The Best Falafel in Toronto

Was this another reader votes? Guess I missed it... if you're ever around the Yonge and Steeles, Bathurst and Steeles area (yes, sooo far up north) I highly recommend Sababa's. Pita made fresh, all home made sauces and CHEAP!

I'm at Shawarma Empire at least twice a week. Best falafel I've ever tasted. There are a few other good falafel shops in the area as well. Nice to see you guys ventured into Scars for once!

I love pita, and thats 15 I haven't tried. I was under the impression pita break was the best, have I been misinformed?

??? Where's the Mystic Muffin at Jarvis and Richmond??? Easily the best Pita in the city. Here's one case where Torontoist scooped ya.

http://torontoist.com/2006/10/the_amazing_mys.php

I agree with si_mi on Sababa. As for Tovli, I am surprised that they made 6th place as their service and attitude offsets any potential taste benefit especially at their cost.

I second Pita Crazy; Mystic Muffin forever.

I loved Akram's but it's been closed for over a year now. Their building was demolished and no word on if they are reopening or not in the new space or what.....

Mystic Muffin indeed. Although they can't compete with the hot sauce at Sara's.

@ Sally: Pita Break is the absolutely worst you could do for a falafel. The one and only time I went there they took out their falafel balls from a freezer!

Falafel World, north side of Bloor, one block east of Jane. Absolutely fantastic.

Armenian Kitchen on Victoria Park between Lawrence and Eglinton.

Cheap and the best i've ever had.

At the very least, I think Ghazale wins for "best smelling"..
No matter how full I am, whenever I walk past Ghazale my mouth starts watering and an overwhelming desire for shawarma/falafel goodness ensues.

@roger
I thought it was good, Mystic Muffin here i come, If pita break is bad then All these others must be amazing

How did they come up with that list?

if the falafel isn't fired when you order it shouldn't be on this list (i'm looking at you college st)

ibrahim, ali baba, armenian kitchen around vic park and lawrence are all great.

paramount in mississauga.

I do generally agree with the rule about falafel balls that have been sitting around all day, but there are places like Sarah's that commit that crime and yet seem to manage to put together an exceptional sandwich anyway. I'd prefer otherwise, but can't dispute the feedback from my tastebuds.

On a separate note (as in, not directed at karoumy), something I've found really exhausting in talking to people about falafels is that every single person in the city describes wherever they happen to eat as "hands down, the best" and almost no one ever tries to qualify that statement... and when people follow that kind of claim with something like "make sure to get extra white sauce" and demonstrate that they don't even know what tahini/hummus/the less common tzatziki are (nevermind being able to distinguish between them) it makes me wonder if they've ever actually eaten more than one falafel.

Falafels vary pretty widely because people (and whole cultures) prefer different things, so I think "to each their own" is ultimately the point. For my own opinion, food quality, customizability, originality, and service (accuracy and friendliness) are the factors that I think distinguish falafel places. For the reader's choice results, all we could garner from the voting was overall popularity, and that means the average of a lot of different opinions, ranging from the carefully-pondered selection of an extra-picky city-scouring falafel addict to someone who only grabs a falafel when there's no shawarma in store and simply happens to like place X because it's next to a bar they frequent.

I think my best advice is really to try the whole list, try every place suggested in the comments, and make up your own mind which you'll go back to and which you'll avoid. If I had to pick one and only one to recommend, well, it's up there at #1.

I'm a third for Sababa's - though I understand why you didn't include it as I don't think it's technically located in Toronto proper. Plus it's the kinda place you have to be in-the-know to know about (and as I recall, it's also a pretty good Isreali market - so there's probably some confusion there too).

But as with many ethnic foods in the city, to get the real stuff you need to hit the GTA.

There's a nice little place near where I live, on Bloor west of Dufferin, called Babylon Gardens that I quite like. Good value too... on Mondays their falafel sandwiches are 2 for $2.99. An "Ali Baba" just opened at Lansdowne. More selection but not as tasty. I have not yet tried "Shawar-mama" next to the House of Lancaster.

Okay, I usually like to come and take a little piss on these comments, but I have to say that this post made me discover a cool place I had never been to before: The Grange! (#11).

Sababa is great and cheap. Love the fresh pitas. And i've never had a hot sauce on a pita that was half as good as theirs. Although, lately the quality of the patties has been variable... i think they've had some turnover in the kitchen.

On my way home from Riverdale farm today I stumbled upon a new contender in the gaybourhood: A place that recently opened called "agenda cafe" (small "a", like "aroma") on Wellesley a few storefronts east of Church had one of their guys offering up falafel ball samples on the corner. Turns out they're Israeli. It was the best falafel ball I'd had since my last trip to Israel.

And yes, I realize this lends itself to jokes about free balls (free Israeli balls at that) at Church and Wellesley.

overall i enjoyed reading this review. If the author chooses to digress to nit-picking about using the word kosher versus halal then I would have been interested to know what part or portion of a falafel requires this process for making this item. Also interesting was the mention of the alternative ingredients--does that end up appearing like a round falafel ball? How is it prepared? Here in Victoria B.C. we only have two places and they are not really easy to locate in terms of one is downtown and one is some distance away from everywhere else! This article speaks volumes about the huge variety of offerings Toronto has to offer. Thank you, jim mcconnell

I second Falafel World on Bloor/Jane area. ALso, best Chicken Shawarma Sandwich in Toronto!!! I can't eat Chicken Shawarma anywhere now because it always pales by comparison.

Where is Laila's?? Located nearly just across the street from Ghazale, Laila & Co. cook up some of the finest falafel and shawaramamama in town.

http://toronto.ourfaves.com/places/Laila

Chris,

If you're ever in Seoul and want a falafel, Moroccan Nights made some of the best I've ever tasted. :)

Has no one here been to Eat A Pita on Cumberland at Yonge? Their falafel is big, fresh (balls formed and made to order), and perfectly flavoured. The shawarma is similarly great. In my opinion, both are superior to Sarah's, Ghazale, and most other places in town. I'm really surprised no one has mentioned them here.