Rafic’s Falafel

Great food great service. Go there often for myself or big gatherings, always a crowd pleaser.

Took a bit longer than normal. Food was decent. Nice staff

I was craving fried chicken wings. I saw their feed on instagram and was salivating over the picture MyThy H. posted. It was around 20 degrees, I intentionally left my schedule open just so I could drive all the way to Dearborn and visit this restaurant. I ordered the Fried Chicken with Garlic Cilantro, along with a side of rice. The entrée came out with fries and they also brought out the AMAZING SAUCE everyone talks about. I thought the chicken was wonderful and fell off the bone. The AMAZING SAUCE held its name; I even asked them what the ingredients are and they were kind enough to provide. The size of the portion was a nice size. I even took some leftovers home.
Every time I go out of town and head to NYC, first meal I have is (L36) Chinese Chicken Wings Combo from Shanghai (
). Their wings are great! We order from them so many times, they even know our address. I don’t know if that’s a good thing… But since I can’t have their chicken wings in Michigan, I’ll settle for Rafic’s version of friend chicken. I’ll definitely be back!
Thanks for your friendly attitude and great food!

Just picked up food and took it home. Come to find out my crispy chicken sub is burned, the bread as shown in the picture I have attached is black. So I try to scrape off the «toasted» parts which as you could see is most of the bread. I still wasn’t able to enjoy because it still tasted charred. I immediately thought let me call this establishment and inform them of the lack of detail when they decided to PURPOSELY sell this food knowing it’s clearly burnt! So I do just that. The girl on the phone states there’s nothing that could be done and offers an apology. I inquire if they deliver thinking they could just deliver my sandwich. She responds they don’t deliver and hangs up. About 5 minutes later I receive a call from Rafics. Now, I’m told they could in fact deliver the sandwich. My address and phone number are taken for delivery purposes and I’m informed it’ll take 20 – 30 minutes for delivery. I’m pretty impressed with the way the situation had been handled at this point. In fact, I was ready to post a positive review for them on here!
Fast forward a WHOLE HOUR, I call inquiring where my food is. The same girl states that my sub was not made because there is no delivery boy and my house is just too far. Mind you, I just google mapped the travel distance to this dump and its 1.1 miles or a 4 minute drive! So I ask the girl if they were planning on telling me this? Or would I have just sat and waited for a delivery that would ultimately never arrive?! She awkwardly laughs, I thank her and hang up.
Terrible customer service. No excuses for such behavior at any establishment. The food I did have previously was okay. Not worth the serious lack of customer service! I’m not sure what some of these other reviewers are talking about?! Zero stars!

Their chicken tenders are good but better in their «chicken tender sub» with the awesome sauce. The staff is very nice. Their French fries can use some help as its a staple side to Lebanese street food. The place is worth trying overall.

For starters… how can you run out of rice being a lebanese restaurant? Delivery took over an hour and there was no bread with the hummus. How you stay in business is beyond me.

This is the worst shawerma sandwich we ever had. The chicken shawerma was overloaded with
lettuce no tomatoes no turnip. .the mac and cheese was cold as ice. The tahini sauce had cinnamon which I have no idea why? This is the worst middle eastern restaurent in dearborn and maybe I’m Detroit. Take our advice and stay away !!!

The best falafel I’ve ever had — it has an excellent, cinnamon flavor. Their foul and falafel salad is also recommended. Friendly staff and clean space!

My wife and I started coming here over the summer and each time is better than the last. We are always satisfied and appreciate the high level of customer service. Like always, we will be back again !!

We weren’t sure what we wanted to try this visit so the gentleman at the front made a few suggestions and we happily agreed. Every thing was delicious, the deboned chicken was tender and seasoned perfectly. I wasn’t sure about the falafel the first visit but this time they were crispy on the outside and moist and flavorful inside. I’m already a fan of the wings & tenders a la awesome sauce. Try a platter and get a bit of everything!

I will never get tired of eating falafel with hummus. In my opinion, it’s the best food combination ever. Whenever we go to Rafic’s, we usually get chicken strips or chicken shawarma or falafel. All are awesome. Fries are great, hummus is creamy, chicken strips are a little crispy and a little juicy, chicken shawarma is great, and the falafel? Fried to perfection, and a great side. I totally recommend this place.

