Falafel Cafe

The food was very good. Started with Beef Shawarma. It was nicely seasoned and served with warm Lebanese (pita) bread. It was a large portion for an appetizer. It would easily serve three or four. Next time I would order it as a main course. Had the combination platter and gyro sandwich as our entrées. Gyro was huge. Served in a giant ballooned pita pocket. It was a little difficult to eat, but it tasted good. The combination had kibby (fried meat-​loaf with bulgur and mint), hummus, beef, and falafel (they were out of cabbage and grape leaves for the wraps). The food was plentiful. The beef served with the Combination was tough and not as tasty as the shawarma.
Overall a nice meal and I will go back. The biggest negative was the dust. It was everywhere you look — the light fixtures, picture frames, etc. Cleaned up it would receive a four-​star rating.

Not sure what the good reviews are about. I have had a lot of Greek food in my dime and this place is ok at best.
For starters,
The hummus was kind of bland, as well as the eggplant. The tomatoes were more cooking tomatoes than actual salad tomatoes (not really fresh). The falafel was pretty good though. Like i said it was ok overall. Nothing to write home about.
I would give it three stars, however the server Ahmad (gray hair, mustache) was kind of rude. So 2 stars it is.
If your going for a quick Greek fix and its close, go for it. Wouldn’t make a trek for it though.

Sigh… What happened to you Falafel Café. Upon a recent trip, I encountered a 6 legged friend. and by friend I mean, pretty gross roach crawling up the wall (see my pic in tips). I actually killed the roach, brought it to the servers attention, and she discretely picked it up and said «Thanks»
Wow!
No, I’m so sorry, no comped meal.nothing. Sorry Falafel Café, I will never be coming back.
#Yelp100

Falafel Café is one of the best places in Orlando in my opinion, to eat a gyro or falafel sandwich. I really enjoy the humus, lintel soup, gyros, falafel and the vibe of the small restaurant.
I have been to Falafel Café on three separate occasions, two times the food was slightly better (fresher), than the first two times. My gyro was good on the third visit, however the meat seemed slightly dried out.
The food is good, and I definitely recommend you try this place yourself.

The food is ok. Wait time is a little long. Limited seating. Pitas could be larger for the price they charge. There are a few other Mediterranean places that are better than falafel café. Otherwise it is with trying once.

The Falafel Café is a hidden treasure in the UCF area, and it’s one of my favorite places to go out for lunch. The food is excellent and the service is good. I often schedule small lunch meetings there (3 – 6 people) and we always have a good experience, even when I bring people who are new to Lebanese food. I usually get a sandwich with water to drink to keep my total lunch bill under $ 10. The sandwiches are delicious and filling. Larger, more expensive dinners are available. The Falafel Café isn’t a fancy place, which is the only reason I would hesitate to go there for a more formal occasion such as a business dinner or a big date. The chairs and tables are old and there are no tablecloths or cloth napkins. It would be great if the owners could take the décor up a notch to make the place feel a little more formal in the evenings.

The food here is good, really good.
They make an amazing Chicken Shish Tawook sandwich. Their Cedar salad while out of the ordinary in terms of what we normally view as salad is both delicious and bursting with flavor, and you have to try their fries that come seasoned with special Mediterranean spices that will have you craving them all the time. I have also tried their falafel sandwich and that too was very delicious. They know what they’re doing food-​wise for sure.
They have a nice patio set up that is both inviting and relaxing, so much that I don’t think I’ve ever actually dined inside the restaurant; I always opt to sit outside.
One thing I will say though is that you can’t dine here if you’re in a hurry. Every single time that I’ve come service is slow unless I’m getting take out. Service can also sometimes be spotty, I’ve personally experienced a range from excellent to neglected. Over all however it’s definitely worth the trip.

Went to this café for lunch, and was really impressed by the authentic Mediterranean food. The house combo gives you a good variety and its big enough to share.

A great little spot near UCF for authentic, tasty Mediterranean food. The lamb was tender and flavorful. The location is a little hidden in the corner of a shopping center… it didn’t seem like many people knew about this place as it was fairly empty. Service was good.

