Shawarma Queen notches a year serving Brandonites

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This article was published 12/01/2019 (2682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s first shawarma restaurant is celebrating nearly one year in business bringing something unique to the city’s food scene.

Kyle Koksal, who owns Shawarma Queen restaurant with his wife, said it feels great to say they made it through their first year.

“Seventy per cent of restaurants, according to the research, fail in the first year, but we didn’t. I think we are good, and we are having stability in the restaurant market in Brandon.”

Shawarma Queen opened in February 2018 in the space formerly occupied by the Wildflower Café.

Opening the city’s first shawarma restaurant has been very gratifying, Koksal said, and he is hopeful the second and third year will be even better.

He said it has been somewhat difficult getting Brandonites to try food they have never had before, but people have come to accept it, with the restaurant now boasting many repeat customers.

The buffet is popular because it lets customers sample a little bit of everything, including donair, shawarma, kebabs and gyros. The buffet also makes the local spot unique, as Mediterranean restaurants in other provinces usually don’t have them.

Shawarma and donair meat is cooked on a rotating vertical spit and shaved off with a large knife. The meat is spiced and often served in a pita bread wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, garlic sauce and pickles.

Koksal said he and his wife have also tried to Canadianize the experience for people in Brandon by making something foreign a little more familiar.

“We play country music instead of Arabic or Turkish music because more people (recognize it), and decoration wise, we use eastern European decorations, pictures from Italy, and we have some Middle Eastern handmade carpets at the back.”

One of the keys to success in the first year has been sending out samples to different places in the community such as fire stations and schools, Koksal said. It gives people in Brandon who might not have been inclined to walk in the front doors a chance to try the new food first.

He said the sit-down portion of the restaurant offers a more traditional experience, like what you might find in Middle Eastern countries. Instead of eating just a wrap, people can order it with rice, potatoes and a salad.

Shawarma Queen isn’t Koksal’s first foray into the restaurant business. Born on the island of Kos in Greece, Koksal moved to Turkey, where he learned how to cook Mediterranean-style foods such as donairs and shawarma. He also lived in Wales for a number of years, working in a fish and chips restaurant, before relocating to Brandon 14 years ago and started a food cart serving hamburgers, hotdogs and smokies.

It has been a big change moving from serving from a food cart to running a restaurant for a year.

“(It’s) completely different, serving, quality wise … for a dine-in restaurant, it is completely different. The restaurant is way more work, that’s what I can say.”

Koksal said the restaurant plans on expanding in 2019 by offering shawarma and donair-topped pizzas. He also wants to open up the patio at the back of the restaurant for hookah pipes during the summer.

“We have so much surprises, that’s all I can say and (people) have to follow us online. They’ll be surprised. We will have really, really authentic stuff here.”

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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