Liba Falafel

Liba Falafel is good for a quick, personalized, tasty lunch. I like the variety of toppings you can add to your salad or wrap, and the falafel is alright. I have only ever gotten my food to go because the restaurant is small and the tables fill up quickly. I’ll be back the next time I’m craving salad & falafel downtown!

I lived in Cambridge, MA for a couple of years and while there I would regularly go to a place called Amsterdam Felafel in Somerville. It was the best. And while I was happy to no longer deal with apocalyptic winters, I was sad to leave behind Amsterdam. Until now, that is.
Liba felafel is so so good. They have felafel pita sandwiches, a salad bar, and several other sides on offer.
The two times I have been I got the salad bar because it is too good of a deal to pass up.
For the salad bar you get a compostable decent sized bowl which you fill up with all the items you want.
Their recommended is take three felafel balls, but you can take more if you really want.
You then move on to the actual salad bar with a variety of items like pickled onions and baby greens. They change them up on a regular basis, so there are no worries about always having the same thing.
Finally there is a selection of sauces to top it all off.
I love that they don’t weigh your salad, they trust you’ll be reasonable.
Liba also has several other items like fried pita chips, I haven’t tried any of those yet, but from what I see everything looks good.
My only wish is that they open for a weekend day. Currently they are only Mon– Fri 11 – 2:30, which means you pretty much have to work in the neighborhood. Luckily for me I do.
Liba definitely makes the cut to be on my regular rotation.
In short — try it, you’ll love it.

The service here is always outstanding! The girl in the front is super friendly too, quality food and friendly staff… you cannot go wrong with that!

I have long been a fan of Liba’s food truck, so I was pretty excited to try the brick and mortar store. Amazingly, the store is even better. More toppings, more space, more options, and, you know, a roof and seating. Everyone who works here that I have encountered so far is super nice, and the owner is friendly and pays attention to her customers in addition to being a falafel bar genius. And the food is so good. It’s almost magical how delicious and filling Liba makes healthy vegetables taste. I could probably eat here every single day and be happy.
A note about the falafel. So tasty. Some reviews talk about it being on the hard side. I get the salad, and then I break up the falafel with my fork before eating the salad and mix it around a little bit. It adds some crunchy goodness. I like it as it is, would be sorry if they changed it.

I’ve eaten Liba Falafel at least four times now, time to review.
Pros: the condiment bar is so much fun. I love the roasted eggplant, assortment of pickled items, hummus, etc to accompany my falafel. Great spot for vegetarians!
Con: The falafel are much harder than I’m used to. I’m curious as to why, is it a different cooking style or ingredients?
Tip: Get the salad. Then you will have space to add items from the side bar. The sandwich has a tendency to get messy.
I think this is a much better value when you get to add your own falafel balls from the bar rather than only getting three balls with the salad. I would not be full with just three and then it’s totally overpriced. Today I was handed a completely empty container and able to make my own salad, perhaps they’ve switched to this permanently. If so, a great change.

The salad bar here is off the chain. If you’re interested in having a meat free, gluten-​free meal, Liba Falafel is the place to be. I agree with some of the other reviewers, the falafel here are pretty damn hard. The only way to really enjoy them is to slather them with hummus or tahini and swaddle them with greens until they soften up.
On the other hand, you can stuff as many falafel as you want into your self-​fix pita or salad container. It’s down right crazy! I’m a fan of the coleslaw and the Moroccan carrot salad. Good stuff here.

I’ve been to this location a few times and love the falafel! Its walking distance from my house and never disappoints. The only issue is that its not open on the weekend or evenings. The location has a nice décor and hipster like atmosphere.
I usually order the little love which is a pita sandwich with your choice of toppings and sweet potato fries or a choice of soup or pita chIps. The pita sandwich comes with about 4 falafel balls and cabbage. You can add additional toppings at the salad bar. I love there pickles! They are soaked in ginger and spices and have an awesome kick. I also love the fried picked onions at the salad bar. At the salad bar there are also several sauces like the traditional hummus and chill sauce etc.
The sweet potatoes fries are amazing they’re coated and have a garlic salt and lime flavor. I have issues with garlic, so I tell them to leave off the additional garlic.
I love this place and hope with time they change there hours.

My school’s right around the corner and I’ve heard my classmates talk about Liba Falafel. Looking for something quick to grab for lunch, I decided to give it a try.
Going with the reviews, I decided on the salad bar. It wasn’t exactly what I had imagined though. I thought that they’d give me a salad topped with fresh falafel and then I would dress it according to my liking. I didn’t realize that they just give you a container and you go to the salad bar and fill up. My mistake.
I’m the type of person who likes to get their money worth, so I got a little bit of everything in my container and filled it up. The falafel balls are in a container at the salad bar. There’s a plethora of different sauces as well, so don’t forget about those!
I was pleasantly surprised! I loved all the different textures and flavors of the different salads. While I was skeptical of the falafel balls, they were tasty. Just very crunchy.
For about $ 10 it doesn’t sound like a good deal, but considering the price of lunch in the area, it’s not bad! Great option for something quick and healthy.
Note: Liba advertises that their falafels are gluten free, but when my friend had them double check (she has celiac disease so she needs to completely avoid gluten, even the slightest amount) she discovered that they do use rice flour, but they then fry the falafels in the same oil as the pita! So there IS gluten in the falafels since they’re contaminated. Just a heads up for those that need to avoid completely.

