The first US branch for the UAE-based
Just Falafel hast just
opened in the Bay Area. Apparently, there is a big launch
planned for the US. I drove yesterday to sample the product. The small sized-restaurant is located in Fremont, east of San Francisco. There is a sizable Afghan community in Fremont which may or may not enjoy Falafel (and they have good Afghan restaurants) but the place is located in an upper-scale area right next door to Whole Foods, where people may enjoy healthy food options. The shopping plaza where it is located seems to feature healthy food, but the Chinese restaurant next door seems to be intruding with the pictures of its dishes extending right to the edge of the window for Just Falafel. Once I was inside and talking to the managers, I instructed them, or more accurately issued commands, to immediately work on placing pictures and signs on the glass entrance. I was told that it is being worked on. You need to get the attention of shoppers especially that there is no advertisement. I have been looking for a good falafel sandwich in the US ever since I moved here in 1983 and to no avail. In more than 30 years, I had probably two good Falafil experiences: once in Chicago (thanks Electronic Ali who took the picture of me above in Chicago in 2007) and another time in Dearborn (sorry, no pictures). But I have never had a good or even OK falafil sandwich in California. They ruin not only the falafil sphere but also the stuffing of the sandwich. Here is my opinion: the Falafil sandwich is really 60% the quality of the falafil and 40% the quality of the stuffing (the various sauces and vegetables that you add to the falafil in the sandwich). Upon entering, I asked to sample a baked and a fried falafil piece. The quality is very good: especially for the baked one. This was by far the best baked falafil I have had ever. The fried one is very good (one of the best I have had in the US) but it was a bit dry (probably for healthiness) and was not shaped like a ring. The guys at the great Barbar sandwich shops in Beirut explained to me that they now make the falafil ring-shaped in order to maintain the consistency of the cooking. I would also recommend a few sesame seeds to add. I liked that the operation or the procedure of Just Falafel is based on the principle of Chipotle. You first have to choose the kind of bread you want: and I love that they have whole wheat options (that is rare in Middle East food chains and restaurants). The quality of the bread is very good but it did not like taste like Pita. It was more like a better version of a tortilla (and I am not a fan of tortilla). I wish that the flavor was more like Pita. People may miss that. And then you choose the ingredients or stuffing of the sandwich: and I just loved that the classic version of the "stuffing" has exactly what I wanted (I waived the kabis--not a fan). The usual stuff that you find in Middle East falafil place are there but the ingredients were even superior. Everything tasted fresh and high quality. It was by far the most enjoyable AND pleasurable falafil sandwich in all my years in the US. I of course sampled the Hummus and Baba Ghannuj: again, as simple as the two dishes are, you rarely find good ones in the US. I did not like how the Baba ghannuj looked but to my surprise it was excellent just as was the hummus. High scores on both. They should market their versions for Whole Foods. Yet, the Baba Ghannuj is too finely and smoothly blended. The texture of the eggplants was lost (it needed to be less blended for sure). For the hell of it, I asked if the baklava was prepared on the premises, and they said that they have a local place that prepares it for them: I asked for a piece. And that was a most pleasant surprise: the taste (another rarity in the US) was great and even reminded me of the wonderful Turkish style baklava. They gave me bread for my hummus and baba ghannuj but that was disappointing. It was whole wheat all right but very hard. I hope it was a mistake: that the preparer overheated the bread. Bread should not be served like that for Hummus and Baba Ghannuj. Overall, it is a most pleasant experience and I am certain that this chain will succeed ESPECIALLY if they open in affluent college towns, like Berkeley, Palo Alto, Westwood, La Jolla, etc. I will be back.
