Add Dune and Madcapra to Your L.A. Falafel List

Apparently today is International Falafel Day (who knew!?) and our good friends over at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reminded us of this great falafel round up we posted last year.  If you’re looking for some lunchtime falafel action today, all of those places are still rolling strong.  But here’s two new spots that have opened since then that could both lay claim to serving the best falafel in L.A. right now.

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When Dune first opened in Atwater Village at the beginning of this year a very specific kind of food writer induced hype commenced, and for good reason.  It’s good.  Really good.  This tiny storefront with less than 10 stools serves up the kind of the things you might expect from a new school Mediterranean take out spot in Atwater. There’s a beautifully simplistic blood orange salad with black olives, tabouleh with organic gluten free quinoa, and a pickled beet sandwich with sheep’s milk feta, an 8 minute egg, and shoestring potatoes.  But the insanely good flatbread makes the two pita sandwiches the thing to order. The lamb meatball one is surprisingly great, especially considering that Dune’s owners also own the vegetarian Elf Cafe.  But today isn’t National Meatball Day.  It’s National Falafel Day, so you’ll want their green falafel sandwich topped with house made pickles, tahini, hummus, tahini, and shoestring potatoes.  Did I mention the flatbread is amazing?

Even newer is Madcapra, a falafel stand that opened recently in the Grand Central Market cut from the same cheffy cloth as Dune.

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Don’t let the colors (Red, Green, Orange) on the menu fool you.  The tight, perfectly cooked little falafel balls only come in one flavor, standard chickpea.  The colors refer to the toppings, so red might get you tomato and cabbage, green gets you fennel and cilantro, while orange gets topped with carrots.  The bread here is also pretty special, making the sandwiches a great option.  Although if you can rope in a friend to go with you it’s hard not to opt for the menu’s  “Go Big” option.  $30 will get 2ppl all of the things, including their labneh topped with berberries, babaganoush style eggplant salad topped with chunks of roasted eggplant, pickled stuff, a salad, and whatever vegetable they have that day (we got roast broccoli, which was excellent.)

Dune, 3143 Glendale Blvd., Atwater

Madcapra at the Grand Central Market, 317 S Broadway. DTLA

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1 Comment

  • Dune is at the top of my list. Looks outstanding.

    Side note: I was in NYC last week. I’m sad to report Azuri has declined just a bit. Still good, but no longer the uncontested “best in the US.” Hummus was too salty, pitas were stale, and the falafels were dry.

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