Okay. This is the most delicious falafel place on planet earth. I go here almost every single work day for the tasty vegetarian/​vegan food, and I mean it when I say this: you will never have better falafel salad anywhere else in the Bay Area. You HAVE to go here.
I usually grab the falafel salad and go nuts with toppings. The salad bar doesn’t exactly limit how much you put in your bowl, and the toppings are freaking endless + delicious. I wouldn’t mind being vegetarian if there were more places like Liba Falafel around!
The Love Boat side seems small, btw, but after you snack on it for a while, you get full REALLY quickly. It’s definitely not the type of side you should order if you plan on kissing anyone afterward (my breath is disgusting right now), but it sure is delicious! XD

After working in Oakland and walking past this place almost every day for over a year, I finally dropped in. I hate crowds, so as soon as I clocked out after 12 I bolted down the street & hoped the line wouldn’t be too long. Lucky I came in when I did…10 minutes later, the place was packed.
Love the falafel bar. As much as I like the efficiency of Chipotle-​style fast-​casual places, sometimes it’s nice to be able to help yourself & control how much of one topping/​dressing goes into your food, especially when trying something for the first time. Not sure if the «take three» falafel rule/​recommendation extended to people who already had a falafel pita… but I ended up taking two anyways. (Sorry.) Fries were a bit too garlicky, but otherwise, everything was great!
+1 for their eclectic music selection… AC/​DC, Michael Jackson & Kylie Minogue were just a few of the artists I heard that day.

One of the best salad bars in Oakland! Suuper fresh salad ingredients (I love that you make your own salad), with an amazing seasonal assortment of toppings. Think pickled veggies, chutneys, seasoned nuts, and all the color! Their falafels are crunchy and so so good.

Liba closes at 2:30pm so I rush there and called three times along the way to at least order to go since I knew I’ll be cutting it close. But long and behold I get a parking spot right out front at 2:29 I see they are closed and have no time for me. They have cleaned up already and there’s no salad bar. Bye bye 5 stars. It’s very frustrating how much I try to eat their food. Today is Monday and they are usually in Emeryville on Hollis but they weren’t there either because I drive there along my way.
Each time I called to order on my way, I got their voicemail which instructed me to email. How can I email when I’m driving trying to make this short lunch period?

The bricks-​and-​mortar version of their well-​known food truck. And it’s just as good, if not better, than the truck itself. The falafel balls are quite tasty and retain the right level of crunchiness on the outside and soft goodness on the inside. There are also so many toppings and sauces available at their condiments bar, which you can add en masse to your entrée. The sweet potato fries are delish too.
This place seems deceivingly small because there isn’t a whole lot of seating downstairs, but — surprise! — there’s more seating upstairs. It’s great to see more places like Liba Falafel adding more character to downtown Oakland, and I’d highly recommend a stop by. If there’s anything I’d selfishly gripe about, it’s that they’re only open during weekday lunch hours. Sure wouldn’t mind some late night and/​or weekend hours too!

My co-​workers had been raving about Liba forever, so I finally visited today and have absolutely become a convert.
Liba is a little store with a DIY salad bar. The mainstays appear to be the falafel which you can get in the form of a wrap or salad and then add toppings to your heart’s content. There are also a few side dishes like sweet potato fries but not much else.
I ordered a falafel salad and a side of sweet potato fries which cost about $ 13. For what you’re getting, it’s definitely on the pricey side, but it was so good, I am pretty sure I will be back.
First off, I loved the salad bar. There was so much variety and everything was amazingly fresh and delicious. My particular favorites were the cucumber salad, red cabbage salad and fried onions. I topped the salad off with a couple of falafels, tahini sauce and some habanero sauce. I can definitely sympathize with people who say the falafels here are a little on the dry and crunchy side. I probably wouldn’t eat them on their own, but on the salad, they are amazing. They are super light and give the perfect crunch and texture to the rest of the salad. Definitely add some peanuts, and fried onions to your salad too!
All in all, I had been running out of fun lunch places in Downtown Oakland, but I will definitely be back to have this yummy, light lunch!

I am deeply conflicted about this place. I find myself going once or twice a month even though it frustrates me.
The good: The salad bar is tasty and the flavors meld well. I can get a satisfying, flavorful veggie fix here. It’s close to my office, so that’s nice.
The bad: the falafel are so hard that you cannot pierce them with the plastic forks they provide. I have to pick them up with my fingers and bite into them to gain any traction. They don’t offend me if I treat them as obligatory balls of protein and douse them with hummus to moisten them a bit, but that seems sad and wrong, doesn’t it?
Another quibble: the suggested tip amounts that they’ve set up on their Square register app start at 15%. Isn’t that a bit high for this kind of mainly self-​serve, self-​bus establishment? Obviously I can manually input a more reasonable amount, but it kinda puts me off.
I will probably keep coming for the aforementioned veggie fix, and because the restaurant is conveniently located, but it really doesn’t qualify as a falafel bar per se.