*DO NOT TRY THEIR FALAFEL* My experience with their falafel was the Worst .I never had any falafel in my life that taste that bad !
It’s made out of cumin only pure whole cumin I guess they do not use any chickpeas or fava beans;if they are, i’m pretty sure they are using it in a very small amount. Any way my advice for you guys ;you should change your name to Rafic’s chicken or anything else besides Rafic’s «falafel». Your chicken tender taste very good .I have no idea about the other plates they have.

What an amazing experience! We showed up unsure what to buy and the owner made us a sample platter. What a nice guy! The falafel was amazing and overall everything was really fresh! I would highly recommend this place!

Love this place!
I typically have a lot of beef with falafel that’s not green on the inside but this was delish! Nice and crispy on the outside and moist on the in and seasoned perfectly. I also tasted the shawarma sandwich which was really yummy as well but the must have is the sajouk (spicy sausage) sandwich. AMAZING. What I really like is the sandwiches are a perfect size, not ridiculously big like other places.
My kids ordered chicken fingers (although they ended up eating from the shawarma and falafel too) and they were randomly really good too. They looked like they were made there, they weren’t your typical frozen chicken tenders most places serve.
The absolute best thing from this place is their awesome sauce. Not sure what’s in it (possibly some tahini and red pepper paste) but do yourself a favor and dip everything in this. Your sandwiches, your chicken, French fries, your fingers… Whatever… Then take some home and bathe in it.
The owner is also a funny and sweet dude. He kept bringing my kids extra French fries and threw in extra chicken and didn’t even charge us for the sauce.
There’s plenty of dine in space, but you can order for take out as well. I always prefer to have my food hot and fresh so I always rec you do the same when you can.

WOWZA!
Had the pleasure of dining here after Slow Roll and thankfully worked up an appetite b/​c we ate our fair share amongst 8 people!
First, when you go to a restaurant with that signature dish in their name, you get it. So naturally we got a plate of Falafel’s and let me say THE.BEST.IN.MICHIGAN. No lies, I’ve had falafel’s that were green colored, some hockey puck shaped, others fried as hard as a hockey puck, and some just ho hum. These are fried to order! The spices aren’t overwhelming and oh so crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside with no parsley in them. I don’t go out craving a falafel but let me tell ya, these are a great vegan option. Also, the tahini is nice & light and maybe on the watery side (I like that) so its not overpowering. I hate when tahini tastes like straight almond paste.
Next, chicken wings. I love chicken wings. Wangs are my thang. Gimme the bone b/​c there’s more flavah than your average boneless wings. And I’ll admit, I have enjoyed Popeye’s chicken once a year and the outside breading at Rafic’s is no joke. I mean, ON.EFFING.POINT. Rivals Popeye’s! No we’re not even gonna talk about Chicken Shack, KFC, or Church’s b/​c why would you even put that in you? We got cajun (my fave, spicy kick to it) and Original and seriously, dip these in Rafic’s signature «Awesome Sauce» and you’ve got the best snack food. I secretly wanted a dz wings to myself. Crunchy coating, not thick, flakes off a bit even, and juicy, not overly fried interior. Yum, effing yum…
So you know how I feel about boneless vs chicken wings, well we also ordered the tenders and they were also good! Not your oddly pre-​packaged Tyson or Denny’s tenders. Same coating as the wings but juicy, thick, white meat. Again, dipped in awesome sauce or Rafic’s homemade Buffalo sauce and you’ll consider going paleo.
On this special day Hussain and Hassan surprised us with an off-​the-​menu order of chicken wings tossed with spicy garlic and cilantro. It reminded me of Chicken Maison in Costa Mesa, CA back home. Seriously I got nostalgic I ate 3 wings and forgot to share it amongst my party. Ask for this and I’m sure they will make it for you!
Hummus was creamy and the tabbouli refreshing. Everything is hugely portioned for what you pay.
OH! Almost forgot the Mac & CHeezay! I know you’re wondering why a Lebanese Restaurant specializing in falafel’s has mac & cheese. Well, before Rafic’s son’s opened the restaurant, they had a gas station with a small Southern restaurant inside. He also sold fried chicken and mac & cheese. His customer’s kept hounding him about perfecting his mac & cheese. You know the right mac & cheese when you look at the color. Its got the pretty yellow but not god-​awfully bright neon yellow. You can tell that the noodles are cooked slightly past al dente (I prefer that) and every carbolicious noodle is coated with CHEESE, no unearthed noodle under that cheese for me! And the cheese sauce was loose rather than a seized cheese sauce that’s been sitting out for too long. Def add a couple splashes of buffalo hot sauce for a kick. IF you take it to go, splash some of that «Camel Sauce» you bought from Café Al Karar in Detroit. Then sleep happy.
So glad my Unilocal Friends turned me onto @raficsfalalfel!

