Avi Cue Review: Get the Chicken Shawarma in Studio City

I ordered my first shawarma ever at 4:35 on a Saturday afternoon in Studio City, and I have my husband Kyle to thank for it.

For years I was vegetarian, which means a whole genre of food went right past me. I eat meat now. Kyle, meanwhile, has a few Los Angeles spots he discovered entirely on his own, and Avi Cue is one of them. It’s his place, and I’m grateful he shared it.

Avi Cue is a wagyu shawarma restaurant at 11288 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, and it’s an incredible find. Order the chicken. Chef Aviad Yalin started Avi Cue as a barbecue pop-up in 2019 (you’ll also see it listed as Shawarma by Avi Cue), and the Ventura Boulevard spot is a casual sit-down room: metal trays, paper liners printed with “It’s All Good!” and squeeze bottles of sauce on the table.

What to Order at Avi Cue

Shawarma is meat stacked on a vertical spit, slow-roasted, and shaved off in thin slices. At Avi Cue it goes into a freshly baked pita with tomato, onion, parsley, tahini and amba (a tangy pickled-mango sauce). Our order, straight off the receipt:

• Chicken Shawarma Half Sandwich ($12). My favorite, and it wasn’t close. The website says the chicken marinates for 24 hours before it’s hand-stacked on the spit and slow-roasted.
• The OG Wagyu Beef Shawarma Half Sandwich ($15). The dish Avi Cue built its name on, with Australian wagyu under the same toppings. It’s good. I was partial to the chicken, though, which was ~ much ~ better and $3 cheaper.
• On the side: House Made Fries ($5), the Green Hot Sauce ($1), and a Coca-Cola in a 12-ounce glass bottle ($4.50).

Don’t skip the pickled cauliflower. A little dish of it came with the chicken, bright yellow and really good. It’s also on the menu as torshi, a $3 side, for when the little dish isn’t enough.

One ordering tip: the half pita is plenty big for most people. Both sandwiches in these photos are halves, so save the full pita ($20 for chicken, $25 for wagyu) for a truly ravenous day.

If you don’t eat meat, there’s a Vegan Shawarma made with fried cauliflower and the same tomato, onion, parsley, tahini and amba ($12 for a half, $19 for a whole), plus falafel and hummus.

And I’m told the dessert is really good. The online menu lists exactly one, malabi, a milk-and-cream custard topped with fruit and pistachios ($7). We skipped it, so now I have a reason to go back.

Parking at Avi Cue

Avi Cue has its own parking lot, which on Ventura Boulevard feels like a small luxury. The lot is a little small, but there’s easy street parking in the neighborhood right next to it, so getting there is no hassle at all.

The Verdict on Avi Cue

• Best for: A casual sit-down lunch in Studio City · first-time shawarma eaters (hi) · mixed tables, thanks to the vegan cauliflower shawarma
• My order: The Chicken Shawarma Half Sandwich, with the pickled cauliflower that comes with it
• Damage: $48.84 for two half pitas, fries, hot sauce and a Coke, with tax and a $7.50 tip
• Parking: A small lot of its own, plus easy street parking on the neighborhood streets next door
• Where: 11288 Ventura Blvd, Studio City (Google Maps) · avicue.com

Spending the day in the Valley? Republic of Pie is a short drive north in NoHo, and it’s where we hosted one of our Make Writing Your Job meetups. For the rest of my favorites, start with my best restaurants & coffee shops in Los Angeles list.

For more places worth your appetite, my Los Angeles page pins my LA reviews on one map, and the best restaurants in San Francisco covers the other half of my eating life. Subscribe to my newsletter for new reviews as the research continues — I spent five years rating restaurants around the world in my travel guides, and old habits die delicious.