Since starting with a single food trailer in 2014 and expanding to 50 locations, Shelby’s Legendary Shawarma has become a popular eatery offering a menu of Middle Eastern meal options, including their shawarma wraps and shawarma poutine.
Parth Patel, who is the new business development for the company, described the beginnings of Shelby’s.
“The company started around 2014 in London, Ontario by founders Yazan El-Shalabi (CEO) and Yasser Ali the “Shawarma Man” (CMO), who were college friends. Yazan initially got the inspiration from his mom’s shawarma recipe. He loved it so much that he wanted everyone to try it…[and] Shelby’s is a play on Yazan’s last name El Shalabi,” he said. “Fast forward to 2026, we just had our 50th grand opening. All of our stores except one are in Ontario. A month ago, we opened our first store outside Ontario in Calgary [and] we’re expanding to Chicago very soon…and hopefully next year we’ll be opening in the UK as well.”
Through the years, the company has strived to build trust with the public through good food, strong customer service, as well as being engaging on social media.
“We take pride in making delicious meals and providing top-notch customer service. [However,] we have a slightly different flavor profile compared to other shawarma brands, and people love it. We are also huge on social media. Our co-founder Yasser created the persona of the ‘Shawarma Man,’ which has turned him into a bit of a celebrity….[and] kids especially love him, especially from watching him on our video posts. We’ve been able to grow the brand because of him and our social media presence. If you check our comment section, we get comments from all over the world…where people have been asking when we’re opening in the UK, India, or other European countries.” Patel noted. “Instead of doing boring ads, we do funny skits and sometimes collaborate with influencers. The stories and videos we post are really funny, so they catch people’s attention. It doesn’t feel like a typical, boring restaurant ad. You wouldn’t even feel like it’s an ad because it’s structured like a comedic skit where we highlight our brand, product, or a new menu item organically.”
The humorous videos have truly connected with viewers and helped bring positive attention to the brand.
“A good example of people making an effort to connect with us has been our recent grand opening in Brantford. I spoke to several families with kids who drove two to three hours from all over the GTA including Pickering and Durham, just to meet the ‘Shawarma Man’…taking pictures and videos with him. He attends every grand opening and has become a popular draw in every community he goes to,” he said.
However, it’s the food that keeps customers coming back to Shelby’s.
“We recently updated the menu. We have our traditional chicken and beef shawarma wraps, which are very popular. We also offer various bowls, like our El Pastor bowl, and one of my personal favorites: the Shawarma Chicken Boutine. For me, it’s the best poutine I’ve ever had. Also, customers can pick their own toppings, customize wraps, or build their own bowls. And, we also experiment with new recipes all the time [and] we just introduced a ‘Shawarma Chopped Cheese’, our take on the traditional chopped cheese. It’s currently in a pilot program across two locations and doing very well,” he noted. “We are going to launch shawarma-spiced tenders with flavors like spicy mango barbecue…but our biggest hits in the early years continue to be our Boutine. It combines fries, chicken, garlic sauce, poutine gravy, and feta cheese. It’s definitely one of our most popular items, especially among the younger demographic. We also recently launched a food truck [and] were at an event at the University of Waterloo, and around 70% of the orders were shawarma poutines.”
Along with the main menu, Shelby’s offers delicious drinks and a new desert option.
“Every Shelby’s store includes ‘Abbas,’ which is our co-branded concept smoothies, milkshakes, and pastries like Biscuit Crème carrot cake. We also have a standalone Abbas location in London with an expanded menu. Our signature drink is the ‘Abbas Mix’, which is a popular four-layer fruit smoothie (strawberry, dragon fruit, and mango) we offer at a good price point,” he said.
Nevertheless, its rapid growth of Shelby’s has been through franchising, which started in 2021.
“We originally began franchising around the London area. As we grew, we received a lot of inquiries from people wanting to open locations elsewhere…so franchising became the natural route. Since then, we’ve expanded significantly across the GTA and as far north as Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario. On the Durham side, we’re in Whitby and Ajax. Outside Ontario, we opened in Calgary [in August 2026], with a grand opening happening very soon. We’ve also signed for three store locations in Chicago and are actively scouting locations in the UK with stores planned for next year,” Patel explained.
Shelby’s also has grown because of its strategic partnerships with various organizations.
“We have partnered with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto FC…[as well as] the Western Mustangs football team….[of the University of Western Ontario]..and we’ve been in talks with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. But we also have individual locations that sponsor sports teams in their local areas. We also partnered with GoodLife Fitness to offer promotions where members get free extra protein by showing their membership card,” he noted.
On Sunday, September 20 2026, Shelby’s had a successful grand opening of its newest store in Brantford.
“The Brantford grand opening was a huge success. We hosted a mini-festival…and set up a reptile show, a balloon artist, a caricature artist, inflatables, face painting, and a gaming booth with prizes. Almost 500 people attended,” he said. “For the store opening, we offered free poutines to the first 100 customers and 50% off anything on the menu all day. We had steady lineups from noon until late in the evening, with people placing huge orders for their families while having a great time there.”
However, something interesting happened at the opening, bringing a full circle to the brand’s beginnings.
“A really cool coincidence happened…an older gentleman walked up to our team at the festival and asked for Yazan. When Yazan came out, the gentleman said that he was the person who sold him his very first food trailer back in 2014. He was so happy to see how much the business had grown to over 50 locations. Someone joked that if he hadn’t sold Yazan that trailer, none of us would have our jobs today,” Patel said.
Nevertheless, the brand is looking to expand across Canada and the United States.
“In the U.S., we’ve signed for multiple locations in the Chicago area, with soft openings starting next month. In Canada, we’re looking at expanding into British Columbia and adding more locations in Alberta, to operate in every province eventually,” he said. “For the future…we see tremendous potential. While 50 locations is a great milestone, we see ourselves expanding and growing even more especially in the next few years. We want to be recognized as the premier shawarma brand across the entire country and expand successfully across the U.S. as well.”
