ShawarBite

ShawarBite is a Middle‑Eastern restaurant that has been serving the Greater Toronto Area since 2024 rebranding from Lazeez in Aleppo, Syria which was a family business. Continuing the family legacy provides exceptional Syrian flavours in North York. By early 2025, ShawarBite relied primarily on walk-in traffic and third‑party delivery apps. Without proactive marketing, the restaurant struggled to stand out in local searches.

“Our founder, Gagan, was a regular at this shawarma place, drawn by its exceptional flavors and quality. During a conversation with the owner, he learned that despite having great food, the shop struggled with low foot traffic. Recognizing the potential of marketing to drive growth, Gagan saw that Google Ads could help expand the restaurant’s customer base and share ShawarBite’s excellence with more people. This insight inspired our Small Business Impact campaign.”

The Problem:

The challenge lay in distinguishing the restaurant amid a landscape crowded with shawarma establishments, making it difficult to attract attention and stand out.

  • Drive targeted traffic (calls, website visits and online orders) from people searching for terms like “shawarma near me”, “Middle Eastern restaurant”, “halal shawarma”.
  • Convert clicks into paying customers so that sales would increase significantly (goal: double monthly revenue).
  • Increase Brand Awareness

Solution:

  1. Search Ads Campaign: In April 2025 we launched a Search Ads campaign on Google Ads targeting a 5km radius in North York to ensure ads appeared to nearby diners using high‑intent keywords. 
  2. Setup Conversion Tracking: We configured conversion tracking for phone calls, order‑now clicks and store‑visits to capture tangible business outcomes. This helped us to gather the right data for further optimization.

Outcomes & Impact:

Doubling of revenue –

Within four months the restaurant reported that monthly sales had doubled compared with pre‑campaign levels. The combination of increased phone orders and higher dine‑in traffic contributed to this growth.

Expanded customer base –

Ads reached new diners across the Greater Toronto Area, introducing many to ShawarBite’s authentic cuisine and encouraging repeat visits. Positive reviews emphasise the flavour, cleanliness and friendly staff.

Efficient marketing spend –

A cost per conversion around CA$1.29 means each new order or booking was acquired at a fraction of the typical order value. This high return on investment allowed the restaurant to sustain advertising without straining the budget.

Increased brand awareness –

Search impressions (445 k) boosted the restaurant’s visibility when potential customers looked for Middle‑Eastern food. The call and location extensions also improved local search rankings.