Fafa’s

Let’s get real and say that things in Helsinki are not cheap.
Small location — only 2 bar tables and a few stools for a counter facing the window.
Long wait — not sure why a menu with limited ingredient permutations will take so long?
They are totally overworked — 3 people behind the counter (including the cashier, who stopped the line for about 5 minutes while she prepped the parsley). Owner, take note and staff accordingly because you know that it’s always busy!

Great and exceptional taste! I admit being lured to Fafa’s by Unilocal reviews, and I fully admit to not being disappointed. I was tempted by the falafel veggie offering, but succumbed to the meat/​feta combo, and it was tasty and delicious. When asked if I’d like «chili», I responded in the affirmative as I figured that as a Gringo I could handle it. In retrospect, however, I’ll give that option a pass as it was very fiery and brought me to the brink of spasms of hiccups.
Fafa’s is exceptional and well worth a journey across town if necessary. Limited indoor seating is offset by a friendly and efficient staff. BTW, an order of fries is adequate for a party of four. Go for it and ENJOY.

Fafa’s was a little gem within the design district that stood out to me by the sheer number of locals pouring out of the tiny place. Their menu is expensive for Helsinki standards (particularly the fries), but I think they deserve to a pass given their location in a relative high-​end area. However, what you get for the price is fantastic. For those that care, this is a chain local to Helsinki with 5 total locations.
The staff speak great English but that goes without saying in Helsinki. Their menu was somewhat confusing but they were able to explain the different options to me. It gets quite busy in the dinner times so rather than hold up the line, I elected for the standard fafa’s kebab and potato fries.
The ingredients were about as fresh as you can get and the portion size was reasonable to get you full on the kebab alone. The fried eggplant was fantastic. I was less impressed with the fries which were pretty standard in my book given the cost.
The restaurant is tiny so do expect to eat inside, particularly if you are a big party. It is a short walk to the city center where you can eat amongst the locals so I could recommend that. 4-​stars due to the price but I can’t complain about the quantity and taste!

I stopped by here on my way back from one of the nearby bars in the design district and there was a big line. That’s a good sign, but the wait was about 25−30mins for any food. To the staff’s credit, they were honest about it– which I appreciated. So I put in my order and came back 20 mins later and was greeted with a delicious hot chicken pita sandwich, with all the right amounts of tahini, lettuce, tomatoes and chili sauce. It was filling and quite delicious. Was it worth the wait? Hell yes. It was really good — everything was homemade and tasted very fresh. My only suggestions to the staff would be:
1. Put bottles of chili sauce and or coriander sauce on the tables — sometimes we like to put on a little extra ourselves.
2. Invest in a few plastic baskets with wax paper in them for your eat-​in customers. If I eat in the restaurant, it’s nice to have something to hold the whole sandwich in, besides a thin paper bag.

Great falafels in Helsinki. We took the falafs with hallumi and they never fail to amaze us. Only minor problem is the lack of place, in summer it doesn’t matter but in winter I would prefer to stay inside.

Eh. Went here based on another review. Disappointed overall. I had the Fafa’s chicken. The meat was dry. Overall it was an eh lunch. Small place with minimal seating but it seems to be primarily a to go setup

I’ve gotta say I’m very impressed with the quality of the restaurants in Finland. I didn’t expect to eat good falafels here (not at all) but I was 100% wrong.
These are probably among the best falafels I have had in my life, crunchy on the outside, amazing taste.
Place is in a great location, I came walking from the harbor here and found it very easily. Ordered a pita with falafel and pesto, and since it was a bit cold I ate inside, but I saw that most of the people were getting a to-​go pack.
Staff is bilingual, so I had no problem to get my food — however it was hard to spell my name.
Price was very decent, less than 10 euros for a gianourms pita.
They are open late, and if you just had a couple of drinks this might be just the «hangover» snack you need.

