Tazza, Calgary

One step into Tazza Grill & Deli, and all thoughts of greasy, questionable late-night shawarma counters vanish. Everything here smells fresh and clean. Not antiseptic clean, but that kind of clean that comes from food made-from-scratch and made-to-order so it doesn’t have time to sit around under some heat lamp.

Tazza, CalgaryTazza is run by the Traya family and you can tell they’re proud of their little place, converted from an ice cream store. There’s a long deli counter, a few tables for eating in, and a tranquil stone patio outside.

There are so many variations of shawarma around the world. I’m most familiar with the Lebanese version, featuring chicken or beef marinated in spices and lemon juice, then stacked and slow-cooked on those vertical rotating spits.

The meat is shaved off the spit, and then folded into a big fresh pita, smeared with tahini, hummous or garlic mayonnaise and then packed with lettuce, tomatoes, pickled turnips, and parsley.

Some shawarmas are too messy, with sauce dripping out everywhere. Others have too much garlic, or feature sad, dry chicken. Tazza’s is perfect. You can order their beef shawarma or chicken shistawouk in pita form ($8) or as a platter ($10.99) on a crisp salad.

There’s lots of other stuff - falafel, baklava, hummous - that you can take-out too.

I wonder how I can get a job in Bridgeland so I can eat here every day for lunch…

Tazza Grill and Deli, 1105-1st Ave. NE, Calgary, (403) 263-5922.
History of Tazza here.