Fa-la-la

Yummy falafel for a reasonable price — hurray! AND you can get a side of belgian cut fries? — double hurray! (although the fries were a little over cooked during my visit: X)
Other notables:
— You can also opt for a whole wheat pita.
— Hummus will cost you can extra fifty cents.
— The self serve toppings bar is pretty awesome.
— Apparently the beef is not as good as the falafel.

Fa-​la-​la is a fafafel biz offering made on site gluten-​free pitas, organic, grass fed beef, and organic free range chicken. their utensils are biodegradeable. the cooking oil is recycled into biofuel.
combo (5.95)
«bread sticks» pitas
salty or cinnamon option, had a buttery taste
–soda
–whole wheat pita bread was thick and fluffy, had nice crispy falafels within
–condiment bar to fill in with red cabbage, tomato lettuce, fried eggplant, tahnini sauce, etc. everything tasted fresh.
leftovers:
–pita more filling and satisfied here than at maoz
(probably cuz it was bigger, tasted fresher?)
–very friendly, helpful, suggestive service.
–pita ready to go in about 5 minutes. serving time for all items listed.
–got vouncher deal from munch on me.
–fa-​la-​la is a green business.

I’ve been back a few times and have been pretty happy except my last visit when the pita was bad (or I should say typically average).
It wasn’t the thick, fluffy pita from my previous visits, but rather thin and kinda hard. Did they run out of fresh baked pita and ran to the store or D’Yar across the street to borrow some?
I would have rather had one of the day-​old pitas from the bags next to the register.
Chicken was very good. Falafels have improved slightly since my first visit. The braised beef was stringy and somewhat dry the one time I tried it.
Bumping them down a notch for the beef and last visit pita.

Looks like Maoz is getting some competition with all the new falafel and Mediterranean places!
However, I still think Maoz is a better choice for taste, environment, and choices. The toppings bar is more extensive than at Fa-​La-​La and the decorations of Maoz makes me happier for some reason. Probably because I always feel like I’m in a giraffe’s stomach or something.

I give out 5’s sparingly, and I want you to read this knowing that this really is like a 4 and a 5 for me, but I bumped it up because it deserves recognition over Maoz.
The first time I had Fa-​La-​La was from a guy handing out samples of the herbed chicken in pita. That got me somewhat hooked, because the chicken was flavorful and the pita bread was so pillowy. It was unlike any pita bread I have had before.
I came to the actual store two times, one thanks to a 40% coupon and one thanks to MunchonMe.
They have «special» pitas each day. They rotate flavors. When I came in the first time, it was rosemary; the second time was oregano. No extra cost for the special pita of the day. You can also ask to have a whole wheat pita.
I ordered the #chicken in rosemary pita# ($ 6.94, around $ 4.50 after coupon). They put a lot of meat in there. It is also organic chicken and very flavorful thanks to the lemon, garlic, and herbs. Tender and juicy. It’s so nicely tucked in the thick pillowy pita. Honestly, I love their pita because it doesn’t rip apart at the bottom like most classic pitas. I put the pickled purple cabbage, pickled carrots, tzatziki sauce, and fried eggplant in it. Sooo good.
Second time, I ordered the #falafel pita# ($ 5.95, but I had $ 5 for $ 10 so I got falafel AND a 6-​pack bag of yummy pita to go!!!). Great falafel. Crispy hard and dark on the outside, but creamy steaming hot and bright green on the inside. So great. Again, stuffed with the aforementioned salad bar condiments. Soo good. And you can just keep getting more.
One pita sandwich is VERY filling. The pita itself is 270 calories, and all that luscious carbs will be felt in your stomach later. But they are so worth it. Every last bite (well, maybe the last bite of just pita bread necessitates some salad bar toppings to prevent carbolicious semi-​dryness).
What I love about Fa-​La-​La is the attentiveness of the owner. He comes to the front and takes care of the customer. There are also salty pita fries and cinnamon sugar pita fries at the cashier counter as you wait! Think churros but better. Just gotta watch out for the oil. The salty one could do with less salt.
Furthermore, the inside — although somewhat small and a little hard to find in its tucked away upstairs corner — is quaint, with nice tables, chairs, a bar-​counter, and bamboo and mini palm trees as decoration. They have the awesomest metal holders for your pita when you have already taken a bite and need your hands for something. The holders allow your pita stand upright so the innards don’t spill out from being placed flat on a tabletop. And, they have composting!
This place is really great. The workers are nice, chatty and fun, and keep the place very clean. The food is tasty and affordable (think, it’s ORGANIC chicken, ORGANIC GRASS-​FED beef!). Although maybe $ 1 more than Maoz, I would argue it’s superior.
Comparing falafel across Berkeley, I must admit that I like Fa-La-La’s better than Sunrise Deli’s because SD’s is too oily. It seeped through two napkins I purposely wrapped it in to soak the oil, and it was still was oily.

