Knights Shawarma Brings Authentic Syrian Cuisine to Dana Point
By Breeana Greenberg
Food has always been Adam Alkhaiat’s passion.
While all of his family worked in the furniture business, Alkhaiat wanted to cook. When he immigrated to the U.S. from Damascus, Syria, he held onto his passion until he could make it a reality and open a restaurant in Dana Point.
Alkhaiat and his wife, Zabia Bassal, originally moved to Spain in 2011 as a result of the Syrian civil war. In Spain, he worked to perfect his technique at making shawarma, and when the couple moved to the U.S. in 2015, Alkhaiat decided he wanted to open a restaurant.
When shaving the shawarma off the cone, chefs including Adam Alkhaiat use a very long, sword-like knife. At Knights Shawarma in Dana Point, Alkhaiat marinates the beef and chicken for 12 hours overnight and shapes the cone-shaped shawarma each morning. Photo: Breeana Greenberg
“Because the people here don’t know the origin of shawarma,” Alkhaiat said. “Most of them, they know gyro, and the gyro is different. So, I opened here in Dana Point, because there is no place like here.”
Knights Shawarma opened in November, 2021 at “The Row” on Pacific Coast Highway. Alkhaiat said that he was warned not to open a new restaurant during the pandemic, but he felt as if it was “now or never.”
“Everybody told me that—they told me, ‘Why are you opening now? It’s a really hard time,’ especially with everything, you see everything expensive,” Alkhaiat said. “But I told them, ‘Yeah, I’ve been waiting for this chance for a long time, since I moved from my country.’ ”
“Take it or leave it,” Bassal chimed in.
“I’m not going to leave it,” Alkhaiat said. “If I want to do something, I will do it, because I don’t want to regret it later.”
The name, Knights Shawarma, comes from the very long knife that chefs use when shaving the shawarma off the cone. Alkhaiat likened the knife to a knight’s sword, and he designed the logo of a sword through a cone of shawarma.
(From right) Adam Alkhaiat and Zabia Bassal opened Knights Shawarma in November 2021, bringing authentic Syrian Shawarma to Dana Point. Photo: Breeana Greenberg
The shawarma that Alkhaiat serves is more traditional than what is served elsewhere in Orange County, Bassal explained. Alkhaiat marinates the beef and chicken for 12 hours overnight and shapes the cone of shawarma each morning.
Even the pita bread is a different type of bread. Alkhaiat’s pita is thin and specially toasted on the grill.
“This is the traditional way for our sandwich in our country,” Bassal said.
Alkhaiat hopes that customers see the difference in the taste of the shawarma he serves and appreciate the authenticity.
Knights Shawarma
shawarma-knights.business.site
34255 Pacific Coast Hwy. Suite 103, Dana Point
949.545.7045
Breeana Greenberg is the city reporter for the Dana Point Times. She graduated from Chapman University with a bachelor of arts degree in English. Before joining Picket Fence Media, she worked as a freelance reporter with the Laguna Beach Independent. Breeana can be reached by email at bgreenberg@picketfencemedia.com