The shawarma takeout joint in the back of the BP station at the corner of Main and William has changed names and owners again. Cass Lake Shawarma was there for less than six months before Abdul Aloqlah took it over and renamed it Shawarmena in April. (Signs still advertise past lives as Eata Pita and Shawarma Mediterranean Express.) Aloqlah is enthusiastic about the food: “Really halal, I’m not lying to you.” Regular customer Larry Reid, who works nearby at DTE, recommends the lamb shawarma, though Aloqlah reminds him that “you like my hamburgers too.”

It’s Aloqlah’s first restaurant of his own. “I worked in a Lebanese restaurant. When you work for other people, they don’t appreciate your job. You gotta have your own place.”

Shawarmena, 402 S. Main (inside the BP station), 444-5944. Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m.-3 a.m. Closed Sun. (“but I’m usually here on Sunday afternoon prepping–if I’m here, I’m open.”)