SHAWERMA PLUS: lOCAL, AWARD-WINNING
Waterloo’s Shawerma Plus is growing its fanbase across Ontario with the opening of two restaurants in Mississauga and one in Port Elgin. Founded in 2012 by Asem Ghabra and Baraat Khudeir, Shawerma Plus started with a space on King St. N. before moving to its current 1,000 square foot space in University Plaza in 2019. The family opened its second location at 1111 Westmount Rd. E. in 2016. While other shawarma chains have pursued aggressive provincial and national expansions, Jawad Ghabra, cofounder and partner at Shawerma Plus, said the brand is taking time to make sure each new restaurant meets their standards.
“We opened a few locations, and then we pulled the brake a bit to see what needs to be fixed or changed. The more locations we open, there is always a chance that we’re going to miss something with the quality, experience or culture that we bring,” Jawad said. The idea of planning the expansion of his family’s business is something Jawad said he never thought he would be doing when his father first told him about the idea for a shawarma restaurant in Jawad was living in Dubai, newly married and expecting his first child when he received a call from his father who was living in Waterloo.
“He’s always been passionate about food and catered on the side. He and my mom are amazing cooks. But I told him I didn’t recommend it because the success rate is very low. Restaurants are risky. They didn’t have the network either. But he wasn’t going to listen to any of us telling him to slow down or stop,” he said. Jawad said his father was set on opening a shawarma restaurant and spent months perfecting his recipe and looking for a space. The family is originally from Syria, and Jawad said his father had lost much of his savings when the family fled the country.
“He put all his remaining savings into the building and opening of the restaurant. That was a crazy risk, because that’s everything. There’s nothing left on the table,” Jawad said. Ghabra flew to Waterloo to help with the branding, website and the build-out of the restaurant. After returning to Dubai, the restaurant opened and, while sales were good, Asem told Jawad that he was quickly running out of capital and did not see the restaurant being open for more than a few months. With a young family and growing career in Dubai, Jawad knew that he could not let his father’s dream fail. Without being asked, he sent his father most of his savings.
“He asked why I did it, and I told him that I could tell from his voice that he didn’t want to give up. Six months down the line, he called back and said that money was gone. I genuinely remember this moment. I didn’t want them to close. I didn’t want to get into the food business. But I told my wife, ‘I’m going to quit my job and we’re gonna go to Canada’,” he said. Jawad and his family landed in Waterloo in 2013, and he quickly got to work at the restaurant, just not in the way he thought he would.
“We arrived at the restaurant and he said, ‘Jawad, go do the dishes and clean the washrooms’,” Jawad said. After giving up his life in Dubai, Jawad was stunned and asked why. His father gave him a lesson that would shape how Jawad would lead the restaurant from its original location to the growing franchise it is today.
“He said, ‘Let me ask you this, do you know how to make a shawarma? Do you know how to handle the register? Why are we even debating? Just go.’ I went. That’s how I started,” he said. “It’s been a crazy journey, and the journey is just not mine. This is the journey myself, my family, a lot of our employees, and partners have taken,” Jawad said.
#AlexKinsella #Business #familyBusinesses #jawanGhabra #localBusiness #localFood #portElgin #shawarma #waterloo
DoomsdaysCW
The Community Edition
schneckenhaus
Alexander J. Stein
Dining and Cooking
Tour Japan
Ali Clarke 
The Mendocino Voice
The Good News Network: Positive Stories 24/7