Online ordering for shawarma shops in London

Updated 12 November 2026. Source: the Food Standards Agency register, pulled on 12 November 2026. Coverage is the 33 London local authority areas (32 boroughs and the City of London); we do not name any business. Whole-area figures are on our London page.

In short: the register lists 61 restaurants, cafés, takeaways and other catering premises in the 33 London local authority areas (32 boroughs and the City of London) with "shawarma" (or a spelling such as "shawerma" or "shwarma") in the business name, 24 of them registered as takeaways. 16 of the 61 (26%) are still awaiting inspection or publication, against 9% of all takeaways in the same area, which suggests many are recent openings or new registrations. The most are in SE18 (4), W3 (3), TW3 (3), E1 (3). If you are opening or already trading, your own ordering page at 0% commission is one way to stand out from neighbours on the same delivery apps.

What the FSA register shows

This is a name-keyword count, not a census. It finds only premises whose registered name includes the word. It misses shawarma shops trading under other names (many kebab, grill and Lebanese or Syrian kitchens sell shawarma), and it may include places that use the word for something else. We left out retailers, mobile caterers and drinks-led premises.

Of the 45 with a numeric rating, 21 (47%) are rated 5 and 4 (9%) are rated 0, 1 or 2. 16 more are awaiting inspection or publication.

For context, among all 8,553 takeaways in the 33 London local authority areas (32 boroughs and the City of London) with a numeric rating, 57% are rated 5. That figure covers takeaways only while this list mixes restaurants and takeaways, and these are small samples, so treat any gap as a pointer and not a verdict on any business.

Where they are

The premises are spread thinly across London, with Ealing, Greenwich and Westminster first. By postcode district the most are in SE18 (4), then W3, TW3, E1 and W2 (3 each). For borough-level detail see our Ealing kebab shop page and the Turkish restaurants in London page.

Late-night hot food in London

In London, each borough council (and the City of London) is the licensing authority for its own area, so the rules and any local policy come from your borough. Westminster City Council, for example, publishes an online licensing register and a licensing pre-application advice service on its licensing page (read 12 November 2026). Under the Licensing Act 2003, late night refreshment means supplying hot food or hot drink to the public between 11pm and 5am, for consumption on or off the premises, so late delivery and collection count. Check the conditions on your own premises licence and set your online ordering hours inside them. Our late night refreshment licence guide explains the process.

London against the UK: the numbers

The figures in this section count only premises registered as takeaway or sandwich shop, or as restaurant, café or canteen: 51 of the 61 on the list above. The rest are other catering types, which we leave out here so the shares are comparable. Set against about 9,122,909 residents (ONS mid-2025 estimate), London has 0.06 shawarma-named premises for every 10,000 people, close to the UK rate of 0.06. Westminster is the densest borough for these names at 0.2 per 10,000 residents, and City of London the thinnest at 0.0.

Across the whole area 0.1% of takeaway and restaurant premises carry the word; in CR7 it is 2%, the highest among these four districts.

53% of the 51 dated records were inspected in the last 12 months, compared with 45% of all 36,780 dated premises in London. The median time since inspection is 10 months here and 13 overall.

Population figures are ONS mid-2025 estimates; the other figures come from the same FSA register pull as the tables above. Small samples move a lot between inspections, so read the shares as a guide, not a verdict on any business.

Turkish takeaways in London

117 premises in London carry a Turkish-style word in their registered name (turkish 57, mangal 25, istanbul 22, ocakbasi 11, anatolia 2), 30 as takeaways and 87 as restaurants or cafés, mostly in EN3 (5), N16 (5), E6 (4). That is 0.13 per 10,000 residents against 0.09 across the UK. It is below the 15 we need for a page of its own and it only counts names, so treat it as a floor. Turkish kitchens can find more on our Turkish restaurants page.

What this means for your online ordering

• Mark an item out of stock when the spit runs out, and pause ordering at the peak.
• Separate delivery and collection hours, so delivery can stop before collection does, to match your licence.
• Take cash as well as card. Cash on collection and cash on delivery are both available, and card payments are on Plus and Pro.
• Tablet offline? The Chefzi Orders app rings until someone accepts or rejects. If the device is offline when an order arrives, Chefzi texts the restaurant and auto-calls your mobile or phone line.

How to start

1. Send us your menu on a short call. We build it into Chefzi with you, and you should be live in 24 to 48 hours.
2. Make the key choices required so every ticket is complete.
3. Point your Google Business Profile at the page (how) and tuck a QR code into every order (QR kit).
4. Once customers agree to hear from you, send them the link (SMS and email marketing, Plus and Pro).

For the rest of the story, see the shawarma shop ordering page, the London page, the commission calculator and moving customers from Just Eat to your own site. If your food is halal, say so in your own words, in a statement you can stand behind: see halal menu wording. Chefzi does not certify food as halal; the wording is yours.

What Chefzi does not do

Delivery stays yours: Chefzi has no courier integrations, so you use your own drivers. There is no kiosk and no CRM, and a pre-order lead time applies to the whole location rather than to a single dish. Orders that still arrive through Just Eat, Deliveroo or Uber Eats keep paying those apps' commission; Chefzi's job is to help you move regulars to your own page.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency, Food Hygiene Rating Scheme open data API (api.ratings.food.gov.uk), the 33 London local authority areas (32 boroughs and the City of London), name match for "shawarma" and close spellings, extract 12 November 2026, restaurants, cafés, takeaways and other catering premises only. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Westminster City Council, licensing: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/licensing (read 12 Nov 2026).
• Licensing Act 2003, Schedule 2: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/schedule/2 (read 12 Nov 2026).
• Chefzi facts and pricing, chefzi.co.uk, read 12 November 2026.