Flying Falafel & Po’ Boys

On a trip to Austin Texas some of our friends who our locals recommended this place. They seemed pretty excited about it so naturally I was excited as well. Overall I was pretty unimpressed. Although the filling was pretty good (nothing spectacular though) one of my biggest complaints was the big fat bread. In my opinion if you have bread as large as this, you need to insure that it’s absolutely fresh, in which case this was not. Overall its a solid sandwich and service was pretty good but nothing I would rant or rave about with my friends.

I am writing this review in hopes that one day FF & PB will be 4.5 stars on Unilocal.This place rocks my face off.
Here is what you need to know:
1) If you are not eating menseff on Thursdays, shame on you. Excellent, generously provided pieces of lamb or chicken (HIGHLY recommend lamb, call early to get it) slathered in a perfect yogurty mess of pine nuts and almonds and served over rice.
2) The family in charge is friendly and adorable and you will want to become their adopted child, indulgently fattened over time with their Cajun-​Mediterranean goodies.
3) Can’t go wrong with their shawarmas or gyros either. They have the perfect amount of spicy sauces and veggies, and you won’t spend more than $ 5 on them.
4) They deliver.
Absolute favorite in ATX. There is no way I’ll ever be in the city for more than 30 minutes without stopping here.

Called an order in for dinner one night here and went to pick it up and take it home (super convenient!) I had the falafel wrap, which was pretty good, and a side of tabouleh, also good.
All-​in-​all, I wouldn’t call this place memorable or make it a frequent stomping ground of mine, but I’m sure I’ll be back again at some point.

Sort of cramped dining space, over priced, and a strange combination of cuisines (Middle Eastern and Cajun) — however, the food is awesome.
I got the shawarma with a side of tabouleh. Tabouleh was about the best I’ve ever had, not bitter or overly pungent; and the shawarma had tender nuggets of delicious beef, with an awesome spicy sauce (not sure of the name). Considering how damn good the food is, it sucks that I can’t justify a rating higher than 3 stars. The shawarma was fairly meger, and I left Flying Falfal not at all full, at $ 9, I should be a little bit more sated leaving a place. But that’s the way the falafel crumbles, I suppose.

BABA GANOUSH!
If you’re as big a fan of this tasty dip as I am, you are likely disappointed with most of the Austin Mediterranean food scene. I ordered from Flying Falafel on a whim as it is one of the few decent-​looking places that delivers to my house. CRIPES, the baba ganoush is good! It’s kind of chunky and very fresh – leaps and bounds above everything else I’ve tried in town. I also tried the Greek Salad, which was not so much to my liking (black olives? wha??), but was decent nonetheless. The cajun food was pretty good but oversalted.
Might I mention the baba ganoush again? It was heavenly. And I also highly recommend the dolmas.
Baba ganoush fans, rejoice!

Do yourself a favor, go to Flying Falafel. Its flying good. I spoke with the gracious host and she told me the cook is a former resident of Jordan. I closed my eyes and my tongue told me I was in the Middle East. I got the spicy recipe and my mouth thank me later. The only reason its not getting five stars is that the falafel was a little on the small side.
My taste buds made war on me when I had no falafel left for them. I should have ordered two.
GO. THERE.

Spent a weekend here in Austin, and with a vegetarian in our group, we looked for something that would be interesting to everyone. Someone mentioned this place, and there we went.
Service was good, not fast food, but nothing to complain about.
I had a gyro wrap and some falafel. It was good, but not extraordinary in any way. Fries were pretty normal as well. I left feeling very satisfied, but I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to come here – particularly when there are so many other restaurants to try.

I was really astonished that so many other people had a better experience than I did. I picked this place because I listen to my fellow Unilocalers. Just to make it clear I didn’t mind the service, they were super friendly. It wasn’t the atmosphere, very clean. I just think it was the crab cake poboy that I had. I wanted to get falafel but I wanted to venture out.
It did take a while to get our food. We were the only ones in the restaurant. I ordered this poboy with confidence. I received my food and started with the fries. Those were good, crispy and golden, but the crab just had a funky flavor that I can not even describe. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and chalked it up to a bad batch. I didn’t complain because I was really hungry and didn’t want to wait another 15 minutes for something else.
The price was pretty fair, $ 8.99 for po boy, fries and a drink. I would like to give them a second shot so this time I will go with my gut feeling and get the falafel.

