What an incredible hidden gem, seriously! It is located in a two story nondescript building called Foxhall. When we went, On a Saturday, there was free parking in a deck. I actually thought Google had made a mistake!Our family of 5 had very different orders. One got a selection of the delicious Lebanese rolls, the other some prepared salads. Two got gyros wraps. I had the chicken shawarma platter, and paid 2 dollars more to get baba gannouj and hummus sides rather than the sides on the menu.Verdict: everyone thought their meal was delicious! The platter portion was quite large. I bet two people with smaller appetites could share.There were a few tables outside for seating, maybe for 10 or so people.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shawarma
Hester Graves
Mr Chemali used to be the chef at the Lebanese embassy. Their catering is world-class, and their food is delicious. It is higher quality than what people expect, which means people can be surprised by the flavor. For instance, their falafel is bright green inside, due to all the fresh herbs. Shemalis may be the best deal in DC. We used them to cater our wedding. I especially recommend their garlic whip and lentil soup.
This caught me by surprise. I was not expecting to have the best baba ganoush and taboule I’ve ever had in my life. Like spot on flavor! I grew up on this stuff and they make it perfectly!
It’s like getting food from Walmart but less clean and worst taste.Don’t waste your time or money.
Rhoda Septilici
I have been a customer of this establishment for many years however last Saturday at 4:45 I was treated with such roughness insults and been called names by the young woman alone in the store at the time that I may never return. How can any one this uncouth be employed in the service industry it is an outrage and truly shameful for a store that has earned a good reputation for years. It is appalling ?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 1
Shanzida Alam
DO NOT BUY/ ORDER FROM HERE!!Got the most horrible food poisoning, alongside 2 others after eating here from Uber Eats. Disgusting. 0/5 and warning others to never buy from here.Reporting this resturant to the local health department.How dare this resturant try to make profit before the holidays by selling contaminated old food.
Jessica C
I’ve been going to Shemalis since I was a child, it’s one of my favorite lebanese places in DC — the chicken schwarma is my go to. I’m also able to find a lot of good lebanese breads, sweets, olives, spices and foods here! Highly recommend!
Food is good but this is the second time I have paid extra for fries and they have forgotten them. Rwe
Luisa Ballén
Adorable attention, they even know Spanish. Amazing ✨.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Stefanie M.
Been coming to Shemali's for years and always have an amazing meal! I absolutely love their salads with their home made dressing, but my absolute favorites are their falafel and the shawarma. I too am Lebanese, so I am very critical about other Lebanese places, but this place feels like I'm at home. The food is delicious and consistently amazing, and the staff are some of the kindest I know. The service is fast, and you can conveniently eat in the seats next to the cafe, or take it home to share with the family. The ambience is calm, clean, open and inviting. I also love that we get our middle eastern grocery items here as well. If you haven't been here before, you're missing out. Please make sure to give this place a try if you haven't already. You won't be disappointed!
Christine A
New to the area and wanted to try restaurants close by AU dorms. Found this place and saw they have kabobs, which is one of my favorite foods. Went there after work and ordered the beef kabob platter. I advise you to call ahead because I waited 30 minutes to get my food. I was told 15, but it ended up being 30. Now, being from NJ, I'm used to kabobs being on a stick. So when I got to my room and opened the container, I was confused about what I had received. It was just a few pieces of meat in the middle of French fries. There was 8 pieces of thick cubes of beef. So I figured that's the equivalent of 2 kabobs. I got the garlic whip and tzatzaki sauce. The food was delicious. The meat was cooked more than the medium rare I asked for but it wasn't dry or tough. It was perfect. The garlic whip was amazing. I've never heard of it before but man was it good. The tzatzaki was a little runny so I didn't really use it. Fries were good as well. Overall for the long wait it was worth it. Definitely will get this again.
