Falafel King Restaurant

This location and the one on Denman make an excellent falafel… especially the chicken wrap… been going there since the 90’s…their secret family recipe the season their chicken is amazing… if possible… ask for a «fresh» side it off the spit… you won’t be disappointed…

food is very testy and the price is reasonable. the customer service is awful and really bad. very bad attitude and the owner of the store doesn’t even care if you are happy with the result or not. all he thinks of is MONEY. extra pickles? Pay Extra. extra tomatoes (two more slices)?! Pay Extra.
everytime ive been there there was an argument between the owner and a customer over the money and extra charges.
if i go there its only because of the tasty chicken donairs and nothing else.

I always have had a very good experience at Falafel King. There is mainly one fellow who is there to serve me. He has a great personality and like to joke around. He always makes my wrap with extra care. For this, I give HIM 5 stars. However, I went in just a few days ago and there was another fellow at the service counter. I ordered a Falafel, expecting the same friendly and attentative service. What followed was totally unacceptable in the hospitality feild. He went on to heat my falafels, threw them in the microwave and began filling my wrap with lettuce (chucked it in), tomatoes (old, mushy) and get this… one little cucumber slice. I kindly asked him if I could have a few more. The guy gave me a dirty look and added 2 more measly quartered cucumber slices. he carried on and began wrapping it up. I again kindly asked if I could please have pickles as well. a common addition to any wrap. The guy told me «no» «I cannot give everyone everything» «these are for other items, if I give you pickles then I cannot give you something else». Like wtf?!! How much do little sliced pickles cost. Not that much. I would have even been willing to pay for them but, this guy wasnt budging. I told him «well, the other fellows have always given pickles… He then said «well, im the owner and I say no! and they shouldnt be doing that». I paid and walked out. I will not go back. Being in the restaurant industry for over 15 years… I would never tell a paying patron «no» especially for a f’ing pickle! Bad service… distastefull preperation… sub standard falafel.
Sorry to the cool guy who usually serves me… didnt mean to throw you under the bus.

After a long bike ride along the seawall and through Stanley Park we were looking for a quick but filling meal to replace all the calories we had just burned. Upon walking into this place I heard the employees speaking to each other in Arabic, saw the hookah and pictures on the wall of Lebanon and felt right at home. All good Lebanese establishments have framed pictures of Lebanon up. It’s a staple.
We ordered 3 sandwiches, the falafel, the chicken shawerma and the beef shawerma. The falafel was nice and moist, the chicken shawerma was my favorite because of all the spices and flavorings, but the beef shawerma was the standout because the meat was gyro meat and I LOVE gyro sandwiches. I’m often conflicted at places that offer both shawerma and gyro about what to order, but this was like the gyro and the shawerma had an affair and produced the perfect mixed-​race baby! It was the best of both worlds! If more places used gyro meat to make beef shawerma it would make me happy because I wouldn’t have to ever choose between the two.

Ate at the Falafel King in August of 2013. I believe I had the Schwarma and I won’t complain by any means. It was delicious and especially awesome after a night on Davey Street. Making a point to stop in on my next visit to Vancouver.

I ordered the shawarma plate (xtra spicy, duh) and it was amazing. Meat was well seasoned and juicy, tabbouleh salad was almost as awesome as my mums. Portions here are huge though. I managed to eat half of mine and left the rest for later. You also get a lot of hummus so ask for extra pita bread. I did and I don’t regret it.
Service is quick and very polite.

I came here because it was very close to my hostel. The food was mediocre and the service was slow. There are so many better donair places in Vancouver.

Excellent wraps. I really liked the chicken. The owner is friendly and puts a lot of meat in it. He claims to be the original schwarma guy and i believe it. Wrap was $ 7.

I think the Falafel King needs to abdicate because his shawarmas are not even worthy of Baron or Viscount status.
Although plentiful, the overly salted meat in my shawarma ranged from dry to darn near petrified. The fellow who made my shawarma was generous with the hummus, the tabbouleh and the other veg and sauces, but with the protein star of the shawarma being so yucky it didn’t really matter that the portion was huge and everything else was decent.
Definitely not worth another visit given that the Donair Dude is within a block.

Food was pretty tasty and cheap, but I have to mark it down for AWFUL HYGEINE and food prep. Details follow… The good — the chicken shwarma platter I had was up to the usual good standards I’ve enjoyed. I was able to opt out of rice and the sickening sweet donair sauce and get my shwarma on top of salad with tabouleh on the side and a very generous portion of delicious hummus. I noticed that while the employee made my platter, she was using her hands a lot to pick up food and put it on my plate. That’s ok so long as she washed her hands first, which I didn’t see, but assumed. I started getting suspicious when my pita came in a plastic basket WITHOUT any wax paper covering. I sat down and started eating, but I couldn’t get over the suspicion that the basket hadn’t been cleaned since the last patron used it.
I ate about ¹⁄₅ of my pita before the idea grossed me out and I tossed the rest away. I returned the basket to the FK employee, and sure enough she put it back onto the same stack of baskets that she drew mine from originally. WTF!!! I remonstrated her and explained that it was not hygienic, and that she needs to use the wax paper that was sitting next to the askets, but where the heck is the restaurant management? Do they train their employees at all??? Gross. Who knows what maladies the last person to eat out of that basket was afflicted with. Dysentery, TB or the black death? Ewwww. The fact that the employee was completely oblivious to this basic hygiene concept is extremely worrisome. Did she go to the bathroom without washing her hands, then prepare my food?
Suffice to say I was feeling very bloated and gassy after eating there, though it might have been from the generous hummus portion. Other than that I don’t feel any ill effects, and hopefully I will continue to be OK despite «Typhoid Mary’s» lackadaisical approach to hygiene.
Other negatives:
The shwarma was pre-​cut and scooped out of a warming tray, not carved fresh off the wheel. The charge for a falafel addition was $ 1.25 — wtf? It’s only .50 or .75 at most places. I didn’t bother, as the falafels were sitting out and most places in Vancouver just pop it in the microwave — not fresh. I thought this place was called «Falafel King»???
On the plus side, the taouleh and hummus were very good and the portions were sizable. I won’t be going back until I see some other folks assure me that they have cleaned up their act (literally).