Falafel texture was really not great, very mushy and bland. Do they not use fresh chickpeas or something? Condiment bar was also just OK, not super great.
I don’t think I would come back here, I’d rather wait for the Liba Falafel truck to be nearby.
The hummus was pretty good though, it’s possible I would stop in again for that on a veggie pita sandwich if I was in the area. Outside seating was nice too.

great taste and great… and the owner and his helper a nice lady were both so kind.
One thing they could work on is the décor…

I honestly feel a bit guilty every time I eat here, because I can’t figure out how they manage to serve such quality food at the prices they do and still stay in business. In any case, it is by far some of the tastiest, best quality food you can get around the south side of campus.
I usually order either the braised Niman Ranch beef or the grilled chicken kabob, both of which are delicious. That provides a solid base for the unlimited salad bar, which is really what makes this place stand out. Instead of the usual perfunctory lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc., they offer a flavorful variety of pickled vegetables, a fresh salad mix, and best of all, fried eggplant slices. You can then top it off with various sesame, yogurt, or fresh herb sauces. The end result is a very reasonably priced, delicious, filling, and healthy meal. That combination is very hard to come by this close to campus.

I haven’t actually ordered a meal here before but I have ordered the fried pita more than a handful of times from here.
My impression so far? This place is awesome! For $ 3 and change, you get a huge bag of freshly fried pita. Last time I gave this place a 4 star, but I’ll update it to a 5 in this review. Why?
I have a really busy Mon and Wed schedule (6 hour straight of class) and I wasn’t able to grab food in between. Last Wednesday, I was so hungry, I decided to use the 10 min Berkeley time to grab some fried pita at Fa-​la-​la. Because they fry the pita to order, I was pretty sure I’d be late if I went there and ordered. Instead, I looked up Fa-​la-​la on my phone, placed the order on the phone, and when I arrived, everything was ready to go. I made it to class on time: D

Best falafel place in Bay Area!
I loved the idea of a «salad» bar where you add toppings to your falafel.
We also ordered a beef (organic) panini and fries. Both were really good.
We will definitely come back here.

Best felafel I have had in long long time, possibly ever.
And they have a little salad bar from which you pick your favorite garnishments for your sandwich. Loved that they also had eggplants: my absolute favorite vegetable!

Made my first visit to Fa-​La-​La-​La today and boy was I happy! You could just taste the freshness and the quality which is unusual for restaurants in that part of town. You can actually see your falafels being made as you order them and the pita was magnificent. Thick and chewy. It held together the ENTIRE time I was eating and didn’t fall apart like most other pitas. This place is several notches above every other place I’ve tried around campus, and I have tried MANY. The counter staff were friendly and helpful and explained all the toppings available for our falafels and I can’t wait to go back to try the savory shredded beef sandwich. I had a chance to sample the beef and it was simply delicious. I’ve just found my new regular falafel spot!

Congratulations Fa-​la-​la — you win 5 stars for being the first falafel place I’ve come across in the US that has the *proper* set-​up with DIY salads /​toppings!
True falafel fans will know that there is a correct way to do things: you get the plain pita and falafel and then play «how many, salads, pickles, sauces can I balance on this?». Very fun to try and even amusing to watch as an observer. Anything else is not a real falafel, no exceptions.
So when I came across this place today, I had to try it out. Now, I did fully intend to be vegetarian for the day in honor of the Berkeley surroundings, but as soon as I stepped in and saw /​smelled the chicken kebab I got a meat craving and ordered it. (The chicken is grilled fresh for you so get something else if you’re in a hurry). I played the salad balance game (I was especially happy to find the grilled eggplant there) — very satisfying indeed.
Any regrets? Yes, I wish I had asked if they had forks *before* I built my mountain of salads — I felt a little embarrassed shoving my face into the cabbage, carrots etc… so if this is an issue for you, bring your own fork!