What an incredible hidden gem, seriously! It is located in a two story nondescript building called Foxhall. When we went, On a Saturday, there was free parking in a deck. I actually thought Google had made a mistake!Our family of 5 had very different orders. One got a selection of the delicious Lebanese rolls, the other some prepared salads. Two got gyros wraps. I had the chicken shawarma platter, and paid 2 dollars more to get baba gannouj and hummus sides rather than the sides on the menu.Verdict: everyone thought their meal was delicious! The platter portion was quite large. I bet two people with smaller appetites could share.There were a few tables outside for seating, maybe for 10 or so people.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shawarma
Mr Chemali used to be the chef at the Lebanese embassy. Their catering is world-class, and their food is delicious. It is higher quality than what people expect, which means people can be surprised by the flavor. For instance, their falafel is bright green inside, due to all the fresh herbs. Shemalis may be the best deal in DC. We used them to cater our wedding. I especially recommend their garlic whip and lentil soup.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Kabob Platter Lunch, Soup, Taboule, Hummus, Beef Kabob Plate, Lentil Soup
This caught me by surprise. I was not expecting to have the best baba ganoush and taboule I’ve ever had in my life. Like spot on flavor! I grew up on this stuff and they make it perfectly!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Kabob Platter Lunch, Garlic Whip, Taboule, Vegetarian Platter, Spinach Pie
Horrible and dirty
Terrible place
It’s like getting food from Walmart but less clean and worst taste.Don’t waste your time or money.
I have been a customer of this establishment for many years however last Saturday at 4:45 I was treated with such roughness insults and been called names by the young woman alone in the store at the time that I may never return. How can any one this uncouth be employed in the service industry it is an outrage and truly shameful for a store that has earned a good reputation for years. It is appalling ?
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 5
Service: 1
DO NOT BUY/ ORDER FROM HERE!!Got the most horrible food poisoning, alongside 2 others after eating here from Uber Eats. Disgusting. 0/5 and warning others to never buy from here.Reporting this resturant to the local health department.How dare this resturant try to make profit before the holidays by selling contaminated old food.
I’ve been going to Shemalis since I was a child, it’s one of my favorite lebanese places in DC — the chicken schwarma is my go to. I’m also able to find a lot of good lebanese breads, sweets, olives, spices and foods here! Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shawarma
Fantastic hot chocolate!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Great food Very
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Food is good but this is the second time I have paid extra for fries and they have forgotten them. Rwe
Adorable attention, they even know Spanish. Amazing ✨.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Been coming to Shemali's for years and always have an amazing meal! I absolutely love their salads with their home made dressing, but my absolute favorites are their falafel and the shawarma. I too am Lebanese, so I am very critical about other Lebanese places, but this place feels like I'm at home. The food is delicious and consistently amazing, and the staff are some of the kindest I know. The service is fast, and you can conveniently eat in the seats next to the cafe, or take it home to share with the family. The ambience is calm, clean, open and inviting. I also love that we get our middle eastern grocery items here as well. If you haven't been here before, you're missing out. Please make sure to give this place a try if you haven't already. You won't be disappointed!
New to the area and wanted to try restaurants close by AU dorms. Found this place and saw they have kabobs, which is one of my favorite foods. Went there after work and ordered the beef kabob platter. I advise you to call ahead because I waited 30 minutes to get my food. I was told 15, but it ended up being 30. Now, being from NJ, I'm used to kabobs being on a stick. So when I got to my room and opened the container, I was confused about what I had received. It was just a few pieces of meat in the middle of French fries. There was 8 pieces of thick cubes of beef. So I figured that's the equivalent of 2 kabobs. I got the garlic whip and tzatzaki sauce. The food was delicious. The meat was cooked more than the medium rare I asked for but it wasn't dry or tough. It was perfect. The garlic whip was amazing. I've never heard of it before but man was it good. The tzatzaki was a little runny so I didn't really use it. Fries were good as well. Overall for the long wait it was worth it. Definitely will get this again.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4