YUMMY lamb shawrma’s and veggie platters are perfect for taking down to Stanley Park and enjoying the scenery. Or, stay and enjoy the people watching on the main strip.
Reasonable prices and HUGE portions.

Got two falafel sandwiches to go here. This place looks like it’s been around for forever!
We walk by it all the time, so decided to try it out.
I was pretty happy with the size and taste of the falafel. Would have been great with more hummus though. We know for next time.
We were going out of town and this place was open in the morning and all the other lunch places were closed. So we were very surprised they were open!
Thanks Falafel King!

A falafel shop with speedy service in the bundle pack of fast food Middle Eastern restaurants along Denman near English Bay.
We picked up some shwarmas for dinner before heading to the beach to watch the fireworks on Saturday. I’ve heard good things, but my chicken shwarma was just ‘good’ — some fatty chunks on my chicken. For $ 6.50, there’s a lot of tasty quick options you can get in the City.
Similar to: Babylon Café (one of my favs), Aladdin, Falafel & Friends

With a name like Falafel King, I would expect that this place would have the best falafels in the city. Although they were pretty f’in good, I don’t think they were the best, but a very close second indeed, and honestly if Donair King wasn’t so damn close I would probably hit up the Falafel King more, but given the choice between the two of them… I’d take the seasick crocodile! (Sometimes I think my split personality is a gay man who loves musicals.) I would pick the Donair King over the Falafel King, which would make me a Donair Princess right?
Here are my reasons:
1. I didn’t find my visit to the Falafel King to be something to write home about, not that I expect to be engaged in deep meaningful conversations when I visit restaurants — be it fast food or not, but a little small talk is okay. I didn’t really get that at Falafel King.
2. When I’m drunk on Davie it probably means I’m at Celebrities, which means I’d have to cross the street to get to Falafel King and when you’re in five inch stilettos, that is far too much work.
3. I know this is petty, but I’m pretty sure that Donair King falafels are cheaper than Falafel King, so I can save my pennies for a rainy day (which is pretty much every day right now in Vancouver– shaking fist at ye Gods)
4. Also, the Donair King is the only guy to grill the falafel wraps when they are put together on a little panini grill, and this makes a world of difference! The pita is all soft and warm and delicious, and it tastes so darn good! Hmm… wonder what’s for dinner tonight?

The staff here are friendly and the prices are cheap. I ordered a falafel wrap the other night and really enjoyed it. It had the three things I like most in a falafel sandwich. Firstly, it was moist. Secondly, they use fresh tabbouleh. Thirdly, they added pickles. I really wanted the Lebanese style turnip pickles, but they just had basic dill pickles. In the falafel wrap building business it’s all about layering the flavors so they blend in perfect harmony. You have heard of ebony and ivory? What about pickles and parsley?
The only negative comment I have is that the falafel tasted good, but the texture is a bit off due to the use of the microwave.
Warning: This is a cash only establishment.

The best chicken shwarma in the city. Firstly, the serving is the size of a small child, secondly it’s tasty as all hell. Smothered in humous, tzatziki and hot sauce. I don’t go anywhere else in the city for a shwarma. Tasty goodness.

A small, pretty okay falafel takeout place mostly indistinguishable from any other small, pretty okay falafel place you’ve been to (or, in fact, any of the simliar ones lining Davie). The veggies taste fresh and the sandwiches are cheap. The hot sauce isn’t overwhelming and adds a needed little bit of pizazz. The falafel is good; the lamb wrap is completely forgettable. It looks like they only ever have chicken on the roaster: that’ll be my next order.
They’re not afraid of the microwave oven here: both the falafel and sliced lamb (for the lamb wrap) go from the refrigerated counter to the microwave before they hit your pita. It’s probably a good thing: the falafel doesn’t dry out this way, but it still feels weird to watch, somehow.
Good value and friendly service; unexceptional but nearby. I’ll be back.

When I come here it’s for the chicken shwarma plate. It is very tasty and filling for $ 7. You can ask for extra pitas if you want and you will get it. I like mine with tatziki sauce rather than the tahini sauce but it depends who is working at the time for that I find. I prefer the one on Denman over the one on Davie st.

Update: there must be new owners or management because the portions have decreased significantly. So much, in fact, that I will no longer eat there.
For $ 7 I get a chicken shwarma plate with loads of chicken, taboulli, hummus and pita. Tastes great and did I mention it’s $ 7?
Awesome! The one on Denman is equally good :)

This place was alright. It opens at 10, which was nice. I ordered a falafel sandwich, and the falafels were premade and nuked — not so nice. Good sauce though. The carrot soup was lukewarm, and more luke than warm at that. But on the upside, it is cheap.