Falafel King — Restaurant in Decatur

I got the falafel sandwich; the old standby, (even though there was what I guess was a lot of sushi..? on the menu. Don't know why...) I asked for extra tahini because even though I love falafel, it can be quite dry sometimes. (and, oh yeah, I would drink tahini sauce from the bottle). Well... my sandwich came with very little, if any tahini in it. There was some dressing in bottles on all of the tables so I tried it. It was French dressing or 1,000 Island, or some nonsense so I asked for more tahini which was supplied to me with no fuss. Only problem is, the tahini tastes like nothing but watered down tahini paste. .. No tartness (from lemons or vinegar?) whatsoever. No spice flavors at all. (ie.. cumin?) I tried in vain to use salt to jazz it up a bit... then resorted to stuffing my grapeleaf into the sandwich to attempt to give it some zing. (Sad)

So I should mention that I don't eat out a lot. I've made falafel at home, and tahini sauce recipe found in Moosewood cookbook. I've also had the good fortune of dining on falafel wraps at Nate's Deli in Cleveland, and on the streets of Paris in the Jewish quarter. (so maybe I'm spoiled?) ... Anyway.. so if this is what solid falafel sandwiches taste like at most falafel places in the U.S., I'll continue to...

I have been a loyal customer for almost ten years. Today I called in for a pickup. The lady didn’t ask for my phone number or name and told me it would be ready in 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes when I arrived there, there is a 15 people line waiting to order. The lady was busy ordering food for others so I didn’t bother her. I approached another staff and told that staff that I have a pick up order. At this time, the lady who was ordering food started looking at me, pointing at the line and shouting “you have to wait!!!”.

What I don’t get is: What is the point of pickup if I have to get in line, wait and order my food? I understand the restaurant might be busy and can’t handle pick up orders, but wouldn’t it be nice to just tell me that you are not taking pickup orders? What kind of manner is it to shout at customers whose intention is to just ask for the pickup order status. I was clearly not cutting the lane. Guess it is just funny to embarrass customers?

Sad but I am not...

First time here at Falafel King despite being a student for a while now. There's a couple tables outside and a few bar and table seats inside - overall small though. The prices are really affordable and food is made very quick. It's a small mom and pop local restaurant but definitely very popular with students.

I got a shawarma platter and stuffed grape leaves and edamame for my 2 sides. The shawarma tasted really good and came with an orange sauce(?) not sure what it was though. There was a bed of lettuce, cucumber, and a few other veggies. The stuffed grape leaves was cold and had a grainy hard texture inside. I wasn't a huge fan, maybe because the only other stuffed grape leaves were made from my friends parents with their family recipe. The edamame tasted kinda old, very flimsy outer layer.

I got a pistachio baklava (1 for $1, 3 for $3). It was quite flaky and a tad sweet, bit hard to chew. I think it had a mild pistachio...