NAYA Marks National Shawarma Day With $5 Entrées and Yearlong Giveaway
Chain offers 40% off entrées and 52-week prize as shawarma drives 63% of orders
Middle Eastern fast-casual chain NAYA is marking National Shawarma Day on Wednesday, Oct. 15, with a limited-time $5 shawarma entrée offer and a sweepstakes awarding one winner free shawarma for a year. The promotion runs from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time at all NAYA locations, dine-in only, with a limit of one discounted entrée per guest. Customers can choose between the brand’s signature chicken shawarma or its braised beef variant, which joined the permanent menu earlier this year after a successful fall limited-time run.
Separately, NAYA is running a social-media giveaway through Oct. 19. To enter, participants must follow the brand’s Instagram account @eatnaya, like the promotional video, and tag a friend in the comments. The prize consists of 52 entrée cards — one shawarma per week for a year — redeemable at any location. The winner will be announced on Oct. 19.
Shawarma drives roughly 63% of all orders across NAYA’s system, making it the chain’s undisputed anchor product. The chicken version, marinated overnight in a Lebanese spice blend of garlic, clove, cardamom, and turmeric before being seared on a flat top for charred edges, remains the top-selling protein. The braised beef shawarma, slow-cooked for six hours with nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom, debuted as a seasonal offering in fall 2024 and earned a permanent slot after strong customer response.
“There’s no shortcut to that flavor, even when you’re serving it in minutes,” said founder and CEO Hady Kfoury. “We marinate our chicken overnight and braise our beef for six hours because that depth is what brings people back.”
National Shawarma Day, observed annually on Oct. 15, was established in 2020 by the food-holiday marketing group National Day Calendar to recognize the dish’s growing mainstream appeal in the United States. The day has since been adopted by a handful of national and regional chains, though NAYA’s combination of a steep same-day discount and a yearlong prize is among the most aggressive promotions in the segment.
NAYA, which Kfoury launched in 2019, operates more than a dozen locations across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, with a growth strategy focused on dense urban corridors and suburban town centers. The brand positions itself at the intersection of fast-casual speed and Mediterranean diet credentials, a niche that has attracted increasing investor interest as consumers shift toward vegetable-forward, protein-flexible menus.
The $5 price point represents a discount of roughly 40% off the regular entrée price, which typically ranges between $8 and $10 depending on market. The giveaway’s 52-card structure mirrors similar loyalty-building tactics used by sweetgreen and Cava, both of which have run “free bowls for a year” campaigns tied to app downloads or grand openings.
Entries for the sweepstakes close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Oct. 19. No purchase is required to enter or win.
