Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Signage alert: Shawarma Central on Houston and Orchard

Signage is up for Shawarma Central at 183 E. Houston St. on the southwest corner of Orchard Street. 

The new arrival takes over from Ankara Turkish Restaurant, which closed last month after three-plus years. 

When we reported the closure, the former owners told us a new shawarma spot would take over, though it would not be Turkish or operated by the same family. 

Ankara opened here in March 2023, marking Ramazan Turgut's return to the Lower East Side as owner of the longtime neighborhood favorite Bereket Turkish Kebab House, which operated across Orchard Street for 19 years before closing in 2014. 

H/T TR and Andrew!
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6 comments:

  1. ThriftKingSeptember 23, 2026 at 11:34 AM

    traditionally, the center of a shwarma is a metal spike

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 24, 2026 at 3:11 PM

    🎶 I'm the type of meat that likes to spin around. I got a stick up my butt and an onion on my crown. They call me the shwarma. Yeah, the schwarma. I spin around round round, round, round, round, round. 🎶

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mr Nice GuySeptember 24, 2026 at 3:18 PM

    That gave me a good laugh ThriftKing, thanks!

    I'll miss Ankara, but I'm happy to see the storefront didn't stay empty long!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Scuba DivaSeptember 24, 2026 at 8:16 PM

    Isn't this the space where Bereket originally was?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2026 at 1:53 AM

      Now I'm confused. Bereket wasn't on that corner, was it?

      Delete
    2. GrieveSeptember 25, 2026 at 8:53 AM

      Bereket was on the opposite corner before closing in 2014... the same owners opened Ankara

      Delete

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