Sahara Falafel

This is my favorite shawarma place in all Orange County, and I've been to at least ten of them. Excellent flavor. Fantastic sauces. Succulent meat. My one criticism is that they don't put turnips in their shawarma, but few places do. Even despite that, they're still my favorite shawarma in Orange County.

Its a hole in the wall type of restaurant. I tried both the Beef and chicken shawarma with spicy sauce. Beef was much better than the chicken one. The level of spiciness was quite high as well but overall both were good. The service was ok.

Convenient since they are open until 2am (even on a Tues night) and pretty good chicken shawerma wrap! Did not try the beef but friends said not as good as the chicken. Friendly service but prices are a little on the high side. Some seating available inside but more of a take-out place.

Was roaming around 10pm looking for someplace halal to eat (didn't want the usual fast food garbage, and wanted to eat meat). This place was the first place i saw actually open. Given it was Saturday night but in NYC we are used to stuff being open late. Anyway the restaurant was very clean and nicely decorated with paintings of palestine and masaajid. The staff was friendly and helpful. Was able to get some sharwarma to go; the chicken was actually a bit better than the beef...not because the beef wasn't good....just that lamb and chicken are better suited to be eaten as sharwarma. seasonings reminded me of mamouns in new york, but not as good (mamouns has lamb). i'll say the food is good and the fact that they're open late (till 2am) is excellent. oh and cheap!

Tasty Shawarma and Kabob. good take out place. Convenient location if in rush.

This is the best shawarma I have ever had. I used to live in Anaheim, and each time I visit Orange County I try to make a trip to this place. Close to Al-Anwar Fashions (which is a hijab heaven).

Great Schwarma. I really liked the chicken kabob and chicken schwarma plate. Have been going there for like 3 year now. Owner and Staff are really nice. The seating place can be done better

I'm from detroit which means dearborn is my neighborhood. I've had top notch shawarmas and Sahara competes with them at every level. Fairly priced ($5.50 for a chicken shawarma) and decently sized.

The kind of vibe you get when you enter this restaurant is very positive. great menu and amazing good. Good customer service as well.

I had chicken shwarme (?) sandwich and it was amazing. Zafran, lemon, garlic and yogurt sauce had bold flavor, and well balanced. This cozy little place is worth your visit. Side salad was very fresh and light, but well seasoned. Great personal service, cute decor. I will visit again.

yummy for its price, the lunch menu is an amazing deal.

Place is run by family members. Very nice people. Above all, the food was terrific. I had combo sandwich, Best I ever had in southern california. Price is very reasonable. Owners are muslims. I would high recommend to all my brothers and sisters in islam.

Best shawarma I've had is from here. Always tender and juicy. I've never have had a bad plate or sandwich.

Delicious sharwamas and tasty falafels. Good quality food. Place is a little small and may not be ideal for families but nevertheless we had good experience.

OMG! heaven! thats alll i can say. the food is amazing! after i had it for the first time, i started craving it, and loved that they were open late! FALAFEL sandiwich is a must try, with the special sauce!

I went with a non-Muslim friend. He had the falafel and was impressed. I had the shawarma and it was good and filling.

Shwerma plate and baba ganouge. Service is average and scenery is typical fastfood style. The above with a water was about $15 which I thought was a little expensive for a fastfood style setting. I would proly fork out the extra bucks and goto olive tree or something.

Somebody compared this place to Zankou Chicken, LOL. If you are an Armo or like Armenians, go to Zankou. I go there myself. If you want to support a Muslim brother and/or his family and like good halal food, go to Sahara Felafel. They have the goods.

Pros: They probably have the best shawerma plates. Try their combo shawerma plate and you will agree with me. This place has had a little face-lift which is good. Cons: Seating area is a little small. Plates are a little expensive but definitely worth it. It may take some time before you get your order, so you can try what I do: Call when you are on your way there.

