Born from Roots, Built with Fire
Yalla Shawarma started as a Moroccan family's love letter to fire-grilled food — and grew into something New Mexico couldn't stop talking about. This is how it happened.
Yalla Shawarma | Our Story
From Tajine to Yalla
Brothers Malek and Zakaria Belghiti grew up cooking Moroccan food from family tradition, not culinary school. Their Santa Fe restaurant Tajine — "Moroccan Dynamite" per the SF Reporter — was the spark.
The Food Truck That Started It All
"Yalla" means "let's go" in Arabic, and that energy drove every service from the Santa Fe food truck. Regulars piled in fast, drawn by bold spices and hospitality that felt like a friend's house.
Real Ingredients, No Compromises
No seed oils, no microwaves, no canned chickpeas — just sprouted garbanzo hummus, Himalayan salt, extra-virgin olive oil, and spices blended in-house. The Why Yalla standard isn't marketing; it's the line they won't cross.
From Santa Fe to Albuquerque
Coverage from Vogue, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Santa Fe New Mexican followed — because the food earned it. The downtown Albuquerque brick-and-mortar carries that same fire-grilled energy, standards intact.
