Houstonist Bites: Phoenicia Deli

In an effort to “branch out," Houstonist recently had lunch at Phoenicia Deli located near the Westchase district. This Mediterranean deli serves up a wide menu, but the most popular item for lunch is the shawarma. We had the Chicken shawarma (other options are beef or falafel), which comes wrapped in a pita with tomatoes and potatoes (more on that later). While waiting for our lunch, we tried some of the complimentary pita and dipping sauces (kind of the Mediterranean equivalent of chips & salsa). The garlic sauce is fantastic and the red pepper sauce was also very tasty, but had us quickly going for a drink refill to cool off the spice (take that as our spice warning).

Once our order number was called, we quickly made it through the crowd to pick up the order. Nothing fancy about this shawarma, as it is delivered wrapped in paper on a paper plate. The chicken is cooked on rotisserie with lots of spices, then cut into thin strips and placed in the pita (along with vegetables) to complete the shawarma. With extra dipping sauce (left over from the pita) in hand and lots of napkins, we dug in. The chicken was tender and juicy, and chicken to vegetable ratio just the right (read: lots of chicken). In fact for $5.29, this might be the most meat for your buck!