I’ve been a fan of Flying Falafel for the past couple of years, since I started stopping in for lunch occasionally during the workday.
Convenient to campus, Flying Falafel is a great place to take a diverse group of eaters because they have an unusually large and diverse menu, offering everything from New Orleans-​style catfish po’ boys to shwarma plates, falafel to spanakopita. For a Mediterreanean-​o-​phile, it’s heaven!
The staff are always very helpful and friendly, you can order online ahead of time for take-​out, they deliver for a dollar, and the outdoor seating area with umbrellas on the Drag is a lovely spot for a leisurely lunch and some great people watching. It also generally takes at least 10 – 15 minutes to get your order, but not only is it well worth it — this is a sign that the food is actually made to order. They also aren’t too stingy with the pine nuts!
I’ve had and enjoyed the falafel, lamb and beef gyro, dolmas, hummus, labneh, and baba ghanoush, all very tasty! But my new favorite dish is the menssef.
The owner has been telling me for a while that I just have to try the Thursday special, a lamb and rice dish with yogurt sauce and roasted pine nuts. When I went in after work today to pick up some take-​out for dinner, she told me that it was my lucky day, because they still had some of «the most famous Jordanian dish» available!
And it delivered. What’s not to love about a rich dish that incorporates lamb, yogurt, and pine nuts? I got the mixed chicken and lamb, and it was fantastic. It was also enough for two meals, so I’ll be savoring the rest for lunch tomorrow!
Happy Jordanian St. Patrick’s Day to ME.

Yes, the wait for your food is a little long. Yes, it’s a notch above freezing inside and there’s limited seating. Yes, it’s a little pricey. But that beef schawarma will knock your socks off! And the baba ghanoush… wow! And those perfectly fried falafels… holy cats!
The staff is friendly and the food is fresh. And I may or may not be going back for dinner.

I was skeptical about this place, but this is by far the best middle-​eastern food I can find in Austin.
Get the shawerma plate or sandwich, but don’t forget the homemade mom’s hot sauce (warning: HOT).
For sides: hummus, rice pilaf, or grape leaves.

I love this little place. I make it North of the river rarely, and I have only been here twice, but it is truly rare for such a place to leave such a deep impression on me – on both of my random year or two apart visits.
One thing I love about Flying Falafel & Po’ Boys is the sense of family – it is family run and the pride in the food is so confident that I’d follow any recommendation from them.
A year or so ago the Austin Chronicle did a cover story on the fried chicken scene in Austin (case in point: there hardly is one). The only thing that stood out was the Wednesday special at this little place – that and Korean-​owned Red Cap Chick (R.I.P.). So somehow it took until today for it to occur to me on a Wednesday that it was the time for me to experience perhaps Austin’s only real (non fast-​food) fried chicken.
Thank God I called at noon just to verify my memory was in order because they had exactly one lunch special plate left. Ah well, I said to the girl on the phone, it’d be at least an hour before I can get over there. Wait wait she said, and called to her mother in the kitchen to hold the last order of the special for me. Where do you EVER see such considerate customer service?
I got there and it was like I was an old family friend. I asked the girl who’d answered the phone earlier if I could make a substitution – the plate consists of a generous helping of jambalaya, a scoop potato salad on crispy shredded lettuce and sliced French bread. I told her I wasn’t big potato salad fan – «have you had our potato salad?» she asked. It’s that cool confidence that told me to go with the flow, and I’m glad I did. The ingredients of this plate are engineered to interact brilliantly. The fried chicken was AMAZING, the jambalaya delicious and the potato salad to my surprise was an awesome compliment to the rest of the flavors. An awesome meal.
The first time I went to Flying Falafel & Po’ Boys was at least a year ago – I was seeking a fried shrimp po-​boy and the owners son proudly sold me on a cup of gumbo as well. The gumbo was delicious in a true New Orleans spirit. The owner starts the stock by cooking down shrimp casings to make a multi-​layered broth, then proceeding with a light (to my taste) roux. Very good, very New Orleanais. The po-​boy was among the better I’ve had outside of Louisiana, my only complaint about the cuisine coming out of this little place is that everything’s a bit on the salty side. Delicious tho.
Looking forward to trying more dishes at this family run place – so far it always feels like you’re coming to visit friends in their own home.

My world has just been rocked by a flavor exploooooosssssssiiiiiiion! The infamous Sabrina S told me about this tiny spot — tinier than tigress if you can imagine — because she knows the university scene. Mainly because she trolls for hot young men there who are drunk on the intoxicating spices rubbed so lovingly into their chicken schwarma. Flying Falafel’s C Schwarma, not the guys. Dirty pervs.
Here’s the short and skinny (not her type btw): its made to order, it’s hot out the kitchen, it’s spicy as hell if you order the spicy, it’s dripping with goodness and authenticity, there are three tables total inside the building. It’s not fast… its fresh. Those often preclude each other. The lady who is making the amazing noshes is from Jordan but raised her fam in New Orleans so you can get a mouth bustin’ schwarma OR a super sass po-​boy. The falafel is so moist and tasty, I actually LIKED the dolmas (miracle) because they are served warm and the hummous. Forget it. I want a vat and I want it now. Hummous soup FTW.
I’ve heard and now I’ve witnessed. Get your Caju-​terrean on here. You’ll never look back.

