North Avenue Falafel

-Grubbing in Chicago  
Egyptian Street Food in Galewood

It's been a hot minute since I came upon a spot like North Avenue Falafel - the type of place that feels like a real food find. It almost feels like a flashback to 20 years ago to the heyday of LTHforum. A time when there was still a lot of stuff left to be uncovered in terms of Chicago's food scene as a whole. During it's time of peak usage LTHforum users would flock across the city seeking out interesting and unique spots like North Avenue Falafel. Coincidentally I learned of this place through Robert Gardner aka 'Local Family'. Rob was an LTHforum regular who also goes by @LocalFamily on Instagram which is where I first learned that North Avenue Falafel is not your typical Middle Eastern spot.  

Locals Favorite in Galewood

The setting of North Avenue Falafel feels more like the suburbs than the city as it sits in a strip mall on a busy street. But it's address is in Chicago all the way west on North avenue just before it turns into Elmwood Park. I don't know exactly when it first opened but online reviews go back nine years. I'd actually never been here before though I had driven by many of times. I'm sure I looked it up but it must not have done much for me as I never made it in. Back then it was a pretty typical looking shawarma and falafel spot with a pretty typical menu but that was then and this is now...

Amar from Alexandria

At some point in the recent past North Avenue Falafel introduced an Egyptian Street Food menu. I had no idea it was Egyptian to begin with but Middle Eastern food like shawarma and falafel is fairly common in Egypt so it's not surprising. I've visited North Avenue Falafel a handful of times now and it's always been the same two guys in there. There's one that's usually at the register who's name I forget and another who's commonly stationed on the right where he's most often playing with dough, that's Amar and he can be seen in the video above. Amar is from Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, and he's responsible for making most of the stuff on the Egyptian Street Food menu. Many of those items are made with fresh dough which Amar assembles every morning. He uses it for a variety of items including pizzas, pies, and sandwiches. But first things first they also have Koshary - Egypt's national dish. Koshary, also spelled Koshari, is the definition of "carbs on carbs" as it's a combo of rice, pasta and lentils each of which is individually cooked before it's all tossed together with cumin spiked tomato sauce and topped with crispy fried onions. Koshary is almost always served with a tangy garlic vinegar sauce and a peppery hot sauce called shatta. For some the mixture of rice and pasta seems all sorts of off but I've enjoyed Koshary the few times I've had it now. It reminds me of a both a Midwestern comfort food dish and a Tex-Mex one too. The version served at North Avenue Falafel seemed pretty textbook to me. Every component was on point and I could not stop eating it. 

Koshary at North Avenue Falafel

Hawawshi is another extremely popular Egyptian dish eaten both in homes and on the street. It's a pita stuffed with meat often mixed with onions, peppers, parsley, and chilies. If not for Koshary this would probably be Egypt's national dish. According to Wikipedia there's two variants of Hawawshi 1) "baladi" (standard) and 2) Alexandrian (common in Alexandria). In most of Egypt Hawawshi is baked by filling flat Egyptian bread with the meat mix and baking it in the oven. But in Alexandria the ingredients go between two circular layers of dough, then baked in an oven. With Amar being from Alexandria he makes that style at North Avenue Falafel. You can watch the entire process unfold as Amar starts with a ball of dough that's slapped and stretched and eventually enclosed with a raw meat mix and topped with sesame seeds before a visit to the oven. I've tried one with ground beef and another with the sausage, both of them with cheese, and each of them was very good but I might've slightly preferred the sausage as it always goes so well with peppers. But make no mistake it's the fresh bread that makes this worth the ride to an area where both Johnnie's and Mr. D's reside. 

