Falafel King

I missed you sooooo much!
I hate to say it but, I walked into the original FK more than 25 years ago… wtf, I’m so old!
Anyway, cruising in Westwood in my 20’s, my beeper blowing up, all the hot chicks and my friends meeting up at FK! The Shawurma second to none and the crispy potato chips, with the tahini better than most!
Here we are after all these years, two spots later we meet again! FK, you are just as sexy as the first time I met you, and you taste just as good as the first time!!!
It’s Westwood, so good luck with parking, the Shawurma sandwich $ 8.95, with all the toppings plus the crispy fried potatoes, soooo good! I highly recommend to added to your places to try!!!
Just keepin’ it real king like
The Real Foodie

I have fond memories of eating at the previous incarnation of Falafel King as a tiny kid. I want so badly to make this place work, and have tried visiting numerous times over the years. Their falafel is solid, their chicken kabob — when it isn’t undercooked (yikes!) — is not shabby, and most of their vegetarian sides seem fresh and flavorful. But I end up with about two weeks’ worth of upset stomach EVERY damn time I consume their food. If you have a tummy on the sensitive side, don’t do it. If you’re blessed with a stronger stomach, I’d still suggest proceeding with caution…

Love this place. Have been frequenting here for years — no trip to LA is complete without me eating here. Even though it has moved around over the years, they are still in the area — best falafel’s ever.

I love the falafel in a pita. The cook the falafel so it stays moist inside. The veggie accompaniment adds to the freshness and crunch. Then it’s topped off with their freshly made potato chips. It’s a great vegetarian option although at times the potato chips can be a bit on the greasy side.

Cold, dry food. Far from what I grew up with in Middle East. You’re not missing out on anything. Oh and my tummy has been hurting since last night :(

Was not a huge fan of my falafel pita, but the falafel itself was quite good. If I would have just ordered balls I would have been a lot happier I feel.
Regardless this place has been here forever and is worth a try if you like falafel at all.

My parents have been coming to this restaurant for probably close to 35 years, which means I’ve been coming here my entire life too. Sure, the prior location was a much nicer customer experience, but with Westwood property owners what they are — hiking up rent prices and driving out small businesses, leading to the creation of tons of empty storefronts — I don’t blame this mom and pop shop for downsizing. The food is great, and reasonably priced IMO. I prefer Falafel King over many of the other local Mediterranean joints because their pita sandwiches are made in the authentic Israeli way of doing street food: they stuff the pita pocket from the top, instead of making a wrap out of it, which leads to a huge portion of food! (There are a bunch of other places like this closer to the Fairfax area, but Falafel King is closer to home for me, and consistently good.) Flavors are on point, and those potato chips! They’re greasy and damn delicious: D
FYI, this is more of a take-​out spot, as the ambiance leaves a bit to be desired. My main gripe though is that they could use a better menu… i.e., they actually need one. I know what I’m getting because I’ve been going here for close to 30 years (and I ALWAYS get the beef/​lamb shwarma sandwich with the tahini sauce and mushrooms, and a side of those chips… you should get this too!), but new customers should have the option of reading what they’re ordering.

10÷4÷15: Came here cause my friend who apparently feasted here regularly many decades ago was seeking some nostalgia. He still loves the food… but honestly I’m not sure what he sees in it. It’s okay, but nothing noteworthy to me.
1. Shawarma Lamb Pita Sandwich $ 7.95: The pita is the same as the standard kind you get at the store – stale and dry. The shaved lamb wasn’t that great. It was dry and I can see from the rotisserie that it’s the very last of the leftovers. Comes with some fried round things which were pretty good, but the main pita wasn’t good. ⁴⁄₁₀.
2. Falafel Vegetarian Favorite $ 9.95: This plate includes falafel, the same round things as with the pita, and your choice of 4 foods. I got 3 varieties of stewed eggplant, all of which were pretty good. Nice texture, with the eggplant not overcooked and mushy. Good flavors. Also got a cucumber salad that wasn’t anything special. The falafel itself to me tasted dry, but I’m no expert in the stuff so not sure if that’s normal or not. 5.5÷10
So, if you’re hungry it’ll probably be good, but otherwise I’m pretty sure you can find better nearby.
³⁄₅
#middleeastern

This is going to sound sad… but we have eaten here for 25 years.
Started out as a late night… after drinking hangout in college. Since then, I have gone out of my way to travel and pick up a Sharma!
True lamb and beef, freshly shaven on a rotisserie. The best my husband and I have ever enjoyed. We are shocked by the unfavorable average rating. This is not a fancy restaurant… it is a hole with awesome food. The testament to the quality of their few food offerings (chicken or lamb/​beef pita sandwiches) is that it has existed unchanged for 25 years.
My burger boy husband, who had never eaten here before, begged me to allow us to return here for dinner again.

Good always same after 30+ years in the village
Must hole in the wall
Ambience sucks!
A/​C never on
Yeah as always I’ll return

Decent lunch platter for around $ 10. The falafel was pretty good and it’s a big portion. I couldve gone for a smaller portion for a little cheaper. The eggplant chips we’re delicious

So here’s a suggestion… MENUS. Or even a website. But SOMETHING. Because part of being comfortable in a restaurant is being able to place an order by knowing what the restaurant OFFERS. The chalk board «menu» at Falafel King lists 3 items. 3. Falafel, schwarma and shish kebob. 3 items. With no descriptions.
I’m certain they offer a lot more than that. But how on earth would a newcomer know?
Answer — I didn’t. So I saw something fried (chips? No idea what I ate) and pointed at that. It was ok. Again, not sure what it was.
The food I saw looked pretty good and they do seem to have a lot of choices. You won’t know that of course.
Staff seems friendly and yes, I’m sure they would have been happy to answer questions but during a busy lunchtime, you don’t want to be that person holding up the line asking them to go through their entire menu. You know what would solve that problem? Yeah… MENUS. Look into that.

