The downtown Vancouver unit that used to smell like fried chicken is now turning out shawarma.
Shawarma Time, a Mediterranean chain out of the Seattle area, has opened on the ground floor of the CBC building, taking over the Popeyes that closed there back in May.
It is the chain’s first location in Canada, and the timing is no accident.
The doors opened just before the World Cup kicked off, dropping a quick shawarma option into a downtown core that is about to be packed with fans.
Vancouver is one of the tournament’s host cities, so the blocks around the CBC plaza will see heavy foot traffic for weeks.
For fans bouncing between matches and downtown bars, a fast shawarma wrap is an easy call.
Back home, Shawarma Time runs four spots across the Seattle area, in Bothell, Redmond, and two in Seattle proper.
The menu is the familiar Mediterranean fast-casual lineup, built to order.
That means chicken and beef-and-lamb shawarma in wraps or over plates, plus kebabs, falafel, hummus, baba ghanoush, and Greek fries.
To drink, there is fresh mint lemonade and mango lassi, the kind of thing that moves fast on a hot afternoon.
There is one odd detail worth flagging.
Shawarma Time’s logo, looks nearly identical to the one used by Shelby’s, the popular Canadian shawarma chain.
Whether the two are connected in any way is unclear, and we have not seen anything official linking them.
For now it reads as a coincidence worth a double take if you know the Shelby’s branding.
The location itself is a smart pickup.
The CBC building sits in the middle of the entertainment district, a short walk from BC Place, the central library, and several SkyTrain stations.
The plaza out front even has picnic tables, so there is room to eat outside when the weather cooperates.
Shawarma Time joins a run of recent Vancouver openings, including Moving Coffee Bar, Loreto, and Pho Anh Vu on Kingsway.
For more openings like this one as they land, keep an eye on the Noms Magazine tracker and newsletter.
Address: CBC Vancouver building, 700 Hamilton Street, Vancouver, BC