Iyad Alati and Safa Jneidi have built a strong following on Vashon for serving saffron rice, tender lamb, chicken, and vegetarian shawarma (with earthy mushrooms and grilled peppers), out of their small cart near a library. The pair uses locally sourced ingredients withSyrian and Turkish recipes from their home city of Aleppo. Don’t miss the honey-soaked baklava with chopped pistachios and cardamom.

This cozy Magnolia cafe prides itself on homestyle Lebanese food, inspired by the recipes of chef-owner Andrea Matni-Ryan’s grandmother. Of the many pita sandwiches, Teta’s marinated chicken wrap is particularly excellent, served with a tangy and rich taratour (lemon-tahini sauce). The ruz wi djaj — chicken served on spiced beef rice with garlic yogurt — is a hearty, satisfying plate.

沙拉三明治Salam started as a well-attended Fremont Market booth and has since expanded into a food truck business with a West Seattle outpost. At the center of the expanding culinary enterprise is chef Shimi Khan’s fluffy green falafel, which nails a crispy exterior without drying out the center. Khan then spruces up the falafel with expertly crafted accompanying sauces, like the fermented mango sauce and garlic green aioli. Don’t sleep on the halva mousse with date honey for dessert, kind of like a tahini sundae topped with flaked halva instead of sprinkles.

This Lebanese Sammamish restaurant opened a South Lake Union outpost with a full menu of mezze plates, shawarma, and kebab sandwiches. The flavorful arambeet sandwich is the standout; filled with fried cauliflower instead of meat, it’s served with tahini and topped with crunchy cucumbers and tomatoes. The polished destination also serves an excellent cheese and za’atar manoushe baked inside a tanoor oven that’s perfect for takeout.

Silky hummus, honeyed baklava, and loaded gyro fries are a few of the main attractions at this hole-in-the-wall spot. For only $7.50 (plus tax), diners can order stuffed gyros, spilling with glistening lamb or beef, generously drizzled in tzatziki, and dusted in sumac, alongside enticing pantry items including Moroccan sardines and Jordanian za’atar.

This wildly successful New York-based chain is known for perfecting the art of halal chicken and rice — a fixture of street food carts across the U.S. Piled atop turmeric-flavored yellow rice, moist chicken sits with unfussy iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. But the real star of the platter is the duo of white and red sauces, delivering a yogurty tang with a potent hit of heat; always ask for extra of both.

Great for late nights out or a quick lunch, the menu at this takeout window next to Montana Bar in Capitol Hill consists of a variety of tender saj wraps (saj is an Arabic flatbread) that come filled with Middle Eastern staples, from awarma (ground beef confit) to za’atar spice and labneh. Yalla’s owner and chef, Taylor Cheney, designed the menu around the recipes and techniques she learned while living and cooking across the Middle East and often does pop-ups with menus dedicated to the regional cuisines of individual Middle Eastern countries.

A fixture of the U-District since 1976, Cedars is part of a cluster of restaurants that form Seattle’s Little Lebanon. The lamb shawarma, priced at just under $8, is a steal for one of the best gyros in the city. Served in the iconic blue checkered paper sleeves, juicy strips of lamb come smothered in tahini alongside crunchy lettuce and raw onions. While there’s indoor dining, walking up to the takeout window and watching the cooks prepare sandwiches to order with swift skill is the best way to experience Cedars.

This Persian restaurant is both a dine-in cafe and marketplace, where patrons can grab homemade Iranian dishes in individual or family-sized portions to go, alongside spices, Middle Eastern pantry staples, and cookbooks. Of the many menu offerings, the juicy Iranian-style koobibideh kebabs, grilled in long flat strips on metal spears, are a standout, with Walla Walla onions folded into the ground beef for sweetness, served with grilled tomatoes and rice. Although not strictly street food, the menu is also filled with traditional Iranian stews like the delicious fesenjoon, made with pomegranate molasses, herbaceous beef-stuffed dolma, and desserts like the moist cardamom chocolate loaf cake, which can be ordered to-go.

柯克蘭的流行halal-certified餐廳是known for its succulent rotisserie chicken. But those not ready to commit to a whole bird can also try it carved up in one of the tantalizing pita bread sandwiches served with a creamy, intensely garlicky sauce so compelling diners may find themselves licking the last drops of it off their fingers. The hummus, while not a street food per se, is exemplary here as well.