Pitopia

I just bought a shawarma on pita, and it was the WORST shawarma I had ever had. It was drier than popcorn. Seems the meat has been shaved off an hour before they served it. BAD! STAY AWAY!!!

WARNING: Huge roach (size of a thumb) almost crawled up a customer’s leg in front of me.
I was enjoying my food when I noticed a shiny, sparkly, moving critter trying to crawl up a man’s leg as he was waiting on line to order food. He freaked out, rudely kicked the roach past my table as I was eating, and left the thing outside the door. But the most appalling thing was that the workers just stood there, watched with no response or action, and didn’t even bother to move to help! What kind of customer service is this and what type of establishment running an open salad bar allows this to happen in this small restaurant space? That was my cue to get up and RUN OUT.

This place is a block away from where I work and it’s convenient to come here and grab a good falafel sandwich. They have many to choose from and there is a large selection of toppings you can put on your falafel sandwich if you like. I always get the American falafel sandwich. It is very basic because it only has lettuce and hummus on it, but I don’t like a lot of things on my falafel sandwiches. They also have a variety of different sauces too. The place is a bit small and seating is limited. It can be a little tricky to maneuver around the place and choose toppings to put on your falafel sandwich, which is a bit annoying. They have a sink in the middle of the restaurant where you can wash your hands, which is nice! Overall, a good falafel sandwich here if you’re looking to grab and go.

The other day my friend and I dropped by for a quick lunch. We each ordered a falafel sandwich, which were tasty. While not particularly hot, the falafel was nonetheless decent, and the bread was delicious.
I’d go back if I were in the area.

Dropped in to redeem a Belly Bite that gave me a free falafel sandwich which would otherwise be around $ 8.
It was pretty much completely empty at 11:30am on a rainy weekday, with a person coming in every 2 – 3 minutes.
The cashier immediately recognized the Belly app, and I scanned my QR code on the iPad by the register. I didn’t even have to pay tax :)
The falafel sandwich itself was nothing special, but it was ultimately the unlimited toppings + sauce bar that won this place 3 stars. They have yummy caramelized onions, mayo drenched corn, plenty of cabbage, beets, just to name a few. The sauce bar was interesting — it had general tso’s, hot sauce, tahini sauce, and some other weird ones. Tried out the general tso’s. and I went back for refills.
I really did like how they have a sink conveniently right by the sauce bar. Pitopia knows it’s impossible to eat a falafel sandwich without getting your hands dirty!
Not going to complain since it was free, but this place wouldn’t be my first choice if I was craving falafel.

Nice variety of falafel sandwiches, shawarmas and middle eastern salads. Lots of sauces to choose from. Well lit dining area, but not a lot of seating. Tables can get a bit messy during lunchtime. But the food is good. Cashier was nice. Solid lunch spot all around.

I recently went to pitopia on 37 st and did not like the experience. i was in the mood for a falafel yesterday and my co worker told me there’s another pitopia walking distance on 34^st. i get there and wow, much bigger customer area and much bigger salad bar, much better customer service (they don’t slurred their speech here or scream) the girl at the register is very polite and reminds you to fill up your falafel. i will be sticking with this pitopia from now on

Pretty reliably mediocre food, especially helped that it was free via Belly Bite.

Disappointing. The service is horrible from the cashier to those that put your pitas together. The cashier has the personality of a potato. The pita guys rush and everything turns out sloppy. Israeli Pita came with barely cooked eggplant.
PASS on this place. Walk a few blocks down and go to Maoz instead.

Great idea. Lousy execution. Waited in line while 3 counter people tried to check somebody out. Finally, someone says «Can I help you?» But as soon as I opened my mouth, he got distracted by the sales issue at the next register. Finally got help. I ordered the Israeli Schwarma. The clerk inexplicably asked if I wanted one of the main ingredients. When I told him, yes, just as it’s advertised, I had to read him the ingredients. The Schwarma chicken was burned. Schwarma and a diet soda set me back $ 15.

$ 14.10 for 2 chicken tenders over a small order of fries. This place is a joke, and the serving size is laughable. Would not recommend.

They got my order wrong and didn’t seem to care. Place is disgusting, totally not sanitary. Menu is SUPER over priced, get ready to pay $ 12 – 15 for 3 falafel balls in a pita. Food is mediocre, nothing special.
Other customers are extremely rude and the place is packed. Beware.

I love this place! All I ever get is the falafel, so that’s what I recommend. But it’s among my favorite falafel places anywhere in New York (and I’m very picky about falafel).

Food with a good change of pace. Very decent amount for the price you pay and the options are all fresh and relatively healthy. I agree falafel could have used so more seasoning but the staff was so helpful and nice that it completely makes up for it. I accidentally knocked over an entire tray of lids into a sauce bin and the manager could not have handled it better. Congrats on a clean, well operating business!

Best falafel in NY. Israeli falafel is the best. Nice toppings. Get the free soda coupon

The food is amazing. The best falafel I’ve had this far.
Second day in a row I get lunch there. The place is cramped up and offers a small salad bar. No room to move around.. Food is very good thought

Pros:
–The topping options are nice. There is an assortment of sauces and pickles, peppers and small salads. It’s self service style.
–Takeout packaging. It’s awesome. It comes with a tear away middle, so you can eat your pita on the go and have support from the cardboard box.
Cons:
–The falafel was average. Unlike some of the reviews here, mine weren’t greasy but they were lacking seasoning. My vegetables and pita were seemingly fresh but the pita was cold.
–The staff was okay. The gentleman who took my order barely said a word other then the amount I owed. He was a personal call on the business line.
One trip was enough.
I would go back for the box, an empty one. Then, take it to a spot that makes better falafel.

Falafel was cold. Not enough hummus in sandwich and pita was a bit dry. Very filling though. They don’t let you bring drinks from the neighboring dunkin inside which I understand but it’s nonetheless an inconvenience.

This is a place with a great idea but HORRIBLE execution. The additional toppings you get as part of your order are a great deal but the falafel was ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!
The falafel I had was not only burnt but was so drenched in oil it was completely inedible. I ended up eating the toppings and vegetables out of the pita and throwing the falafel in the garbage. It was just that bad. There are plenty of decent falafel places in NYC but this is not one of them! This one is falawful and that is such a PITAy.

This isn’t a full review of Pitopia as all I had was their falafel. There isn’t an option on the menu to just get a bunch of falafel alone with a side of sauce but you can order it per ball as a side (75 cents each). When I was ordering their ipads by the register were cycling through a few photos and one looked delicious. I asked to order what looked to be chicken curry soup and the girl nicely told me that the photos weren’t of their food and it wasn’t something they make. For a sleek and modern fast food style restaurant of this kind I find that obsurd. It’s also pretty bothersome that despite being mostly a take-​out style place they didn’t ask if I wanted my order to go and handed me an open plastic container of falafel, no cover, no bag, no tray, no sauce.
Regardless of their downfalls and overly inflated prices on most of their menu, the falafel was indeed delicious. Each ball is a little bigger than half the size of a golf ball. It’s perfectly crispy on the outside and packs plenty of flavor on the inside. There’s really nothing not to like. Definitely in the top 5 I’ve had.