Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Wagyu Shawarma Grill takes trend to Rancho San Diego

New fast casual Middle Eastern counter touts its prized beef

A wagyu beef kabob served over rice
A wagyu beef kabob served over rice

The marketing cachet of Japanese-bred cattle seems to be rising. At least, I find myself writing about wagyu a lot more than I used to, as local restaurants and butcher shops embrace the notoriously marbled beef. Some take care to mention the stuff as part of internet advertised specials, particularly regarding the uber-expensive A5 cuts, rated among the world’s finest meats. More recently, the term most often translated as “Japanese cow” has found its way into restaurant names.

Place

Wagyu Shawarma Grill

2654 Jamacha Road Suite 101, El Cajon

For example, Wagyu Shawarma Grill, an otherwise low-key, Middle Eastern counter shop that recently opened in a sprawl of shopping strip on the Rancho San Diego side of El Cajon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The idea to make wagyu into shawarma isn’t entirely new to San Diego. The South Park food truck Shawarma Guys has somewhat famously parlayed its wagyu shawarma into being named the top restaurant in the U.S.

That is, according to Yelp. Wagyu may be fantastic, but it’s not magical. Nobody truly believes Shawarma Guys the best restaurant in San Diego. What its food truck really does better than anything is offer proof of concept: wagyu fast casual. And in steps Wagyu Shawarma Grill.

Wagyu Shawarma Grill opened this spring in a Rancho San Diego shopping strip.

An important distinction with regard to both shawarma brands is that they’re obviously not using the high-end A5 rated beef that sells for like two hundred dollars a pound. Though all wagyu comes from red or black Japanese breeds of cattle, the same lineages have also been raised in Australia and the U.S. going back decades. And their product is considerably cheaper than the sake- and beer-fed Japanese imports.

A counter shop backed by rotisseries

They’re also steering away from prized cuts: ribeyes, filets, and top sirloins still command top dollar. At Wagyu Shawarma, they serve whichever parts of the wagyu support a price of 12 bucks a serving. That’s all the namesake beef will run you, whether you order it in a wrap, over rice, over fries, or served atop salad greens.

Whichever way you go, the meat will be flavorful and tender, and the word wagyu probably won't change anything but your expectations. We are talkin' about meat that’s sliced off a rotisserie here, there’s not a ton of bite to it to begin with. I actually wound up preferring the seasoning on the second wagyu option, the $9 kabob. Even though it turned out to be a ground beef kafta kabab, not the hunks of meat I’d anticipated.

A side of falafel from Wagyu Shawarma Grill

It’s not all beef on Wagyu Shawarma’s halal menu. Chicken options include shawarma, tikka, and fried preparations, served with garlic paste and tahini. And for the meat-free there’s falafel. Adding $3 makes any of them into a plate served with rice or fries, plus a side salad, flatbread, and hummus.

It’s nothing for Yelp to write home about, but there's no knockin' a well-rounded meal for a nice price, whatever your beef.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
A wagyu beef kabob served over rice
A wagyu beef kabob served over rice

The marketing cachet of Japanese-bred cattle seems to be rising. At least, I find myself writing about wagyu a lot more than I used to, as local restaurants and butcher shops embrace the notoriously marbled beef. Some take care to mention the stuff as part of internet advertised specials, particularly regarding the uber-expensive A5 cuts, rated among the world’s finest meats. More recently, the term most often translated as “Japanese cow” has found its way into restaurant names.

Place

Wagyu Shawarma Grill

2654 Jamacha Road Suite 101, El Cajon

For example, Wagyu Shawarma Grill, an otherwise low-key, Middle Eastern counter shop that recently opened in a sprawl of shopping strip on the Rancho San Diego side of El Cajon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The idea to make wagyu into shawarma isn’t entirely new to San Diego. The South Park food truck Shawarma Guys has somewhat famously parlayed its wagyu shawarma into being named the top restaurant in the U.S.

That is, according to Yelp. Wagyu may be fantastic, but it’s not magical. Nobody truly believes Shawarma Guys the best restaurant in San Diego. What its food truck really does better than anything is offer proof of concept: wagyu fast casual. And in steps Wagyu Shawarma Grill.

Wagyu Shawarma Grill opened this spring in a Rancho San Diego shopping strip.

An important distinction with regard to both shawarma brands is that they’re obviously not using the high-end A5 rated beef that sells for like two hundred dollars a pound. Though all wagyu comes from red or black Japanese breeds of cattle, the same lineages have also been raised in Australia and the U.S. going back decades. And their product is considerably cheaper than the sake- and beer-fed Japanese imports.

A counter shop backed by rotisseries

They’re also steering away from prized cuts: ribeyes, filets, and top sirloins still command top dollar. At Wagyu Shawarma, they serve whichever parts of the wagyu support a price of 12 bucks a serving. That’s all the namesake beef will run you, whether you order it in a wrap, over rice, over fries, or served atop salad greens.

Whichever way you go, the meat will be flavorful and tender, and the word wagyu probably won't change anything but your expectations. We are talkin' about meat that’s sliced off a rotisserie here, there’s not a ton of bite to it to begin with. I actually wound up preferring the seasoning on the second wagyu option, the $9 kabob. Even though it turned out to be a ground beef kafta kabab, not the hunks of meat I’d anticipated.

A side of falafel from Wagyu Shawarma Grill

It’s not all beef on Wagyu Shawarma’s halal menu. Chicken options include shawarma, tikka, and fried preparations, served with garlic paste and tahini. And for the meat-free there’s falafel. Adding $3 makes any of them into a plate served with rice or fries, plus a side salad, flatbread, and hummus.

It’s nothing for Yelp to write home about, but there's no knockin' a well-rounded meal for a nice price, whatever your beef.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.