11:40AM, 4/2/2022
I’m so full. Today for lunch I headed over to Falafel Corner on Pleasant Grove near 65, in the same center as Flame & Fire, Chandos, The Habit and others. This location was previously Granites Cheesesteaks and Wings (which I think has moved to Foothills near Blue Oaks, at least there is something there called Granites).
Falafel Corner is a smallish chain/franchise in the Sacramento area with about 8 locations. The other location that is close by is at Douglas and Sierra College and I think I may have been there once a while back but I can’t be sure. The weather is beautiful today and they had the front and side doors open. As soon as I stepped inside I was greeted by a gentleman working up at the counter. I browsed the menu for a bit and then stepped up to place my order. They offer the typical Mediterranean stuff, gyro, chicken, hummus, falafel and baklava. The other main offering they have are a small variety of hamburgers. For drinks it’s pretty much just soda, lemonade or a mango flavored drink.
I went with the Combo Platter (Gyro, Chicken, Salad, Rice, Tzatziki, Hummus and Pita Bread)[$14.99] to try a bit of everything and also added an order of Falafel A La Carte (Shredded Lettuce, Falafel and Cucumbers with Tzatziki and Tahini Sauce)[$5.99] and a soda [$2.49]. I didn’t realize it until now, looking at the receipt, but I didn’t get charged for the soda. They still gave me a small one when I asked about a cup when my food was brought out, so that was nice.
The space is fairly small and very spartan. There’s barely any decoration aside from a few glass-mounted photos of their food near the back tables. No music was playing and the couple of small TVs were off. I listened to a podcast and the occasional noises from the kitchen as they worked on my order for a little under ten minutes.
From the back a different worker brought my two items out. The plating was quite nice, everything aside from the rice was nicely laid out. Underneath the layer of gyro and chicken was a good sized mound of colorful and soft long grain rice. A tiny bit of crisp lettuce, onion and ripe tomato accompanied everything. The pita bread was warm and fluffy, great for scooping up some hummus and a bit of everything with it.
The gyro had this incredibly smooth texture to it, the meat was very finely ground. I thought flavor-wise it was pretty good, but the chicken was really great. Every tender bite started off with a nice hit of spices and a bit of charring. With the Tzatziki sauce both meats were enjoyable to the last bite. The rice was quite nice as well and if I wasn’t so full towards the end I would have finished it all. The hummus was solid. I would have liked it with more garlic but it was perfectly enjoyable as it.
On to the falafel. I got 4 big pieces with this order, each about four bites worth. The outside was beautifully fried to a golden brown and crispy shell. Within, the soft ground up chickpeas had a bright green color, giving this dish a bunch of color that was otherwise only provided by the lettuce and a few slices of cucumber. These were fantastic. Tahini sauce gave this a nice creamy contrast with the crisp outer layer.
Service-wise it was pretty minimal but both people I briefly interacted with were very friendly. I feel like I am beating a dead horse by mentioning the prices did feel slightly elevated. That’s just the new norm though. I post prices on all my posts so from now on I’ll let you decide. I probably won’t comment on it anymore unless it’s really unusual.
Eating Through Roseville 
[…] location is situated in a row of excellent food options (Vampire Penguin, El Sombrero, Falafel Corner & Habit). I headed in just after 4PM and was greeted right away. I had already mentally picked […]