Falafel House Santa Cruz

Lunch in Downtown Santa Cruz is always a hard decision. So many good places! My buddy Seth from work listed a few of his favorites and one stuck me as perfect - The Falafel House. Located on Walnut Ave., across from 99 Bottles, we drove over on a beautiful summer day.

Falafel House website

There were only a few others inside when we got there at noon, but I hear at dinner it can get crowded. There's a huge menu over the counter and specials listed on the side. I like how you can see back into the kitchen area.

Not many decorations in this place besides some travel posters on the Middle East and some plants. The front windows bring in all the sunshine you will ever need. And the tip jar was clever.

We ordered our food and both elected for water to drink, which was provided for free. They give you a number and you pick it up when it's called.

Seth went with the Veggie Combo ($7.99) and requested the yogurt-free tahini sauce. It's great they offer that he was happy with the generous portions on his plate. Falafels over a salad, tabbuli and hummus with lots of vegetables.

I went with the Shawerma Combo ($9.99), which had grilled chicken shawerma over salad, hummus and babbaganough (which is fun to eat and say!). Both plates included pita bread. Babbaganough is made with cooked eggplant, tahini and spices and this version was good. Not spectacular, but good. The hummus was better than what I get from the store, so I rate it better than average. The chicken was plentiful and cooked well. No grizzle or hard parts.

We were satisfied with our lunch, so we didn't consider any dessert, but they offer Baklava. I've had better Middle Eastern food elsewhere (like Laili's also downtown), but the Falafel House offers a quick, adequate meal.

Score out of 10:
Food: 6
Service: n/a
Atmosphere: 7
Value form price: 7
Overall: 6.75