Falafel Island

So I ordered from Falafel island and was kinda bummed after all the great reviews. My biggest up set was the kufta kabab, they forgot to season it. I will say I really liked their lentil soup and the veggie combo plate esp the cauliflowers in it. The rest of the order was mediocre at best. There are many Mediterranean restaurants in the area, but I give this one ³⁄₅ at best.

I liked their food it’s nice generous portion I had the chicken shawarma plate it was great

A welcome break from the standard meat-​based, french-​fried diet. Fast, tasty, affordable, clean… right in the middle of the loop, and with friendly staff.

I was in Chicago for a conference and this was located around the corner from my hotel. Delicious, cheap eats. The falafel is great, the hummus was even better with the house-​made hot sauce added.

I really like the big plates here and the fresh carrot juice. I got the meat combo plate and it was pretty good — chicken was well-​seasoned and super juicy but thoroughly cooked whereas the schwarma was almost dry. The kefta was pretty good but also could have used more moisture. Rice was good, salad was good, hummus was good, but friend’s lentil soup was not good. Baklava was very good too. Worth investigating the rest of the menu when hungry at work and getting more chicken.

Pretty decent find in the loop. For a reasonable price (about $ 12) you can get a shwarma combo with rice, a salad, hummus, and your choice of meat. It tastes pretty decent and the service is on the spot and pretty good. The flavor of the meat is decent, but the hummus and the rice are really good.
I tried the beef but I hear the chicken is the best.

Falafel Island is located on a very sad looking block in the Loop, Chicago’s downtown, but don’t let that perturb you. It’s adjacent to the Adams/​Wabash station (where each corner is maintained by the same panhandlers) and in close proximity to Millennium Park and the Art Institute. I recommend eating here over many other places in this immediate vicinity primarily because of consistency and it not being a major chain, most of which dominate the Loop due to soaring rents.
The restaurant itself is setup like an assembly line, walk to the back left of the restaurant to place your order. Their falafel is much better than IDOF on Jackson and their portions for salads etc. are more generous. The veggie platter is where it’s at (refer to Brianna B’s review) and their shawarma is super fresh and tasty with a nice balanced flavor. Through some tahini on it and you’re mouth will love you. The staff is mostly warm and friendly with the exception of one — the hottie. He’s a twenty-​something year old adonis with a handsome face and business-​type attitude. His aversion to smiling is bearable when he’s surrounded by such warm and friendly people, not to mention he’s nice to look at.
Overall you get a great deal on fresh food with lots of vegetarian and vegan options available. The grumpy stud isn’t really grumpy, he’s just aware that he’s pretty; I’m sure.

Falafel is very delicious, but everything else is kinda bad.
I’ve ordered a beef shawarma plate. It is very dried and tasteless. But the falafel is very good. The plate is about $ 9 but the portion size is quite generous.

This place is incredible. This place has the portion size; lots of options. Very friendly staff and clean tables always. My fav place to go for quick lunch leb food.

For what it is
Tiny no frills establishment
Great lentil soup
Good Tabouleh and wonderful pita
The cook could crack a smile one in a while but other than sullen faces behind the counter…
This was very good grub

I’m always in awe of the quantity and variety of foods in the veggie platter: 3 falafel, 2 dolmas, roasted cauliflower, roasted red peppers, potatoes, banana peppers, hummus, baba ghanoush, rice, pita, and two kinds of salad. For $ 8.
It’s all good, so come when you’re starving, and dig in.

If we could have gone here everyday we would have been happy campers but we only had one meal here and that was enough to make us crave it everyday.
The food is amazing! So delicious! Get a side of the spicy and regular sauce for your shawarma.
The portions aren’t big or small, they’re just perfect so don’t go in wanting to share your meal!

Falafel island was just okay, but the curt staff brought my 3 star review down to a two star review.
When I entered, the place was pretty empty — not a great sign, especially since it is noon on a thursday– you’ll think there would be more patrons. No music was playing in the location, which added to the desolate feel.
I ordered a chicken shawarma plate (as I saw recommended and it was on the pricey side, but I was craving shawarma). They sliced chicken off a large mass of chicken, kind of like how you shave off gyro slices. The place was empty, and guy didn’t smile once, or gave me a cup of water until I asked 3 times.
While the chicken was flavorful, it was kinda dry and chewy. Rice didn’t have a distinct flavor. and on whole, I was pretty disappointed with this place for having 4 stars and a 1 dollar sign. I wouldn’t come back; there are other restaurants around that must be a bit better and I’m willing to try them.