I have a go-​to place for my weekly craving of mediterranean food (Cedar Halal Food & Deli) However, I’ve always wanted to try this place out since it’s pretty much 2 mins away from my University. I arrived there around 8:45 p.m. (I felt kind of bad because they were closing in about 30 mins), sat down and took a menu off of the front desk. It’s definitely more of a classy café style joint. There were candles on the tables, napkins wrapped around silverware. you get the jest.
Ordered: Greek Salad, Veggie grape leaves platter (Comes with grape leaves, hummus + pita bread (although the description labeled it as Lenabloush bread.?) All of the dinner platters come with a choice of soup of house salad.
Greek Salad: Crispy and sweet romaine lettuce (YAY!), feta cheese, black olives, tomatoes with a balsamic vinaigrette it seems. It was light and refreshing, the feta cheese complimented the dressing nicely. My only compliant would be the black olives, the salad was loaded with so many! It’s a nice addition to the salad, but it can get pretty salty if you eat it continuously. The dressing was tangy and refreshing. You should ask for the dressing on the side, as the olives add a salty note already.
Grape Leaves platter: I LOVE grape leaves. I must admit, I was first introduced to them by my local Winne Dixie, but gradually discovered the wonderful entertainment these leaves have to offer from trying them out from various places. Hummus is another love of my own. The portions of grape leaves they give you is very generous. Many other places serve about 5 small (2 inches) grape leaves for 4.99, but here, they give you about 10 (4.5 inches) grape leaves with about ¼ cup of Hummus for 11.99. The rice inside the leaves weren’t soft, but more on the ”well cooked” side. The flavor had a somewhat acidity aftertaste on the leaves. It was rolled neatly, but the flavor wasn’t my cup of tea. It was very mono-​toned and lacked a little something something. The hummus was the same, it was too nutty in my opinion, and the texture was that of yogurt. Very liquidity and I didn’t see much traditional seasonings dolloped on top. it has parsley on top I believe. The bread came out warmed, but got hard and cold in about 2 minutes. I’ve had this experience at home if I microwaved the pita bread, however warming it through my a pan/​oven and wrapping it with a towel always solved this problem. The platter was served with three pickled beets which weren’t very pickled.
Perhaps I’m being a little too critical, I mean, I’m nowhere near the field of being a well-​informed advocate of this type of cuisine… This might be a good place for lunch or dinner for some, but I will always stick with my favorite joint. The service was AWESOME, but the food was kind of lacking an authentic touch to it. This is my personal experience.

If I’m being completely honest, eastern Mediterranean food (aka middle eastern food) is not generally my favorite, but this place pleasantly surprised me. The tabbouleh and falafels were great… just the stuffed grape leaves were WAY too acidic for my tastes. Service is very friendly and efficient and I’d definitely say give this place a try!

Amazing food, highly recommend the gyro sandwich and fries for lunch.

Nice food. Expensive for a café environment. No beer choice. Only have Heineken’s. Wish they carried some local beers.

Fellow Unilocalers,
Working in an area known for its collegiate ways has many of its pros and cons. The pros being that there are plenty of cheap eats available for a quick bite and many attractive young girls that are trying to carve out some sort of future for themselves. The cons are that although plenty of choices may be available, they are often the typical flavorless bland fast food junk that one finds at the intersection of 1^st and Main at suburban America.
Luckily, at times a small gem appears which stands a bit out of the normal distribution and becomes a taste bud outlier. However, this could be an outlier to the left or to the right of the mean. Falafel Café happens to fall into this category and it leans just one standard deviation to the right.
It’s quite a modest establishment, rather small, but it does the trick for the power lunches of those employed by the large multinationals in the research parkway area like yours truly. The interior does give the vibe of a Lebanese street café /​bazaar with a dark woody decoration with ceiling fans and Dabke music being played as background noise. It can get a bit warm inside during summer days, which to me was not the best experience. Eating in the heat just is a detriment to the whole experience.
The service was quick and prompt. The server which I suspect is also the owner running the ‘few’ men operation was very nice and took our orders in haste. The food came out very quickly and my Gyro (see my photo) was just right. It was filled with plenty of protein accompanied by the typical spices and sauce one sees in these Mediterranean sandwiches, along with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. All items here are rather inexpensive making Falafel Café an attractive option to those wanting to deviate from the norm on a lunch break time limit.
I would hit this joint up once again for a quick bite, but I wouldn’t make it a favorite.
Later!