First time trying and I was in heaven! I had the falafel & feta with eggplant! The eggplant made this falafel pita sandwich. A must go to place! Friendly staff too :) It is a small restaurant, but there are parks nearby to enjoy the nice Finnish weather. If you like falafels this is a great place to try.

Hell YES. Take Oasis Grill in San Francisco (Helsinkians — get on a plane to San Francisco. Go to Oasis Grill. Have your mind blown.) and give it 2 more stars than you normally would. It’s that good and less expensive. You read that right: this top notch tastiness is actually less expensive than Oasis Grill. (San Franciscans –get on a plane to Helsinki. Go to any restaurant and look at the menu. Look at the prices. Have your mind blown.).
Falafels to die for, delicious tomato compote, tahini, best hummus in the city, crazy good yogurt sauce, and all served over huge salads or on warm fluffy breads. AND they’re open late. The downside: you may have to wait a while. I hate waiting but I’ve waited longer for far less so I will not deduct stars. You also aren’t going to get sugary-​sweet service. Who cares? Your stomach will be singing the song of victory soon enough. I would recommend getting it to go, since you are not going to get a table. Accept that before you head over and you will not be let down.

Best fast food in town! Great for finally have alternatives for lousy hamburgers and hot dogs. Fafa’s makes the best falafels and I especially like the halloumi & falafel pita. The food is made to order so it’s always fresh. The place is so popular that they sometimes run out of food and that’s far more acceptable than serving bad food, which many fast food joints do. Excellent value for money!

Hunger and a bit of Unilocal led me straight to Fafa’s on the first night of a recent trip to Helsinki. It was exactly what I needed after a long trip and with that slight daze one can have on arriving in a new place.
Staff and other diners were friendly as we came in, there was a good vibe about the tiny dining room and that seemed to flow through the kitchen too. I grabbed a menu, put it down again and picked up the one in English. Everything sounded good but I settled in the end for the Falafel meze as did my fellow diner.
The promised twenty minute wait for our food seemed to go quickly and allowed us to grab a place at one of the three tables inside. In fact we even managed another move to get away from the speaker, which wasn’t even especially loud just too loud for us. I should mention that the tables are pretty high up with tall chairs that some may find hard to access. There were a couple of lower tables outside and a window seat.
Our food arrived looking very fine indeed as you can see for yourself in my photograph. It was very tasty with the salad and sauces balancing out that dryness falafels have. Somehow also despite the plate being full it really was not too much food. For me there was no need for pita, that would have been overkill.
Drinks at Fafa’s are alcohol free which suits me and I tried a soda called Messina in orange flavour. It was like orange sodas used to taste and I liked it.
We returned the next night but arrived just as they were closing up a bit before 9pm. I managed one more Fafa’s before I left Helsinki and was not disappointed. Look forward to visiting again.

The best fast food in Helsinki, no question about it. Halloumi falafel is my personal favourite.
Packed during lunch time and weekends. The only major minus is that the place is somewhat unreliable when it comes to logistics. Sometimes credit cards won’t work, they run out of ingredients constantly and a few times they’ve been closed when they were supposed to be open. Fix this and I’ll give them 6 stars.

A bit on the pricey side (7,50 falafel), but worth it on occasion for the taste. Fast & friendly service. Teeny tiny place, so better for a quick bite or take-​away

The best falafel in Helsinki, and good hummus and friend eggplant as well. You can get the eggplant in either the Sabiche pita or Salad, which is delicious and filling (it comes with egg, falafel, hummus and fried eggplant, pic added above).
Fafa’s is small and informal; you might end up sharing a table with someone, and there is often a line of people picking up to-​go orders. The food is good, but the people who work there are great. The kitchen is open and service warm and friendly. I feel like they are proud of tasty food they are cooking!
One caution: the place seems to be heavily frequented by hipsters and creative types, but they are nice and chill enough. All in all a place with a good vibe and quick, healthy filling food in the heart of Helsinki. BTW, you can buy their hummus and falafel at Anton and Anton’s in Kruunuhaka at least.