Hawawshi at North Avenue Falafel

The Egyptian staples on offer don't stop with just the more well known offerings like they do at other Egyptian restaurants I've been too. I was very intrigued and interested in trying one of the Oriental Pies which I read is used in a broader context to describe pastries with similar characteristics. Egyptian Oriental Pies, or Feteer, are a traditional Egyptian pastry known for their flaky, layered texture and a variety of fillings. Again when you order this you will get to watch the entire process as Amar folds and crimps the thin dough before stuffing it and inverting it and placing it in the oven. About ten minutes later it comes out of the oven and is sliced like a tavern thin crust pizza into squares allowing it to be shared. All pies include cheese, tomato, and green pepper with your choice of filling. I tried the ground beef and it was a real treat though not something you want to eat solo as it's heavy and a tad bit oily albeit in a good way - there's lots of beefy flavor up in there. 

Oriental Pie

Making my way thru the menu meant giving the sandwiches a try on my third visit. They start with fresh sesame rolls baked each and every morning by Amar. The rolls are soft but quite sturdy and come stuffed with a number of different combinations including a beef liver option. Me being me I opted for the most unique offering which is called a Rocket and described on the menu as "Pastrami, Sausage, Hot Paper, Tomato, Onion" with hot paper being a spelling error that's supposed to be hot pepper. Amar warned me this would be spicy but I don't take those warnings too seriously outside of Thai food and and a few other cuisines so I wasn't worried. I watched as Amar stir fried all of the ingredients together before putting it into a roll. It was almost like a guisado or a stew in that it wasn't very wet but not completely dry either. The steaming hot mix of meat and vegetables made for a great sandwich but again it was the warm and soft bread that took this from good to great. It works so much better than a Turano roll would. It's a real treat finding a sandwich place that still bakes it's own bread and no Jimmy John's doesn't count. The menu also lists a Philly Steak which I thought would be great made with the same bread but when I asked about that Amar told me his was made "Cairo Style" which he explained was rolled into thin phyllo dough and is big enough for two - intriguing indeed. 

Rocket Sandwich

It didn't take long for me to find someone to return with as my brother joined me for a dinner visit the very next day. As soon as I walked in they knew why I was there and got started on this Egyptian style Philly Cheesesteak I couldn't wait to try. We took a seat and watched as Amar stretched and rolled out the dough into a large rectangular shape. From there it was layered with cheese which was topped with a mixture of stir fried chopped steak with peppers, onions, and mushrooms which was all rolled into a long log and sprayed with some sort of liquid before being baked. We were asked how many pieces we wanted it to be cut into and I told him to do what he normally does and he proceeded to cut it into four different sections each a tad smaller than a pizza puff. I forgot to ask what type of cheese he uses but it was a very good melting cheese as it stretched extensively with each bite. We both really liked this slight variation on America's most well known regional sandwich but again it's not something you want to eat solo. Also of note is it's listed on the menu with the rest of the sandwiches which are $7.99 but because this is basically double the size of the others it's also double the price. 

Egyptian Philly Steak at North Avenue Falafel

On the same visit we ate the Philly Steak we also got some shawarma and falafel and I was quite surprised with both of them. The falafel are a tad tinier than most and also a bit more greener inside. I read Egypt has it's own style of falafel and the main characteristic is that it's made with peeled and split beans and not chickpeas although I don't know if that's the case here as I just learned this before I started writing this post so I never had a chance to ask. I also read Egyptian falafel is greener than most due to the addition of fresh herbs and onions and the falafel here is herbier than most. A six piece will set you back just $3.50 - the prices are very favorable. Chicken shawarma is marinated in a yogurt sauce and stacked fresh daily. It's sliced to order but they still give it a trip to the flattop which I don't like but in this case they cut it up into such bite size pieces that crisp up nicely so it works well mixed into the rice. It's served with vegetables and a side salad and if you ask for the vinegar hot sauce as well as the jalapeno one and mix it all up it reminds me of an NYC style chicken and rice bowl only better. One last tip before you make the trip - most of the stuff on the street food menu is made Amar and cant be made unless he's there but it also takes an hour or so to get the dough ready so I suggest going in the middle of the day rather than at the very beginning or the very end of it. 

Falafel at North Avenue Falafel

Chicken Shawarma Plate

North Avenue Falafel
6814 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60707
(773) 688-5388
Website