The Thirsty Camel Cafe

Nanaimo, Canada

4.5

Closed now

20 reviews

Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 250-753-9313
Website:
www.thirstycamelcafe.ca
Address:
14 Victoria Cres, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5B8
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 miNanaimo
0.3 miA
0.3 miB
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepted Cards
Credit, Debit
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
No
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Nanaimo) 03:23 Friday, 23 May 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Small, funky, community minded, family run Middle Eastern restaurant. We make everything from scratch. Falafel balls dropped to order into sunflower oil (no canola) that is changed daily. Free Range chicken grilled to order. Hummus made fresh daily. Plenty of gluten free options. Plenty of vegetarian and vegan options (including desserts). We promote and accept Bitcoin and have a Bitcoin ATM in the restaurant. Winner of Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Nanaimo’s Best of the City Awards 4 out of the last 5 years (circa 2014). Alternative and organic drinks. French-​Press, Direct-​Trade Drumroaster coffee. Organic Teas. We peel our garlic i

Nearby

Near this location:
90
ft
Driftwood Bistro
22 Victoria Crescent
90
ft
Quintessential Accessories
2 Commercial Street
90
ft
China Steps Emporium
4 China Steps
100
ft
Zalathai
22 Victoria Crescent
130
ft
The Coffee Vault
499 Wallace Street
140
ft
Dealers Choice
10 Lois Lane

20 reviews of The Thirsty Camel Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Santa Fe, NM
Excellent Israeli style food. The staff is efficient, friendly and willing to modify my order.
My favorite dish is the Ori’s Eggplant. It is gourmet quality and has an exclusive grilled flavor. My husband loves the falafel.
Tip:check the closing times. The hours vary with some quite early clising hours. This is mainly a grab and go lunch place. Thete are nice tables inside as well as outside.
Place rating: 4
Mississauga, Canada
Wanted shawarma on my road trip from Victoria to Tofino. Stopped in nanaimo, and got a shawarma. Wasn’t expecting too much, coming from the land of shawarmas in Toronto (not exactly, but there’s a lot of shawarma places in Toronto, ok?).
The wrap came out in a small pita, stuffed to the max! A lot of chicken, veggies, and various hummus and sauces that were so intensely flavourful. Tasted real fresh and one of the best shawarma places out there for sure. I asked for medium spice, and it was next-​day-​ring-​of-​fire-​spicy for sure. Go easy if you order spice.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
An interesting place to check out. The chicken shawarma was pretty decent with generous stuffings and sauce. Comes out inside a round flatbread. Took a little while to prepare though, but the service was super friendly. They even have a BitCoin ATM.
Place rating: 4
Oakland, CA
Great healthy quick food!
Place rating: 5
Nanaimo, Canada
I am totally satisfied with my lunch I had the Persian chicken with carrots and cauliflower
My wife had the chicken platter.
Can’t wait to go back and try something new again
Place rating: 4
Downtown, Seattle, WA
Loved it! Very hippie meets Middle East, healthy and delish. Great for lunch. Falafel was perfect, chicken delish. Tahini ok, needed salt, hummus great. Fast, affordable, and the girls were super nice.
Place rating: 4
Vancouver, Canada
Fantastic staff and owner. Friendly, helpful and they make fabulous food. Favorites include the falafels and eggplant!
Many gluten free options including wraps — just ask!!!
Place rating: 5
North Vancouver, Canada
very cozy location. the staff were really nice and helpful. We ordered chicken pita (spicy hot) and the Persian chicken plate and both were awesome. We went there a day after and ordered the same (yes, that good!)
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
Passing through Nanaimo on my last vacation.
Sometimes when I’m traveling, all I want is a healthy, hippy meal. I was happy to find The Thirsty Camel Café. They served really, really good falafels — and, I don’t really like falafels (bad hippy!). My friends and I shared a veggie platter and it was perfect.
Definitely would stop there again when I’m in the ‘hood!
Place rating: 3
Vancouver, Canada
Friendly faces and great service. It’s a small space but they accommodated our group of 8 (including 3 kids). The food is made from local and mostly organic ingredients, plenty of veggie options. It’s not the most authentic flavour of middle eastern food I’ve had but a good effort.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
Was passing by Nanaimo and found this awesome little place. Had one of the best lunches ever there — their falafels were just amazing and the staff was very friendly. We will definitely be coming back when we’re nearby!
Place rating: 5
Downtown, Vancouver, Canada
Good food. Great little place. Maybe get the platter as the pita can be a little hard to eat.
Place rating: 4
Kerrisdale, Vancouver, Canada
Thirsty Camel has a great selection, meals here are made from fresh, locally sourced produce. I love the chicken kebobs! The atmosphere is simple, café style dining. Great for lunch or a snack. My only complaint is that they aren’t open very late and therefore I hardly get to go, but the hours are somewhat typical of Nanaimo. I do wish I could go here for dinner time someday!
Place rating: 4
Jefferson, WA
Tiny little place with a few tables on the patio. We shared a felafel plate for about $ 12. Four of us were pleasantly surprised that the dish satisfied all of us for a «between breakfast and dinner» meal. Decent hummus and great felafel and even better tomato/​cute salad. This is a can’t miss little joint!
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
Great place! Had the chicken pita and it was fantastic. Mild was too spicy for me so err on the side of caution with spice levels but the best place I’ve been to for a lunch in Nanaimo.
Place rating: 5
Los Angeles, CA
This place was great! I went for lunch and had the falafel pita sandwich. The sauce was tasty and the tomato and cucumber was fresh. The falafel was the best I’ve ever had because it wasn’t too fried and still very moist inside.
I also got their chai tea, which I thought was ok, but my friend really loved. They are located in a cool part of town that has shopping nearby.
Place rating: 5
Toronto, Canada
This is most definitely not your average middle-​eastern fare! Not only does the Camel prove dedication to quality, nutrition and sustainability, the recipes are truly superb with exciting unique flavour balances and delectable ingredients…
I am almost speechless.
Laid back comfy atmosphere with a small-​scale open kitchen cranking out plates of consistently excellent fare.
A surprising find in Nanaimo. Six thumbs up!!!
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
How do they make healthy so deeeeelicious. I ordered a falafel pita and was very impressed. I loved the tahini sauce, the whole wheat soft pita, the falafel, and the cucumber and tomatoes diced on top. I also had a mug of tomato lentil soup that was just as good as home made.
Would I go back? In a heartbeat.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
Best. Falafel. Ever.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
Low key spot that offers high speed wireless for the price of a chai tea. Super friendly and the patrons rave about the soup.
I killed a couple hours in this café waiting for friends to show up from Vancouver, and found it comfortable and friendly.