Is it me or did the sign read off… says, falafel with salad bar …
so, I thought I would get a falafel sandwhich AND a salad bar… no dearie, you get a falafel and get to pile on a few items they have out on the «bar» to stuff it with… no forks and no explanation… so a little pricey in my opinion ($ 5.95)
Minimal fillings and the hummous costs extra. PLUS: The pita is a home made and delish. …the falafel balls were so little that the over frying of them made them chewy and crunchy so that without the softer center (which I love) they really can’t be called out as good.
Service is pretty good. Not a horrible place, but they need to figure some customer service/​business details to stay in that forsaken address…

I went with 3 friends based on a recommendation and couldn’t be more stoked about this new find. FaLaLa lived up to its billing of making «the best pita in the country». We got to sample some free, delicious pita chips at the counter– sweet and savory respectively but both great!
Between us we had a falafel pita, and 3 of the beef sandwiches. One of my friends was stoked that they have a gluten-​free option of pita as well — she usually has to eat different foods from the rest of us.
The Beef was incredible — you could taste the quality of the meat itself as well as the care that had been taken to preparing it — subtle but it left me craving more with each bite.
The falafel was really good and on a side note — had incredible color — a very dark outside and bright green inside.
I loved the salad bar — wonderful authentic middle-​eastern salad and as much tahini as I could handle. The various pickled sides were great — and full of flavor.
We got a side of fries that were reminiscent of In-​n-​Out flavor but cut thicker and clearly more fresh. My friends didn’t want to try the spicy ketchup but I’m left wondering…
I feel strongly that this restaurant is a class above many of the others in the area which are more about giving you too much food and less about giving you quality of taste and ingredients that leave you feeling healthy afterward.
It’s true that the hand-​made signs and pieced-​together menu on the wall are evidence that this restaurant is just figuring itself out. Don’t let the ambiance fool you — the food is a unique dining experience and deserves to be taken seriously.
I think it’s a matter of time before people realize that they can get top-​notch food for the same price and the lines start pouring out the doors. I know I’m gonna try to hit this place up as much as I can while it’s still a diamond in the rough.

Had an order of The Fa-​La-​La (~$ 9): Pita with falafel, salad bar (tomato & cucumbers, red and green cabbage, eggplant, & pickles), fries and soft drink. Food was delicious, staff was welcoming, and the ambiance was clean.
NOTE: Day-​old pitas can be purchased (~$ 2/​bag) and tend to stay fresh for a couple of days (a few more if refrigerated).

I purposely came here after work on a Friday after 6pm to use my Campuscred voucher (paid $ 5 for a $ 10 credit).
I ordered the Falala (it was fun to say out loud!) which was a pita sandwich, salad bar, fries, and a soda for $ 7.95. In addition I ordered 3 chocolate falafel balls ($ 0.75 each) to put my order over $ 10. I only paid $ 1.19 for my meal after using the voucher… not bad!
Atmosphere: it was EMPTY when I came in, but people were probably at Café Durant chugging down beers during happy hour. This place would not good for big crowds, but you and a couple of friends can come here and sit next to the window to watch people walk down Durant.
Food: a little disappointed that the salad bar looked a little empty and slightly wilting, so I stuck with the pickled veggies and put some tahini sauce over it. The falafels themselves were good – crispy on the outside and good texture on the inside and very flavorful. My pita had 5 balls in it. Fries were fluffy and you can have a choice of regular or spicy ketchup on the side. Go for the spicy! But best of all… CHOCOLATE FALAFEL BALLS. Rich chocolate on the outside and the texture of the falafel made it creamy yet chewy. Too bad $ 0.75 for one is a little steep in my opinion.
Would I come back? Maybeeee. But I’ve had better falafels at Sunrise Deli. I’ll come back for a chocolate falafel as a treat if I’m really craving it. Thanks for the Campuscred promo though!

I was hoping this place would be better since it seems less corporate than Maoz. I like how the people working here are very friendly and outgoing, but the food wasn’t as good.
I really didn’t like the cop out that they made by not allowing you to refill your sandwich by saying that its for sanitary reasons. Everyone knows they’re just being CHEAP! Maoz lets you fill it up as many times as you want. Plus its not like they are serving really high quality add-​ons, just some wilted cabbage salad.
I might be back to this place just because they have a discount but most likely will just go back to Maoz for some good falafels
I really liked the fries though. They seemed more like home-​made french fries and I liked the texture over other fries I’ve had.

My roommate told me to come try this place out, so I did and I am glad.
Their menu is simple: Falafel sandwich, salad bar, fries, fresh squeezed fruit juice, and some chocolate dessert item. The food served here is really good quality, definitely one of the better falafel restaurants in the area. I can taste the difference in the ingredients. The people here are friendly too! I would definitely recommend this place to my friends.
Also, they changed the policy for refills. Now they have unlimited salad bar refills.

great new place! The pita is the fluffiest I’ve ever had. Everything else is simple but hits the spot.