The Brief

Editor's note: This story was first published in early 2020. It has been updated, refreshed and republished to reflect new locations and other details for our fellow falafel lovers. If we missed your favorite place to get falafel in and around L.A., let us know and we may include it.

Tell your friends you're craving falafel and you'll probably get a shrug.

Not that people actively dislike the crusty brown orbs, but they are about as far from a feast for the eyes as you can get, especially lined up next to glistening shish kabobs kissed by flame, crisp bits of shawarma sliced straight from a spit or lule logs oozing with rivulets of rendered fat.

That doesn't mean falafel is bad, just underappreciated. Let's change that.

Originating in the Middle East — probably Egypt although no one knows for sure — "falafel is as contentious as the region itself," History Today says. While multiple cultures claim invention or ownership of the spiced chickpea fritter, falafel's popularity has spread far beyond its likely geographic beginnings.

Crunchy on the outside, moist and fluffy on the inside, it's become a ubiquitous street food throughout the Mediterranean, Europe and North Africa, and a popular snack around the world. And, of course, in L.A.

From Van Nuys to downtown, from Garden Grove to Glendale to Melrose, here are some of our favorite places to find it:

Sababa Falafel Shop

When’s the last time you went into a restaurant and got a free sample? Well, when you make it to the front of the line at Sababa Falafel Shop in Garden Grove — and is there ever not a line? — you’re greeted by an exceptionally friendly server who will dole out samples of fresh, piping hot falafel balls. Prepare to be transported: These morsels are fluffy, pillowy, and almost juicy. (How is that even possible? Well, they are.) And an order of straight up falafel is served in a hand-held paper bag, to make the scarfing down easier. LAist supporter Nancy Serag tipped us off to this place, saying no falafel list is complete unless it includes Sababa. "The taste is just phenomenal," she said, "The best I've ever had." She lives in Irvine and says a drive north to Sababa’s, on the southern edge of Orange County's Little Arabia, is well worth the traffic. You can get the falafel served up many different ways — salad with your choice of an array of toppings, pita sandwich, or a freshly baked-to-order Jerusalem baguette. Yep, the baguettes are finished off while you wait, so it does require a bit more time. Totally worth it.

Dune

Almost no one in recent memory has done as much to elevate the region's falafel consciousness as the folks behind Dune. When they opened in a sunny, stylish shoebox on Glendale Boulevard back in 2015, they flipped falafel from an afterthought to the focus, putting it at the top of the menu. Their falafel is stupendous, craggy and rough on the outside with a bright green interior like Griffith Park on a rainy spring day, moist but not mushy and bursting with herbs. The stretchy, toasted-to-order flatbreads and immaculate renditions of condiments like zhug, a fiery green chile and parsley-based hot sauce, and amba, a salty pickled mango sauce, make an excellent overall meal. They've powered Dune to mini-chain status, with an additional location in downtown L.A. and, if we're lucky, more to come.

Cairo Restaurant & Cafe

You know you're enjoying the falafel at Cairo's in Anaheim when you see the tell-tale sesame seed crust that adorns their chickpea fritters. This Little Arabia eatery is known for its authentic, homemade Egyptian food and their Facebook page is filled with comments from diners expressing their gratitute for it, such as: "Great Authentic Egyptian Food, My only complaint is that i wish it was close by! Highly recommended!" Eating at Cairo is "like you are back home," said another. But the falafals, said a fan, are "best best best. Cooked to perfection. The falafel appetizer plate could easily double as a lunch deal: It serves up fritters with a side of tahini sauce along with cucumbers and tomatoes, $7.99.

Joe's Falafel

Joe's Falafel feels out of the way, hiding in the corner of a strip mall on a flyby section of Cahuenga Boulevard near Universal City. It's not quite Hollywood, not quite the Valley. But the falafel, rounded at the bottom with a protruding tip like a deep-fried muffin, is worth the trip from just about anywhere. It doesn't hurt that they bake fantastic lafa and pita to order, make their own harissa and handle loads of large group pickup orders, to the delight of production assistants on both sides of the hill.

Kareem's Falafel

Kareem's Falafel is one of the OG restaurants in Little Arabia, and now has another South Coast location. The menu proudly plays with flavors — cilantro hummus, chipotle sauce, the Quinoa Reeves (get it?) salad bowl spiked with cranberries and sunflower seeds. But as Eater reported, there is one sacred menu item: The falafel. Kareem Hawari told the outlet that his dad's final words before he died, were: "Don't change my recipe." Hawari is keeping that promise, and then some. There is now a falafal burger on the menu, and Kareem's even sells frozen falafals for those who can never tell when a craving will strike. "Best falafel in California!!" says one fan.

B'ivrit

B'ivrit has excellent pickled veggies, silky hummus and an intriguing meat-free version of arayes, a stuffed-then-griddled pita pocket that's like a crunchwrap. But you're here for the falafel, in all three colors — stained red with paprika and harissa, yellow with turmeric or the classic herbaceous green. Order a falafel sandwich and get two of each kind tucked into two split pieces of pita and topped with tahini, finely chopped Israeli salad and cabbage slaw. A hit of spice here and a snap of turmeric there, the contrasting falafel flavors work together to keep each bite interesting. All together, it makes an excellent foil for whatever alcohol you consume. B'ivrit was a one-woman pop-up operation long enough to generate a devoted following. Amit Sidi has since made a home for her restaurant concept — and headlines — in Cypress Park.

