Legendary New York Falafel Restaurant is Coming to Dallas: Inexpensive Spot a Chef Favorite

A New York legend is coming to Texas this fall. Mamoun’s Falafel, the oldest and perhaps most famous falafel restaurant in New York City, has plans to open a location in Dallas’ West Village before the end of 2017.

The fast casual restaurant is responsible for making falafel a staple of New Yorker’s diets, and has played a big part in the popularity of Middle Eastern food in America.

Founded in Greenwich Village in 1971, Mamoun’s has since grown to encompass six restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The falafel icon recently partnered with franchise development company Fransmart to expand into a worldwide chain. Dallas will be the first Mamoun’s restaurant to open outside of the tri-state area – and many more locations are soon to follow.

Get ready for tasty shawarma, hummus, baba ganouj, baklava, and, of course, falafel. Founder Mamoun Chater built the menu off of authentic and traditional recipes.

The famous restaurant has been praised chefs and food critics, and is a go-to spot for celebrity sightings. Iron Chef Mario Batali tweeted that it’s one of his favorite inexpensive spots in New York. The Food Network has also spotlighted Mamoun’s, and New York Magazine has said it’s “perhaps the best falafel in New York City.”

The restaurant’s move to Dallas is good news for local falafel fans. There aren’t that many options in the local food scene as it is. Plus it’s cheap, casual and very vegetarian-friendly. Deep Ellum’s Amsterdam Falafelshop, one of Dallas’ most well-known purveyors of the chickpea dish, closed earlier this summer after only a year in business.

There might be more Mamoun’s opening across the city in the future. The chain has already announced that it will open six locations in Atlanta and has plans for major, rapid expansion over the next year.