The Poboys and their Great Crawfish Caper tackled another joint claimin’ to have a righteous crawdad sammich.
This place gets two awards. Most Portable Poboy and Best Dressed Poboy.
Most places don’t completely «dress» their poboys. The sauce is on the side. There’s no pickles. There are tomatoes sticking out of places so that you wonder how one actually eats their sammich. This place gets it right. two sauces on their bread, lettuce, tomato and pickles all nestled into the bread without displacing the meat of the sammich.
Most places also don’t have what I’d call a Portable PoBoy. They overstuff with vegetables or seafood, making it impossible to actually pick the sammich up without it falling apart.
I had to get my order to-​go, since the counter guy told me that Darque Tan would likely tow me if I didn’t move it immediately. So, on the way home, I decided that if I can organize a burlesque show I can certainly dodge coeds whilst trying to eat a PoBoy. I wanted to eat it as soon as possible to give them a fair shake, after all. Amazingly, I dropped not a single crawfish tail while eating at a couple of red lights.
The crawfish were of the smaller variety. Mama Roux blows them out of the water in this area. The breading was just right, though. The bread, lettuce and tomato were all fresh tasting. The pickles were a nice touch. The sauces provided a nice flavor to round out the experience. For just less than $ 10 with fries and a drink, I’d say this one’s a winner.
I can’t wait to find out how their Mediterranean food is. It all looks delicious. I wish I’d known you can get a mediterranean side dish subbed in for the fries for a buck extra. That would’ve been an interesting flavor experience.
They deliver, and I might pay some extra just to not have to deal with trying to find parking on the Drag. That’s the only real drawback that I can see.

Not exactly student budget-​friendly, but great food. The falafel is worth checking out, the po’boys are great, and the service is pretty fast n’ friendly.
Delicious fries too. I would definitely check it out when you’re in the area. It’s probably about 2 years old by now so it’s safe to say that their game is on-​point.

Like others, I had my doubts about a place that served po’ boys and falafels, but it was great. I had a falafel on a wheat pita that was outstanding, and a side of the homemade stuffed grape leaves, which were out of this world. The gal at the register recommended them and I’m glad I tried them. Nice family run place, clean, delicious, good vegetarian options.

I thought this place was awesome. Everything was very tasty and the portions were big. I ordered the Sampler platter and was very impressed. There was some spice in there that I had never tasted before and loved. My favorite place for Mediterranean in town.
Great service too. Love the mom and pop atmosphere.

Yeah. I still love this place. If I want a meal on campus, its my ‘to go’ place.
I’ve been known to walk from Dean Keaton down the Drag past a bunch of other places just to go here. If you want seafood, this place is on my top 5 places in the city. The outside doesn’t look like much, but the family that runs it knows good seafood. They are picky and don’t serve it if it isn’t up to snuff. Right now, its the only place in the city I eat oysters. Threadgill’s shredded my mouth a couple months ago with bits of shell left on their fried oysters and I haven’t been back. They are always fresh and perfect here. Sure, it isn’t the cheapest restaurant on the Drag, but I’ll pay for quality and this place brings it.
Because they were in the Critics Poll for 2010 in the Austin Chronicle, I felt the need to chirp my 2 cents in.
I was surprised the critics poll named the the kanafeh the best eastern mediterranean dessert in the city. I’ll have to explain myself… it’s true… believe the hype. This stuff rocks. It’s probably in my top 5 desserts for the whole city. It is really *that* good. I’m also excited because maybe the plug in the Chronicle will cause more people to order it. I got it twice in the fall, and then every time I came back to get it, they were out. Apparently, the stuff is time consuming to make with a short shelf life. If it doesn’t sell, they won’t make it.
So, Austin… show up and eat this stuff. I have been without a fix for months now. I don’t know when the critic ate it, but I’m jealous they got a slice and I didn’t.

This place serves some super delicious Mediterranean foods. I tried their sampler plate, which consists of hummus, baba ghanough, tabouleh, grape leaves stuffed with rice, and falafels. Everything was just so fresh and savory. Seriously, what makes the food here shine is its freshness.
On the other hand, I also had one of their lamb plates and I thought that the lamb was a bit dry. But overall, go here and get some great Mediterranean food.

Wanted a poboy. Wanted a fried oyster poboy. This place came up on Unilocal so I went to go check it out.
Sandwich was great! Only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because of the bread. I prefer my poboys on a thin, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside baguette type of bread. That way, ever bite has a piece of bread, condiment, veggie and protein. The bread at flying Falafel is a wider style of bread that left too much bread on the side portion (I don’t know if this makes sense or not) with all the filling close to the edge.
Came with three perfectly fried oysters, mayo, ketchup, and lettuce.