menu offers family-style trays. The tray for two to three people is $120 and includes lamb and beef shawarma alongside chicken shawarma, and a larger tray for four to six people is $160. In a neighborhood where large family dinners are the norm, these trays are a practical way to feed a gathering at home without cooking.

Lava's own website handles online orders, and the Brooklyn location appears as one of the shops you can order from. Pick the Bay Ridge shop at checkout so the order goes to 86th Street rather than to SoHo or Third Avenue. The official location page gives a direct phone line for the Bay Ridge shop, which is the easiest way to place a large tray order for a party.

Because the menu is halal from top to bottom, Lava is a straightforward choice for Muslim families and for groups mixing people with different dietary rules. Bay Ridge has one of the largest Arab-American communities in New York, and halal shops, bakeries and grocers line nearby avenues, so a shawarma lunch here fits into a wider afternoon of food shopping.

The shop is on 86th Street, the main shopping strip of Bay Ridge, and the nearest train is the R at the Eighty-Sixth Street station on Fourth Avenue. Walk south along Fourth Avenue and you reach the Fort Hamilton branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, which moved into its current building in 1905 and was one of Brooklyn's first Carnegie libraries.

A little farther on stands the Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick, a reminder of the Irish and Italian families who shaped Bay Ridge long before its Arab-American shops arrived. Keep heading west toward the water and you reach Shore Road and the promenade beside the Narrows, with views of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, a good place to walk off a mansaf.

Lava suits people who want Palestinian-style shawarma with rice and salad rather than a quick street-cart wrap, families who need halal food for a group, and anyone curious to try mansaf without a long trip. The prices sit in the middle of the New York range, and the plates are sized as a full meal.

It is less suited to anyone looking for a long sit-down dinner with drinks, since the shop is built around ordering and takeout. If you are in Manhattan, the SoHo and Third Avenue branches serve the same menu, but the Bay Ridge shop puts you closest to the neighborhood's wider Middle Eastern food scene.

Address: Lava Shawarma, 374 86th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11209. Phone: (347) 492-0416. Getting there: R train to the Eighty-Sixth Street station at Fourth Avenue. Ordering: online through the official website, choosing the Brooklyn location. Menu: everything is halal; shawarma plates $18, wraps $15, vegan shawarma $16, mansaf $28 or $40. Other city branches: Third Avenue and Thompson Street in SoHo. Founded: first shop on the Lower East Side in 2017; Bay Ridge opened in 2025.