Sadly, I don’t come here as often as I used to now that I no longer work quite as close as I once did. It’s a shame, and I really should make the effort to get here more often.
I have had a lot of delicious items from the menu here, and I can’t honestly say that any of it has left me unsatisfied.
Among my favorites are the Shish Tawook, the Kafta Kebab, Shish Kebab, and of course both the Beef Shawarma and Chicken Shawarma. The lentil soup is awesome, and at one point I even tried the Vegetarian Lunch Special (a stretch for me because of the V-​word), and it was great! I went straight to a vegetarian friend at work when I got back and said, «Guess what I had!» all proud of myself.
The owner seems like a great guy, always smiling, and he always remembers me when I come in. He seems to always be the one serving on my weekday lunches, and he’s always quick and happy to recommend something different if you like.
The friendliness of the owner adds something extra to the experience, and that gives it that fifth star.

GO TO PITA PIT. YOU WILL BE WAY MORE SATISFIED
this place is too expensive for the amount of food you get.

Not really satisfied with the experience. I ordered hummus, fries and baklavah. My date ordered a gyro. Hummus isn’t too easy to mess up so the flavor was good. I felt that it was a bit overpriced and they only gave me half of a pita to go with it. They charged me for each additional pita halve that I ordered. My date said the gyro meat was seasoned and cooked well but that it was smaller than most gyro places he’s gone too. He personally didn’t like how thin his pita bread was. I’d rate the food as average.
The service at the restaurant was really what turned me off to this spot. The restaurant was completely empty but it still took my server close to 10 minutes to come out of the back where he’d been hiding to acknowledge that guests were there. I had to get up out of my seat and search for him when I was ready to order and any time I needed a refill.
Not a bad spot but not a place I’d voluntarily elect to go back to either.

I’m a pretty big fan of this place and I’ve probably eaten here at least a dozen times in the last couple of months alone. It’s a smallish café but they also have a few tables outside to smoke a hookah, should you so desire.
Here’s what I’ve tried:
Hummus = yummus
Labneh — pretty much a big bowl of cucumber flavored greek yogurt. Good but ask for extra bread or get this with your meal and add to anything
Cauliflower Plate — This is the silent winner of the meal. Seems so simple yet packs a really good punch of flavor. Not something you’d normally order… but you really should.
Kafta Kabob Sandwich — this is like a spicy hamburger in a wrap. My ex’s mom used to make something similar and its just super good comfort food
Chicken Shawarma Sandwich — yummy marinated chicken… in a wrap. Pretty simple, yet tasty food for the unadventurous. So don’t be afraid to bring a friend that doesn’t like «new» things.
Maanik Sandwich — tiny little spicy sausages. This is a pretty bold flavor for Americans, so only recommend this to someone that likes bold, meaty things.
Holloumi Sandwich — One of my favs. Soft, buttery cheese in a wrap. Really simple but savory.
Kibby Dinner — Lebanese meatloaf. A very hefty, bold dish. Yummy but super heavy and will leave you feeling pretty weighed down.
Baklava — Perfect… just perfect ending to a great meal. Even if you’re full you need to get this to go to understand what I mean.

It was pizza or this, so why not. I’m not a huge gyro fan, but I have had a few in my time and some were damn good. This was not.
The place had a few diners that seemed to be happy. We ordered 3 gyros and some dessert (can’t remember the name, but it was pastry like and tasty).
We took our order to go. It came with soup that was pretty bad, but we were hungry.
The owner seemed nice enough and they seemed to take their time preparing the food instead of using a microwave.
Overall it was alright I guess, but I’ve had better. I think the meat was too spam like and cut too thick for my taste.
I’d do it again, but probably only once.

In search for delicious kebab platters and gyros from the near east at the footsteps of UCF? Look no further. Falafel Café, a Lebanese and Middle Eastern restaurant, has been around for a while near UCF on the corner of Alafaya Trail and University Blvd right next to the CB&S bookstore behind Applebee’s. The logo at Falafel Café is the Cedar Tree, a symbol of Lebanon.
For starters choose from traditional salads, taboulehs, hummus, grape leaves, and more. Lentil soup is offered during lunch as well, complimentary. For my meal I choose the combination kebab platter, a trio of freshly marinated and grilled chicken, kafta, and beef (or lamb) kebabs ($ 15.99) with a healthy heap of rice. My friends order the gyro ($ 7.50). Although I enjoyed my meal, I must say it was a bit expensive. I’ll try some of their other less expensive meals next time and report back.