Falafel Express

This place was the worst. I bought the beef shwarma. I can honestly say this food ruined my day. I ate about ½ before I through it in the garbage and left. Three hours later I was still regretting my decision to eat here.

I love the falafel deluxe here, with fried eggplant and potato that just melt in your mouth. My favorite falafel sandwich in Chicago. Food court is kind of scary, but there’s plenty of room to sit, and the restroom was clean. Service is friendly and fast.

Not impressed. I order the falafel combo. Fries were very greasy, no tatziki only tahini, falafel was cold on the inside. Food did not look like the menu picture at all. Dining room was dirty and looked condemned. This food court looks like it could be 6 restaurants in here and it’s only 2 falafel express and popeyes. O how much I miss IDOF on Monroe.

Just horrible. Ordered the Chicken Shwarma meal and got served a stale, rubbery tasting, under-​sized laffa with minimal chicken and onions. The fries were so disguising and under cooked, I didn’t even try. Add to the fact the dining area feels like a car parking lot and I left disappointed that I wasted the calories and the stomach space. Plus this wasn’t a cheap meal either. Over $ 8 for this mess. AVOID.

I come here often for their felafel sandwich which is my favorite among all the loop places. The chef seems to know what he is doing and I am glad you can see him working back there! The felafels have a unique balance of ingredients and is wrapped in a nice wrap that is not too thick. Also the combo with fries and drink is an excellent value. It ends up being too much food, so I take half the sandwich home.
I also like how they advertise they use fresh ingredients and vegetable oil.

I had enjoyed the three other times I had been there, but on the fourth time I asked for a beef gyro and they gave me a lamb and beef gyro. I hate lamb. I asked them about it, and they said it didn’t have lamb. (Actually, one employee said «yes» and the other said «no» … so they couldn’t agree on their story.) I know the taste of lamb. When you hate something, you know exactly what it tastes like. I have only 30 minutes for lunch, so I didn’t have time to argue. I hate the sandwich, but I had to force it down.
What bothers me is that they rather lie than admit they made a mistake. I don’t plan to ever go back.

I stop my Falafel Express at least twice a week for lunch. I’ve gotten almost everything on the menu and it is all soo delicious! I’ve taken all of my co-​workers there and highly recommend it to everyone in the area for high quality food that’ll fill you up for a low price!
Plus, Imad (the owner) and Oscar (the cook) are super friendly, always say hello and since I’ve become a regular, they sometimes even give me free soda or dessert!

First of all, seating is decent; the place is alongside a Popeye’s and a burger joint, so there’s plenty of room. Secondly, it is open on Saturdays till 5 (unlike several middle eastern places in the loop). Place has halal menu, so that was a big plus for me. I had a chicken shawarma special (the sandwich coming with soda and fries), with a couple of falafels and hummus. The falafels were too greasy and the hummus was rather dry (olive oil on top doesnt help), but the shawarma itself was great, and highly recommended. I definitely plan to go back for the shawarma alone; the pita bread was not as warm as liked, but it has the proper ingredients with fabolous garlic sauce (not like other meditarranean places which hand you chicken with pita and hummus on the side).

I have had the falafel and the chicken shawarma here. They wrap them up in this floury pita, which I enjoy. Portions were good! The chicken had this amazing garlic sauce and was very flavorful. The fries they serve with some combos were a little off, but I was otherwise impressed by all the flavor packed in the wraps. Staff is pleasant!

Stopped in during my lunch break on a whim and ordered chicken shawarma sandwich with extra onions and extra sauce.
The sandwich was actually a wrap in a very tender, Lebanese-​style flatbread. Excellent. The chicken was well seasoned with a purple pepper of some sort, more smoky than spicy and the sauce was nice and garlicky with lemon undertones. Chicken may have been a bit dry, but sauce was flavorful, runny and plentiful enough make it all good. My particular serving was not very meaty, which may have been due to my request for extra onion. But again, no complaints here because I love my onions!
Service was very fast and mildly friendly. Overall, great value for money and time, especially considering other loop lunch options. I will return for sure.

Shawerma plate was tasty, enough for two, and $ 9. I’ve also had the vegetarian combo (baba ghanouj, falafel, tabouleh, hummus, a stuffed grape leaf, and pita) and it was a great bargain as well.
Great place to beat the normal lunchtime rush. Fun random people watching in the food court too.