Falafel Arax

Falafel Arax is an East Hollywood institution and a city-wide legend. It's a simple spot, powered by a steady stream of lunchtime takeout orders, the four tables often occupied by people waiting for containers of falafel or tongue sandwiches. Like the restaurant itself, the falafel is no-frills. Their rough-edged saucers are the same brown, inside and out. Don't let their unrefined appearance fool you. They are perfect. Crisp on the outside and impossibly light inside, like a deep-fried dirigible laced with garlic and cumin, they're a textbook example of simple food prepared with exceptional technique.

Ta-eem

The first thing that hits you when you get an order from Ta-eem is the amount of food you receive. Even if you opt for a pita sandwich, the smallest unit of measure, you receive five pieces of falafel stuffed into an oversized pocket of bread. You'll also get a plate heaped with thick-sliced pickles and a saucer split 50/50 between their forest green zhug and bright red harissa, both housemade. But you don't come here to the heart of Melrose for quantity alone. The falafel is bright and punchy, a vivid green inside, denser than some but still moist. When you pile on sauces, pickles and vegetables then wrap it in fresh, fluffy pita, it makes an excellent and filling lunch. (Just fyi, Ta-eem used to be a stand-alone restaurant on Melrose. Ta-eem now serves up its fare through the Kosher Madness "ghost kitchen" on Pico, with a new La Brea location coming soon.)

Open Sesame

Unlike most falafel joints, Open Sesame is a table-service restaurant with a heated patio overlooking busy Beverly Boulevard near the Grove. (At the Long Beach location, that patio looks out onto busy 2nd Street.) Open Sesame is fancier than any other spot on this list, with décor and vibes to match. The falafel is dark, dense and fried hard so its heft runs right up to the border of stodginess, but it is seasoned aggressively enough to make up for the excess weight. These chickpea fritters will crack you across the nose and linger on your palate, in a good way. And the relative poshness of the spot has one crucial advantage — Open Sesame serves beer. Nothing pairs so well with falafel as a happy hour bottle of malty Lebanese lager.

Kobee Factory

The place is named for Kobee, the beef-and-bulgur specialty that comes either fried or grilled, but Kobee Factory also makes a mean falafel. The light brown pucks arrive with a divot in the middle, sprinkled with sesame seeds and lightly fried so the batter forms delicate tendrils around the outside, creating a bird's nest so airy you hardly notice as you inhale a plateful of the toasty brown delicacies. They are earthy and salty, pairing well with the minty tzatziki and smooth hummus.

Hollywood Falafel

When you walk up to the Hollywood Falafel food truck for the first time, owner Yaniv Cohen is ready with his line: "You're so lucky, I would pay a million dollars to taste this falafel for the first time again." His falafel, he'll tell you, is unique in Los Angeles: The balls are smaller, lighter and loosely packed, yellow inside and generously spiced with a lingering smack of heat. It's a treat to encounter a hyper-specific take on a familiar food, particularly from a noteworthy street food city. A million dollars is a lot of money but Cohen makes an argument for it with his fantastic bag of falafel that he serves up in Valley Village.

As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Councilmember is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.

The 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund would be given back to consumers under the proposal. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.

The motion, introduced Friday by Park and seconded by Councilmember John Lee, says: “The City should do everything within its power to alleviate the financial burden for these residents and businesses in order to facilitate their return and stabilize the Pacific Palisades community.”

Would it make much of a difference? 

Economists told LAist the proposal could help many homeowners mitigate the high cost of rebuilding, but likely wouldn’t tip the scales for under-insured, under-resourced property owners.

“It wouldn't hurt if it's very well designed and easy to use,” said Alexander Meeks, a director at the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “But I'm not sure if it's really going to tackle the scale of the financial challenge that survivors are facing.”

Meeks noted that the tax waiver wouldn’t lower up-front costs such as environmental testing, architectural design and permitting. And it may not help homeowners sourcing raw materials from outside the city.

Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures.

“Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”

What’s next for the proposal? 

The proposed tax relief would not be available to properties that have been sold since the fires started in January 2025.

The motion has been sent to the City Council’s budget and fire recovery committees. If approved by the full council, it would require the city administrative officer, the Office of Finance and the city attorney to report back to the council within 60 days on options for crafting a tax relief plan.

The motion calls for the report to consider factors such as how to minimize the burden of administering the tax relief, what documentation homeowners would have to submit and what it would cost the city to oversee the program.

Senate and House Republican leadership have resurrected a stalled plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a record 47-day funding lapse.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September.

Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.

"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," Thune and Johnson wrote.

The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Johnson called the agreement a "joke" and President Donald Trump declined to publicly endorse the deal. Trump had previously resisted any package that did not include his push to overhaul federal elections known as the Save America Act.

"I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump told reporters last week.

Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.

"For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered."

Trump seemed to bless the revived plan earlier Wednesday, writing on social media that he wants a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement on his desk by June 1.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won't be able to stop us," Trump wrote.

Despite the shutdown, ICE has been minimally impacted because Republican lawmakers approved $75 billion for ICE through another party-line budget reconciliation bill last year.

Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects.

Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS.

"Let's make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on X. "If that's the vote, I'm a NO."

If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.

Claudia Grisales contributed reporting.
Copyright 2026 NPR

California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.

It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.

Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.

But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.

On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.

“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”

State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs.

Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.

“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”

‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’ 

In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.

“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”

Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.

“That means we can get more work done,” he said.

It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.

Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.

“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”

‘A haystack fire’

Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.

Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”

“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.

Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.

But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.

How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.

“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.