Falafel King – Bloomington, MN

I had driven by a couple of these and always wanted to stop in. I finally made a point to do just that. It was worth it. It’s located in a strip mall outside the Cub Food store in Bloomington, but we all know I’ve gotten over the stigma of eating in strip malls.

The place was MUCH nicer inside than I would have thought. Like extremely nice. To the point where I felt kind of bad standing there waiting for my food wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I contemplated eating at the place, but when I realized it was a little nicer than I suspected, I decided to get it and bring it home. There’s a nice bar inside fully stocked with all kinds of wine, beer, and hookas. I’m assuming the hookas are for the outside seating. But as I said, for a place with a menu board on the wall, it’s nicer than you’d think.

I decided to go with the Shawirma, though a gyro sounded really good. I confused the guy by switching sauces on him, but the guy who actually made my food was cool with it. I chatted up the chef while he was working since there were few other people inside at the odd hour that I went. I just needed something light so I got a half (which is still half a pita shell filled with goodies). It came in a standard Styrofoam container with some tsaziki sauce and some peppery goodness.

When I got it home my mouth was already watering from the smells coming from my passenger seat. I could smell the charbroiled tomatoes and meat on the thing and I needed to eat this SOON.

The meat was REALLY flavorful. I’m not sure whether it was from the grill or some marinade, but it was fantastic. Fresh ingredients (you can usually tell) and the sauce and peppers were perfectly matched for this dish. I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve eaten a lot of gyros and shawirmas in my day, both in the U.S. and abroad, but this was near the top of the list. Honestly, it was amazing.

I’ll be back, Mr. King.


Top 5 things about Falafel King
1. Awesome chunks of meat
2. Sauces
3. Really nice atmosphere inside
4. Very friendly staff
5. The menu has a lot of stuff for different taste buds

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd would have LOVED this place, even though she generally steered clear of pita-type food
2. I should have gotten the full size and gorged myself
3. There are about 13 things on the menu I wanted to try
4. I wish I liked falafel
5. I’ll clean up a little before I go there next time – I don’t think the Uptown Falafel King is as fancy

www.falafelking.com