Sababa

The super friendly lady who owns this joint is the REAL thing from somewhere in the Middle East and she can cook! Everything I had here is a zillion light years better than Mamoun’s (and I love Mamouns!!). The portions are VERY generous and the food is so fresh that it makes Mamoun’s feel like fossils. The falafel is crispy outside and soft inside, fresh, tasty, and not tired and aged like at «other» local joints where they fried it last night. The hummous rocks! The falafel is served with unlimited authentic condiments and accompaniments, and the meats are delicious. Pity it is only open for lunch… but, then. it might get ruined trying to do too much. What a great place!

Falafel here is so good! You get unlimited toppings too so it really makes it worth while. Just wish they had longer hours!

Only place to get Beef, Lamb, Turkey Shawarma in New Haven from what I know and that’s reason enough to stop by. The build-​a-​pita setup is nice and provides non-​traditional toppings which is refreshing. Shawarma is cut from the spit which is essential to being a good shawarma spot.
The hours make it a little tricky to visit but it is worth coordinating a lunch visit.

This is easily the best falafel I’ve had in the US. Great toppings, excellent falafel, good pita, and very friendly service. I’m honestly glad that they’re only open for four hours a day– if they were open longer, I would surely eat every meal here.

I love this place. I went their hoping to get a falafel sandwich quickly before my internship. The lady who was working was very nice, and I got to choose what I wanted inside my pita. The veggies I got were so fresh and the falafel itself was amazing. It was cheap, fast and so so good.

Sababa is so good. I love the hummus, the pita, the schawarma — everything, basically. I especially love that I don’t feel ripped off paying for extra ingredients (looking at you, red tomado and even chipotle). I get the chicken platter with most of the toppings and it’s the best quick lunch food near campus.
They only have bottled water and aren’t open except weekday lunch, for reasons that are unclear, but it’s hard to complain about such quality food.

FABULOUS!!! I took out a mixed meat platter from here, and spoke with the lady who seems to do the cooking. She is the real thing, straight from the Middle east, and makes authentic food you would want your grandma to make if you were from where she comes from. I have been in many middle eastern restaurants, and this one is among the best! I wish they had a larger place with night hours, because Mamoun’s is getting «tired» and this joint is much better. The lady was superbly generous, warm, funny and her food rocks!!!

My favorite falafel place in New Haven. I like that the pita is fluffy — it gives the sauce something to soak into. Sandwiches are consistently good. I think it’s $ 5.75 for a falafel sandwich, which is all I ever get, but there are also plates available if you want a larger serving. Only downside is that they close so early.

Sababa is GREAT! I finally had the opportunity to try Sabab’s. Unfortunately, they are only open during the week for lunch. And that is my ONLY complaint! Food was awesome. I am still in awe of the «buffet» style salads that are included in the price of your meal. I got the chicken shwarma platter and chose the following sides: cilantro & avocado hummus, Moroccan carrots, babganoush, Israeli chopped salad, feta, sweet potato salad, tabouli, pickled beets and there is probably some dishes I forgot! And, it came with a large piece of pita bread for $ 8.50! PLEASE open in Hamden!!!

New Haven’s hidden gem. Excellent Mediterranean food, big portions, decent prices. Great value. Service is a bit brusque and décor is mediocre but the food is the star.

The chicken shawarma was excellent! I normally get shawarma and falafel at Mamoun’s, but I was serving jury duty today and this was a short walk away from the courthouse. The pitas here are a fun twist on what I’m used to with a variety of toppings available. The cilantro-​like hummus is a must, and they are also very generous with their portions.
I will be back, but hopefully not for jury duty!

Go for a plethora of Delicious salads, feta cheese, pickle toppings, and hummus that accompany the Shwarma platter. Well worth the price for quality and portion size. For me it’s always a lunch for two (or even three) wheat pita available.
Falaffel? Eh not the best. Skip that.

I still love my sababa! As does everyone in my office for an indulgent sandwich.
Their falafels are always tender and hot, they have quite the selection of toppings to choose from including things like cilantro hummus and caramelized sweet potatoes. Oh and there’s no extra charge for toppings.
They also have two towers of meat roasting in the back for the shawarmas, if falafels are not your thing (even though they should be). And if you’re a pita bread hater, they offer platters as well.
Service is set up like a subway, pick your order, and then pick toppings. It’s very fast, and the prices are very reasonable.