For $13 I had the combo plate (chicken and beef). It came with falafel, pita bread, hummus, salad, and rice as well. There was some garlic sauce and spicy sauce to the side as well. There was a lot of food and it was very filling. The price is reasonable. This was the best shwarma meat I have tried, it was very tender and juicy. There are only a few tables inside and its more like a cafe. Don't go there for the ambiance, go there for the food. You won't be disappointed. The falafel was excellent as well.

Consistently good. Excellent chicken shawarma plates & sandwiches. Great falafel as well. Prices are a tad high but within reason; also they only take cash.

Food is great but expensive. Service is great slo but be prepared to a bit more then one would expect

Assalamu alaykum, This is another of those small mom and pops places. The food wa very good. I recommend the plates, especially the chicken plans and combination plate I think it was called...the shawarmas were excellent and the falafal were crispy and well done. I have not heard about the meat not being hand slaughtered; inshallah I will ask. The only down side the music and videos on their TV.

Great food nice people.

the chicken used to be hand slaughtered but has been changed to machine cut(chickens cut by a machine, not a muslim or even a christian or a jew, with a tape recording of bismillah in the background) probably due to cost cuts

This place has very tasty food! The sandwiches are very good, but don't fill you up that much. But the plates taste very good! i would recommend this restaurant to anyone!

THIS place is halal and owners are know muslim

When ever I get a craving for shawarma while cruising around Arabistan, Anaheim, I always drop by Saharah. The Beef and Chicken Shawarmas are the best I've had. Oh, the Mango ice cream is good too. Brother Mahmud (the owner) is very nice. they cater as well. Definitely try it out if you haven't already. Salam.

beef shawerma is the best i have ever had. The owner, mahmud is really nice mashaAllah. Definitely highly recommended.

wow, the food here was awsome and the brother who owns the place was very hospitable. it is now my favorite shawarma place. Personally i think the chicken is better than beef. :)

This is a great place to eat, food is Halal that is what matters the most and the people are very friendly

Wow! Great food and friendly service. Also, portion size was more than enough.

food is fairly priced....compared to Zankou

If you are hungry and not looking to be terribly impressed, go there.

We ate there the other day. The food was very good. This is a small business that offers halal foods. They guys were very friendly and worked hard to get everyones food to them on time. We are fortunate that they are open 7 days a week and about 10 or 12 hours a day. I think the prices are very fair. Considering halal meat cost about 30% more than regular meat. Regular meat is a mix of how many cows? 100? That's how come they can charge less for their sandwiches.

Awsome place i love it.

I paid a whopping $4 for a single sandwich. Why, oh why do all these shawarma restaraunts charge SO MUCH? Now back to the shawarma sandwich review. The sandwich could have used a little more meat for the price. The sauce was nice. Unfortunately a single sandwich was not filling enough for me. This place would be too expensive for lunch or even dinner. Everything is priced way too high! The owners should work on making the interior a comfortable place to stay and eat in. BTW Zankou Chicken does NOT serve anything Haram like Pork or Alcohol. Go see and taste for yourself. If anyone is interested in a great tasting shawarma sandwich but are shaky about Zankou, then try Sassoon Chicken in Orange.

Went a couple of weeks ago, found out the owners have changed, so is the taste of the shwarmah. Not a good as they were!

Stopped in and ordered falafel ... proprietors were very friendly, falafels were great and also big. Food critic in OC Weekly gave them a great review, too.

Great place for a quick sandwich.

"This restaurant specializes in Middle Eastern dishes, such as shawarma, tarna, falafel, etc. The food is excellent. Much better than Zankou's non-halal food. The restaurant is in a shopping center across the street from Sinbad Ranch Halal Market."

Never been there but heard it is good.

Anonymous

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Jan 5, 2025

5

I recommend trying this place out at least one.

Anonymous

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Dec 21, 2024

1

This is the Worst shawarma I’ve ever had. This place use to be good but I am not sure what happened ?

Anonymous

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Dec 16, 2024

1

Very bad not recommending