I tried Rifca's this afternoon as I was in the area and figured I'd try another one of York Region's shawarma places. My first impressions upon walking in were very good. Two large beef and chicken shawarma grills and a clean/inviting dining area. You place your order at the counter and watch your food made. I opted for the small shawarma sandwich with water. My first clue to run away was seeing the chef take the meat out of a metal tray (yesterday's left overs?) while the actual chicken shawarma rotisserie spun and looked untouched. He placed the meat strips on the griddle to heat them up before finally adding the few measly pieces into my pita along with lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and onions as well as tahini sauce. He then put the sandwich in a flat press (to try and warm it up?) which has always been a sign (to me at least) that the sandwich is cold/not fresh. As expected, there was a lack of meat and whatever meat was in the pita tasted bland and uninspiring. The vegetables tasted fine but unfortunately, they made up most of the sandwich. There was not nearly enough sauce and therefore the sandwich was not flavorful. For $6 I expected a little bit more meat and perhaps some babaganoush, eggplant salad, humous, etc. I think these were available by they cost extra.
Today's experience was definitely a turn off for me. Next time I'll give their falafel or kefta sandwich a try, or maybe not? To their credit, it looks like they fry their falafel balls to order. If they cannot use freshly cut shawarma meat, where else might they taking shortcuts?