I have one complaint about Sababa, so I’m just going to get it off my chest first: seriously limited hours. Not cool, what if I’m craving you for dinner, or on the weekend!!!
Okay, otherwise, Sababa is great. May be the best of the Mediterranean places here in downtown New Haven, but I should hold off before making that declaration final. The cashier was a really sullen sour girl, but the guy making my order was awesome and friendly! I was picking up for myself and my husband, so I got two platters: the BLT Shawarma (combo of beef, lamb, and turkey) and the Chicken Shawarma, both come with rice, pita, and chopped Israeli salad (tomatoes/​cucumbers), and then your choice of their various spreads/​salads. There isn’t technically a limit to how many you can choose, either, just how many will fit in the container. Between the two platters, we pretty much tried every single side item and overall DELICIOUS. Freshly prepared, well seasoned and cooked, and a lot of food for the price. It’s kind of a ridiculous deal overall. So WHY AREN’T YOUR HOURS BETTER!!!

The food here is so flavorful and consistently well-​executed, that this is an easy 5 star. In fact, I think most of the items here are straight-​up better than what you get at the sit-​down Mediterranean/​Turkish places in the area.
Some observations/​comments:
— The falafal is not bad, but the chicken shawarma is great.
— The «as many toppings/​salads as you want» for the same price is a bit curious. So depending on how many you order, you can end up paying the same price for a platter essentially double the size of another. Further, if there’s a topping/​salad you particularly like, there doesn’t seem to be a mechanism to order more of just that. So while I’m not normally a fan of pay by weight, I wonder if that wouldn’t work better here. With the current system, the reality is I end up ordering more than I should, and the resulting platter is rather heavy for lunch!
— my only food criticism is that everything gets kind of mixed together in the platter. If there were a way to keep at minimum the hummus, tzatziki, and other fluid items separate, that would be better.

Subway for Mediterranean food? Something like that.
To be honest, after today’s lunchtime feast, I’m more of a fan of Sababa than Mamoun’s (other than the late night hours and fun vibe). Food and price-​wise, it’s a home run.
My boyfriend ordered the BLT platter — a heaping plate of beef, beautifully seasoned lamb and turkey with his choice of (any) sides — in this case, lime-​cilantro hummus, mushroom sweet potato combo, tabouli salad, Israeli salad, pickled veggies, fried eggplant, and tahini out of the dozens to choose from.
I opted for a falafel pita with feta, Israeli salad, tzatziki, hummus and red cabbage. Both of these enormous meals, including drinks, set us back $ 18. The pleasant counter service and magnificent food is certainly worth returning for.

Love how the way they cut the chicken or lamb but bill came out to 12 $ and I have no idea how. But overall it was good.

This is my ideal lunch spot– it’s a great in-​and-​out place. It’s affordable, quick, and absolutely delicious. I love the chicken shawarma pita. The employees are quick and helpful. The one piece of constructive feedback I would give is to work getting on a more reliable credit card machine; their sometimes shuts down for the day and they become a cash-​only location inconsistently.
I am devastatedly writing this review while they are closed for their vacation. Come back soon!

A great spot that offers a ton of food for a little price.
How does it work, you walk in and start with a base of salad or rice, then you start adding the endless amount of options that are available to you. I don’t believe anything is an ‘extra’ cost. I love the jalapeño salad!

I love the concept. It’s setup like a little Subway for Mediterranean food!
It’s nothing fancy. You simply walk up to the counter and select the ingredients to put inside your falafel, salad, or shawarma. In addition to the traditional falafel balls, I loaded mine up with lettuce, hummus, peppers, corn, feta cheese, carrots (yea carrots) and tahini sauce. For under $ 5 it’s a real bargain and quite filling.
I much prefer this concept where I select my own ingredients rather than the Mamouns concept where they do it for you.
I even love the little cardboard pouch that holds the falafel (see photo). A nice touch.
The only thing I didn’t like was the pita bread. It was the really thick store bought kind. It’s the kind my mom used to buy that turned me off to pita bread at a young age. It wasn’t horrible but there are better pita breads out there. However I gotta say the numerous positives outweight this one negative…
Oh and they’re only open until 3:00 PM. That’s kind of a bummer.