Love it… Got the chicken shawarma plate. with all the offered sauces. it was delicious. The rice, the chicken, the falafel,…hell all of it!
I could barely finish it, they are not afraid to give you a more than fair portion.
Now keep in mind this is food fast concept, and for the quality and prices I hope they keep it that way…

Really good chicken shawarma plate going on here!
Came by randomly as my friend was looking for a new, good place to get something to eat for lunch and we saw this place. They topped the nice sized chicken shawarma plate off with a tomato/​cucumber mix with a side of hummus. The hummus was very good along with the fresh pita bread to set the whole meal off.
Definitely gotta add this place to the lunch rotation!

I saw this place while walking from Union Station to Michigan Ave when I arrived in Chicago. It looked like another one of the «local eateries» so I knew I would stop on my way back.
Typical mural on the wall and plenty of seating. Basic menu of appetizers like falafel, lentil soup, grape leaves, and hummus all run about $ 3 to $ 6.
Greek, fattoush, Jerusalem, and tabbouleh salads are $ 3 to $ 8 depending on the size.
Entrée plates like kifta, chicken or beef shawarma, kabobs come with salad, bread, hummus, and rice for $ 9 to $ 12.
They have falafel, kifta, shawarma, and kabob sandwiches for about $ 6.
Drinks are bottled or canned.
Also typical are the huge portions I usually get from middle eastern restaurants. Most of the entrees you could share between two people. Vegetarian options are available, but who cares about that. Haha just kidding!
Everything tasted fresh and the staff was very friendly. It’s kinda out of the way but worth stopping if your close.

Note the trend here. MORE cold falafels.
Please appreciate, I LIKE these people and they are doing well but also r now doing a lot of catering; we almost got run over in the doorwayby food carts going across the street last night,
NOT kidding.
NOBODY was even there who knew how to run a charge, and they weren’t handing out HOT falafels… we got COLD falafels, again, ick, so sad.
Was like a really sad high school cafeteria line. They were clearly focused on catering elsewhere. Tables were cleaner than last couple visits.
REPEAT. IF they don’t hand you a HOT, repeat, HOT falafel when you walk in the door, you will get a COLD falafel.
No hot falafel offered? GO to Naf Naf on Washington or Cafectito on Congress 5 minutes away (we didn’t really have a getaway plan last night, but now we DO).
U R welcome.

I was meeting up a friend in the Loop and had an hour to kill on an empty stomach. After looking around and seeing chain after chain I decided to go on Unilocal to see if there were any good small lunch spots. Wahla — I found this beautiful eatery.
I caught them just at the tail end of the lunch rush but they were moving the line quickly. I grabbed a beef shwarma sandwich with some falafel and was quite happy with my choice. The shwarma sandwich had just enough meat to make me one happy camper. The falafel was as expected, which means it was equally amazing.
I know I’ll definitely be back if I’m in the area. Thing to note: there are tables but they seem to specialize in takeout for the business crowd. Be prepared to wait for a table or a spot along the window.

Several reasons I will avoid this place from now on.
1. Mold spores on the pita bread. (!!!)
2. Food is cold from sitting out on the counter for who knows how long
3. Musky taste
4. Poor customer service.

Fiiiiiinally! Good food near the CSO. Walked into the relatively empty/​quiet restaurant with some trepidation. But the two guys behind the counter must have noticed my hesitation and decided to let the food speak for itself by handing me a fresh out of the fryer falafel. Honestly before that bite I really didn’t understand why people like falafel. But the perfectly crispy, piping hot and flavorful falafel won me over.
I ordered the kafka plate and noticed while one guy assembled it, the other kept on adding extra stuff on it. The hummus was so good I wouldn’t mind drowning in it, and they even freshly grill the pita! Cherry on top? It was under $ 10!