Falafel King

Love their food and the owner is super cool. They make a mean Turkish coffee and phenomenal pastries/​desserts.
Their hummus is one of my favourites.

A fine place for lunch. The line is usually long but they move orders through their assembly line pretty fast.
It’s a pretty good deal– my 6×4 (6 falafel, 4 sides) plate lasted me two light meals and cost $ 9.99. Most options ranged from $ 7 – 10. The falafel balls are small and airy but light on herbs and flavor, rather indicative of my whole meal.
I enjoyed the Greek delight (feta, olives, dill, tomato and cucumber I believe) and the dolmas the most of the sides. The hummus was creamy but not particularly special and the baba ganoush was meh. The pita was small and pretty doughy– I wish it was toasted.
Overall, I found myself looking for more flavor– garlic, herbs, lemon– like I associate with Mediterranean food. Some acidity and maybe a little more salt would have brought out all the fresh elements on the plate! I wished they hadn’t forgotten the hot sauce they offered up on the side, that surely would have helped lend some flavor.
I would go back if I was really craving this sort of food but I definitely would not go out of my way. There’s way too many better places to eat on Pearl Street. The food is fresh, if they brought more flavor I would go more frequently!

Hands down the best falafel I have ever had! We ordered our food and went an ate in the metro parks. Prices are great for the amount of food you get. The hot sauce is no joke…

Love the gyro here! Way better than The Gyro Stand. Rice bowl is also good.
French fries are a pass though.

Best gyros I have ever had. Largest too. Fresh ingredients, delicious spicy sauce (by request). Outside dining and friendly staff. Very casual.

Love this place! Great falafel and babaganoush. Great prices. Looks like a dive but it’s clean and the people’s are friendly.

Falafel King lets you try their falafel for free and are just extra nice about it. Once you place an order they proceed to fry new falafel and fresh food tastes way better than the samples. Dip in tahini sauce for a refreshing kick, and you’re good to go! Enjoy them on the bench on the Pearl Street Mall while watching a street performing team of fire twirler & drummer.

Ah, I want to love this place so much. It has huge potential, but they just cut corners on too many things. Since a trip to Israel a few years ago I have been a constant hummus, pita, and more eater. I ordered a shawarma and hummus plate, and a couple others in my party did as well. It came out after around 10 minutes and we began eating.
The hummus was the highlight by far. It had a nice, smooth texture to it and tasted authentic. Unfortunately the pita was off. It was taken from a bag and reheated, which was really too bad. It has potential, but it was just too tough and off in it’s current state. Pita is such a simple thing to fix and would go a long ways towards making this place so much better.
The main part of the dish, the shawarma, was pretty dry. The dressings, especially the little side of hot sauce we were given, and the rest of the lettuce and things were great. The meat just didn’t cut it though. It looked like they prepared it just like they do in Israel, but for what ever reason it was completely dried out.
I had a lemonade with it that was pretty good as well. A few fixes and this place could really be something special.

I got chicken gyros, it was really good. Others got chicken plate w dalmas and tabouli and they were really good.

Decent middle eastern food on pearl street with a comparable price. The 6×4 mezze was tasty.
But the babaganoush was some of the best I’ve ever had. Next time I would order a large one by itself.
Smallest falafels a I’ve ever seen, the size of large jawbreakers. There was also only one pita for the whole plate. Not very typical of Middle East restaurant or hospitality.

I really like how they have a cool machine which portions the falafel then plops it into the oil to cook. Its cool to know its made fresh. I also really loved that they ask if you want hummus on the pita, it is really a great addition all pita places should ask. Didn’t love how much greens came on the pita, but I could easily pick off the stuff I didn’t want. Also, the rosewater lemonade was divine. So refreshing and different.

And yes, I have been a fan since we were both young. In fact, since the Pearl Street Mall was young too. I am not sure how I have never reviewed this classic but I eat there intermittently and I have not been in a while since there are so many new places to eat downtown. And I often buy their items prepackaged at Whole Foods. But there is nothing as good as fresh from the fryer hot falafel on a pita with fresh cold salad fixings. What a great lunch on a hot day.
The line goes out the door on nice days on the Mall but they keep it moving quickly and they usually give out some samples to keep you pacified. The falafel ball batter gets squirted or scooped (it was hard to see over the counter) out of the dispenser bowl and right into the fryer and then scooped out onto a tray to fill the orders. They were assembling the plates and pita wraps as quickly as the hot parts were ready.
Everyone is friendly, they keep the case with trays of prepped foods quite clean and the prices are a nice value casual meal. The only flaw I found was that since they had prepped so much lettuce for a busy Saturday, a few pieces had lightly browning ends by the time I got there. You can eat inside or at the Mall entrance seats (an «almost» patio) or take it to go to eat on the Court House lawn, which is where I found lots of families with small kids and very few local «lingerers.»
All in all, a nice treat and so much better than any of the newer falafel sellers that I have tried recently in other parts of town. To me, this is still the local gold standard and fresh really is best. I need to get back in the habit of stopping in.

