High St. Kitchens — located at 2864 N. High St. — houses multiple Columbus restaurants, including halal restaurant AnA Shawarma. Credit: Sandra Fu | Photo Editor
Columbus’ chicken shawarma lovers are in for a treat.
AnA Shawarma, a halal restaurant that operates out of High St. Kitchens — a ghost kitchen located at 2864 N. High St. that houses several restaurants in one space — will serve free chicken shawarma platters to the public as part of a customer-appreciation event between 4-7 p.m. Monday.
Opened in January 2023, the restaurant serves a 100% halal menu — meaning meat is prepared in a manner that abides by Islamic law — that includes shawarma platters, cheesesteaks, wings, burgers, fried fish and more.
Owner Azeemullah Raghbat said operating out of a ghost kitchen has brought on many challenges for the restaurant and its customers.
Raghbat said the ghost kitchen’s capacity hasn’t been able to match the high volume of customers the restaurant has recently received, adding that he hopes this event will help compensate for this disparity.
“The type of business that we are doing is very unorthodox, and a lot of our customers were patient and dealt with it,” Raghbat said. “[In the] summer, I was afraid that we were going to go under. But thank God, we still stayed above water because of our customers’ support. So, I figured, ‘Why not give back to the community and do this?’”
Raghbat said AnA Shawarma hosted a similar event to celebrate the restaurant’s grand opening in 2023, during which they let customers choose between a free chicken or lamb shawarma platter. This year, Raghbat said he plans to only give out free chicken shawarma platters, as they are the restaurant’s bestseller and the most efficient menu item for large-scale distribution.
Al Haj Ibrahim, the restaurant’s manager, said he plans to prepare everything an hour before the event begins, ensuring there is enough food ready for everyone.
“It’s a lot of work,” Ibrahim said. “That day, we’ll turn off Uber Eats and Doordash, everything. We just focus [on] customer appreciation.”
Raghbat said along with food quality, customer service will be his top priority during the event.
“When I’m here, no one goes to the front except me because I feel like I’m the best in customer service, in terms of me and my employees,” Raghbat said. “I like to interact with customers, and if there’s any problems, I know how to diffuse situations, so that’s the main importance to me.”
Ibrahim said he is often faced with customers who have unreasonable requests, including those who expect their orders to be ready within just five minutes of ordering. Still, even when customers can be difficult, Ibrahim said he is always happy to help as much as possible.
“Customer is always right,” Ibrahim said.
Raghbat said he hopes the event will showcase gratitude to the restaurant’s customers while also expanding AnA Shawarma’s name throughout Columbus.
In the near future, Raghbat said he hopes to open his own brick-and-mortar shop to better serve his customers.
More information about Monday’s event can be found on AnA Shawarma’s Instagram page.