Nice polite and friendly staff. The choices are plentiful and their food is always fresh.
My only wish is that they would start making a classic hot sauce. Chilies, lemon parsley. That’s nit picking. This place is great. Sorry to see the Santa Monica location go.

This is one of those places you go just for the food. It is a pretty rundown establishment but their falafels and vegetarian tapas are delicious.
Recently, I ordered the vegetarian platter for $ 9.95. This is the most expensive item on the menu. With it comes five options from their tapas selection (scoop and serve), falafels, fried potatoes that are like greasy chips, and pita bread. I love that they have many varieties of eggplant from which you can choose.
The falafels are the best I’ve ever had. They are moist and flavorful. I think they season it herbs/​scallions, hence the green color.

My parents have been going to Felafel King forever and it’s a staple as far as falafels go. The inside of the place is nothing special and I think of this place as strictly takeout.
Their veggie chips that come with the falafel can be kinda greasy, just be warned! They are tasty though.
The staff here kinda just does whatever they want unless you direct them exactly, which I make a point of doing each time I’m there. You have to make sure you get exactly what you want!
I love their falafels but I always had the issue of the pita getting soggy on my way home to eat it (and for me it’s too big to eat in the car). I discovered a falafel platter, where it all comes separate and you put it together yourself … it’s a much better solution for those on the go. Be careful, though. When you order it they put 1 falafel on each of your sides, so if your side is hummus, it’s going to get soggy!

FK has been around for what seems like an eternity in Westwood village and they have certainly been serving up falafel and shawarma long before this type of Middle eastern comfort food was so widely available. Is this the most authentic or best at this point? Probably not, but it is OG none the less and they still make a great falafel.
Like a long lost friend, I had not eaten at Falafel King since the Bruin days… not exactly but it felt that way. The location has changed sometime in the past few years, basically just across the street but the familiar signage and logo remains.
The nostalgia ended once I hit the front door, it was near closing time and the Falafel King of days gone by would actually have a line stretching out the front door on many occasions and the tables inside were nearly always full.
What hasn’t changed is that they make the falafels to order, no deep fried balls sitting around for hour. The make them on the spot and the fillings and condiments are almost identical to what I had remembered.
You do need to have some knowledge when staring down the nearly limitless options to fill out that pita. A little bit of direction for the
guy behind the counter by the patron ensures you are getting what you desire.
I kept mine simple and asked to slap a bit of feta in with the usual falafel sauce, lettuce and the deep-​fried garbanzo bean goodness. The pita could have been a tad sturdier to handle the packed goodies inside.
They also insert a signature item, a few battered and fried potato crisps, on top of every pita that are a great accompaniment to the meal. I thoroughly enjoyed my falafel at the Falafel King and my buddy raved about the shawarma and that was just before they closed.
Maybe not the King any longer but still a Prince for this kind of grub. After all of these years, count me as a loyal fan.

Fresh falafel! I got the falafel pita as well as the chicken Schawarma plate. Both awesome. Freshly fried, the falafel was crispy! The Schawarma plate was equally good. Comes with rice, cucumber yogurt, and a few other sides. Portions are decent as are prices.
Park in the free Broxton garage.
You pay at the counter. It’s more of a take out place but they do have tables for you to sit down.

I love falafel and this place made my day. Great falafel plate for lunch, filled with piping hot falafel, great veggies and excellent hummus. There’s not much more to say than that. They do what they claim to do very well.

I went here because it was nearby my drs and I was getting hungry to walk around any longer. The place was small and empty for lunch time on a Friday. Their prices are decent for the amount of food they give. However, I wasn’t a big fan of the shawarma pita. It had lamb and beef with their veggies. Pita was thin and not as warm. The sauce they use for their sandwiches wasn’t my favorite. It kind of tasted like a peanut sauce. It didn’t go well with the whole sandwich.

Just OK. Just. I’ve spied this place for a year and was VERY EAGER to eat here. I wanted a Schwarma REALLY bad.
Food was just OK.
Service was typical of a college town. «I’m serving you but you bother me and there’s a million more of you so really you don’t matter except to empty the dish, fill the till and sit at a table».
Prices are OK. There are other choices of places to eat around this location. You’d do fine going some place else.

This place is not only terrible but the staff looks just as happy to be here as i look when I go to the dmv. Awful. Food is dry, place doesn’t look clean.
Good luck staying open.

A few of us decided to grab lunch at Falafel King and although most people in the group got chicken, I decided to try the lamb shawarma.
The pita was stuffed with a big dollop of hummus, tahini sauce, lamb, lettuce and potato chips. Yes, potato chips. The amount of food for $ 8.18 with tax, was decent, but the quality of the food was just okay. The meat was pre-​sliced from the spit and gathered from the hot table. It was a bit dry even when it was doused in hummus and I didn’t appreciate too much seasoning. Adding pico de gallo from their salsa bar added a bit of spice but not much flavor.
There was a relatively good portion of meat but most of the pita was filled with lettuce. The pita tore with the weight of the meat and veggies and hummus oozed out, making the whole thing a bit messy and essentially too difficult to eat without a fork. And I couldn’t figure out what the deal was with the large, overly-​fried chips that were placed in the pita. They seemed a bit out of place.
I wasn’t a huge fan of this place but I probably should’ve tried the falafel… If I return, I will.