Their salad bar is amazing. This is the real deal way that falafel should be served. I’m not even a huge fan of falafel but theirs are very good — tasty and not dry or greasy — the most common pitfalls of falafel. And there are such a variety of tasty salads and pickles that makes your meal delightful. I’ve been there 3 times and there are many standards — like the squeeze bottles of humus, beet humus, yogurt sauce and hot sauces. There is usually at least one cucumber pickle or salad and an eggplant dish. And then there once was a black grape salad, a peach chutney type condiment, spiced peanuts — all wildly delicious and healthy. All vegetarian and lots of vegan and gluten free options.
And, I usually hated sweet potato fries until Liba — these are cooked well and covered in minced garlic and cilantro and served with the tiniest lime wedge I’ve ever seen. Most delicious fries ever. They have the flavor profile down.
Had their homemade drinks twice and they were good too. The people who worked there wore cool aprons and have all been very nice.
The only sad thing is their hours are so limited. Went once at night and it was empty so I can’t blame them for not staying open. Also it is busy in there so I can see why they just have stools — it isn’t some place you hang out for 2 hours.

I was lucky in that my coworkers recommended the salad bar. I would have considered the sandwich overpriced.
They’ve got a great spread of pickles and salad fixings. Everything was pretty fresh, and they had some unique pickles (I’m looking at you, pickled grapes).
Service was okay. The food was okay. I’d go here again for a quick, fresh, healthy lunch, but for quality and value they sort of blend in with the crowd.
I do recommend the almond horchata; it’s a healthier option than other horchatas I’ve had around the country, and the quality and taste don’t suffer.

The falafel’s here taste like you’re eating a small stone.
Thank goodness I don’t have dentures!
These are not crunchy, they are hard, and not very flavorful.
Without the sauce, lettuce, and pita, if you tried the falafel ball itself it’s awful.
Honestly.
I’m being generous with giving them 3 stars because the woman was really nice and their almond horchata was okay.
I would never come here for their falafels though since without all the sauce etc, they are dry and hard and not worth the price tag of $ 12. Even with the side of your choice.
The falafel sandwich by itself will run you around $ 10 with tax, way overpriced for that kind of hard falafel.
Who’s going to pay for dental work if I chip my teeth on these?!?

I’m over the moon about this place. A good falafel is paradise, a bad one like eating a mouth of sawdust. My brother makes the best falafel in the whole world, grinding his own flour from chickpeas and adding a gazillion ingredients. Liba tastes almost as delicious as his.
I LOVE the toppings bar for the falafel. It’s a vegetarian paradise of pickled everything. I usually take a little of everything until I nearly burst from overeating.
It’s kind of spendy for lunch (around 18 $ if you tip properly) but every now and then it’s so worth it!

Despite my frequent visits to Oakland, I have never once visited the Liba Falafel truck. For shame! Its lime green panels beckoned to me, but I didn’t heed the call.
Fortunately, I was able to visit Liba’s brick and mortar location for lunch this afternoon. My Monday plans had fallen through, so I was wracking my brain (and my bookmarks) for something new. I was torn between vegan brunch and Ethiopian, but on a whim, I moseyed on down to 17^th Street instead.
I arrived at twelve o’ clock (on the dot, or perhaps a few minutes after) so there was little to no line. I placed my order for the *Leafy Love*, which is basically the falafel sandwich without the bread, served on a bed of mixed greens.
The falafel balls themselves were awesome! So stoked on these. Warm, but not hot enough to scald the roof of your mouth. Perfectly crunchy on the outside, tender and flavorful on the inside. I am a bona fide falafel snob, and these definitely score major points.
I loved the sweet potato fries, loaded up with garlic, cilantro, and (the tiniest wedge of) lime. They’re served in a little metal basket, which seemed a little awkward to carry, especially up those perilous stairs up to the balcony.
I could totally see myself just ordering a side of falafel and side of the fries, as the veggies were overwhelming me with vinegar. I love pickled things, but I wish some of the toppings were simply fresh veggies (chopped red cabbage, cucumber, etc) without any vinegar or salt added. I did enjoy the seasonal brussels sprouts salad (YUMMMM!) and the pickled red onions.
I am assuming the salad is a gluten free option, but as always, I recommend e-​mailing the restaurant, just to double check.
Before eating here, I did my research and sent the management a message inquiring about their vegan options. While they did confirm that their falafel is vegan, they did not tell me about any of the options at the condiment bar. Instead, they instructed me to ask when I got there, as their toppings change frequently. Not the answer I wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing.
I have worked in food service long enough to know that A) the staff usually feels a bit bothered when you ask too many questions and B) they don’t always know the right answers. I went with my best judgment and loaded up on pickled veggies and skipped the sauce options (besides the hummus, because that’s always a safe bet). I would love it if they added some notes on the labels (V for vegan, GF for gluten free) so people with food allergies would feel more welcome.
Still, I am super excited to see that they are a big hit, as they are a completely vegetarian restaurant, but do not advertise as such. Perhaps that is the genius behind it.