Tasty fast casual Mediterranean restaurant with basic menu and no frills. Their falafel was the highlight of our visit and hits the spot if that’s what you’re craving.

Convenient location but very bland food.
The falafel bread is the best part of this dish as this place is quite conservative when it comes to flavoring the meat. Also the gyro meat is over-​cooked, dry, and comes in small shavings.
The falafel are decent… small bites but cooked well. The rice is undercooked and not soft.
If you have a bland palate this place is your dream. However if you are middle eastern or have traveled outside of white America you will find this place a notch below mediocre.

Real… basic…Mediterranean street food spot smack dab in the middle of the Pearl Street Mall/​walking area… super casual… location and foot traffic is what drives the business here.
Just walking by and had a sudden a bf intense craving for falafels!!!
Ordered the gyro sandwich, 6 piece falafel and the Jerusalem plate with and extra 3 pieces of falafel…
Took a seat and food came out fast… falafels are tiny and the flavors all around were pretty underwhelming… didn’t feel authentic Mediterranean and the Unilocal reviews justifiable reflect this…
Should have Unilocaled before walking in!

I work in the service industry, so I feel I must say this– the owner should keep himself as far from the serving line as possible. I was in the store the other week, and other than noticing how demeaningly he was talking to his staff about being a couple of ounces over on their meal proportions, he made me feel like it was a burden that I came in to his establishment to order food. I was not the only one– he was extremely rude to the folks behind me as well when they had a little trouble understanding the confusing menu that is barely visible from the doorway you are forced to order from. I don’t care how long you’ve been in Boulder or how far your establishments and products have spread, you can’t be an asshole to people, especially if you are the owner! If you’re having s bad day, be an adult and keep it to yourself rather than spreading your crappy mood to your customers.

In town on business for the second time in as many months I saw this place last time but didn’t have a chance to try it. Today they were passing out free samples so I tried… convinced I went in and ordered.
I don’t understand some of the bad reviews below. One guy complained about a Chicken Shawarma which they don’t seem to even sell. And, interesting Unilocal observance: many of the bad reviews for all places have something to do with them having to wait because it’s busy. Geesh. Shut up.
I ordered the Shawarma (which interestingly is turkey and lamb which I’ve never seen.) and hummus. One complaint about many mediterranean fast casual places: some serve their hummus without pita or not nearly enough pita. This is one of the places that serves theirs with none. Why wouldn’t someone want pita with their hummus?
Okay now, for the taste. The hummus was really awesome with the pita bread I had to order.
I had low expectations for the Shawarma but it also was awesome. Great flavor, not dry and large portion.
Prices were right also.
Good stuff!

I rounded up from 3 ½ stars on this visit during Labor day weekend. The mall was pretty busy and so was Falafel King. The counter was a few people deep but didn’t take long and they were efficient at taking the orders and getting them correct. I had the Greek salad with gyro. The salad was larger than average. The gyro meat unfortunately was a bit over cooked on the flat top after it came off the spit. There could have been more gyro as well. Overall the salad was good as the dressing and ingredients were fresh and flavorfull. My GF got the chicken platter. The chicken had good flavor and was cooked properly and the humus was great. We got whole wheat pitas which was a nice touch.
The dining room was clean and I wouldn’t mind stopping in again if I was on the mall and looking for a quick bite.

My friend and I stumbled in here after a day of shopping on Pearl. I had been meaning to try it for a while, and there I finally was…
The wait was a little long BUT that was fine with me because I watched them put all the fresh ingredients in my falafel wrap AND you could see the fresh meat being cooked right then and there. So I didn’t mind waiting because I knew they were taking their time to make my wonderful falafel wrap. and it was!
I scarfed that baby down like it was nobody’s business! Everything bite was so delicious and I’d say pretty authentic. It’s not too pricey either which is always a plus! I will definitely be coming back here for my next falafel fix!

This was a solid place and where we usually have dinner before a concert at The Boulder Theater, since it’s right across the street. The food is good, not great, the service is friendly but a little harried during the dinner hour, and my biggest complaint is that the restaurant is a little dirty during busy times. They have limited outside seating, which would have been nice on our recent visit.
I got the schwarma wrap, which had turkey and lamb. It was perfectly satisfying, although I would have preferred just lamb. My husband ordered the chicken plate, which he loved. They do have some homemade lemonade but I don’t think I would order it again since it was sort of watered down.
The location is perfect… after you eat, take a stroll down the Pearl Street Mall and enjoy watching the funky Boulderites and buskers.