With time, eventually the ⁵⁄₅ Star reviews from friends and family will filter into the real people reviews. My 3 star review, based on my experience is extremely friendly on my part.
For being such a new place, you somewhat expect more from a business. Everyone who walks in is a new customer and should be treated as if you want them to return.
Everything on the inside seems new and clean. The seating arrangement is very uncomfortable. Chairs are too high. Tables are low. Couches are stiff. You place your order at the counter. For starters, the guy up front, well, isn’t the best. Dressed in jeans and pointy shoes, very inexperienced and although I’m sure he means well, he’s very unprofessional and kind of rude. If I don’t want «awesome sauce» on my food, then that should be ok. Quit grilling me about not wanting «awesome sauce». I’m paying for this so let me have the way I want it. I don’t want your «awesome sauce».
We ordered a total of 6 sandwiches, large fries and 1 sub. The falafel sandwiches came out immediately. Keep in mind we have 5 people at our table. Immediately meaning maybe 2 minutes after we ordered. They came out on a paper plate and in a paper bag as if it were a to-​go order. Whatever its still food I guess. The fries came out 15 minutes after, meaning my sandwich was gone. And the rest of the sandwiches came out 20 minutes after that. It would make sense to just bring all the food out at once? They had 6 employees behind the counter including Rico Suave at the register. On top of all that, nothing came out the way we ordered it.
On a brighter note, when we walked in, a kind gentleman (one of the cooks) greeted us with a sample plate of what he claimed is «the best falafel». It was good and a very nice gesture. That alone earned this review an extra star.
Minor changes can go a long way.

Wow I was born and raised in Dearborn MI, the heaviest Arab populated city in the USA, and I must say this establishment really has it figured out, I’m so impressed that I’m definitely going to go out of my way to write another review on Google. I can say with confidence this is the best Mediterranean/​Middle Mastern eatery I have been to. Despite the overwhelming competition in this city for the same food genre.

This place is awesome as in «Awesome Sauce»! The people are very friendly and the the store very clean. I love that it has an open feel to it and the tables are not cramped up on each other. You place your order at the counter, pay and sit at a table or take you food to go. Everything is made fresh, nothing is from a box or frozen package. I know this because the food is cooked right in front of you. Obviously the thing to have here is the Falafel. Rafic (the owner’s dad) is know all over South Lebanon for the best Falafel and ran the best selling Falafel restaurant there for years. The now retired Rafic has passed on his recipe to his sons, giving us the chance to sample the perfect Falafel. You can get these crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, delicious (vegan) balls of spicy heaven on a platter or in a sandwich. I highly recommend the sandwich. They also offer your typical Lebanese menu items such as Shawarma (beef or chicken), Chicken Tawook, Hummus, Baba Ghanouj and Fattoush Salad but the must try is the Crispy Chicken Sandwich with jalapenos and their signature Awesome Sauce. I have no idea what’s in that sauce but it’s absolutely delicious! It’s a little spicy, garlicky, tangy and good on just about everything. So don’t be afraid to ask for Awesome Sauce on anything they offer. They are very accommodating and will make just about anything you want, just the way you like it!

I’ve tried falafel at many middle eastern restaurants before and hands down this is my favorite. They’re crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside with just the right amount of spice. We also tried the chicken sub with their signature «awesome» sauce. I’m not sure what it’s made of but they seriously need to start bottling that stuff so I can put it on everything!
Everyone was friendly and the food came out pretty fast. This is quickly becoming my new favorite restaurant for grabbing a fresh sandwich.
They have a few tables for dining in or you can take it to go.

Best. Falafel. Ever. Seriously.
I’ve been hearing about Rafics falafel for years. His falafel is famous in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon. I’m so glad they decided to share their family recipe with all of us.
Be sure to order more than one falafel sandwich or get the falafel plate. It’s that good!
The service was great and very quick. They are so friendly and personable!