Mmmmm... falafel.
For a while there I thought that the work had completely stopped at the soon-to-be Falafel Bar on Allen (see original story). The paper was in the windows, though it already looked like it had been up for years. To my surprise there were workers back at the site yesterday putting many of the final touches in the space. I guess there was a three-month delay partly caused by The City, but then again, what else is new.
The good news is that renovations are back underway for the 50-seat restaurant and Allentown is on its way to getting a healthy, vegetarian-friendly eatery. I spoke with owner Oded Rauvenpoor who had just gotten back from a food show in Chicago and he made it a point to tell me that for the first time there was a buzz about some of the great things taking place in Buffalo. That's good... if you paid attention to the YUM Channel recently, then you know that there was quite a discussion surrounding the top-five restaurant list. The Falafel bar had its fair share of votes (see post). This is a place that certainly helps to create a local buzz.
Expect a full smoothie and juice bar upon opening day. The Allen Street location will (get excited) be open late hours on Thurs, Fri, and Sat ('till 4am). For now there is window/bar seating, but no outdoor tables. A patio and beer/wine license will be part of Phase 2.
The Falafel Bar will soon be open at 69 Allen Street. 716-882-2680
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TranspoGuy
This is a great location for Falafel Bar. I didn't realize there was going to be so much seating, that is like 4x the amount of seating (at least indoor) as the Elmwood Location. Can't wait to see this place open and packed!
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AvaRouge
Nice personal ads in the window. Can you zoom in a little closer so I can pull some numbers off?
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PaulBuffalo
My favorite eating establishment in Buffalo. Congratulations to the owner!
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chris_h_23
Falafel Bar is awesome....That is awesome they are opening up another location. My wife and I definitely agree that it is one of our favorite places in the city to eat. Congrats!
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dagner
Is there any way to drill down to the root cause of the "three month delay partly caused by The City"? I like this restaurant and BRO, but my experience as a project manager makes me suspect it's just an easy whine (by BRO) to put it on the city. (Yes, I saw the "partly"). Will they share any substantiation?
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benfranklin
dagner, good question. I am aware that Leon, just a few doors down at Cafe 59, went through more hassle with the city than I would have expected for his recent expansion. If you miss one of the scheduled meetings, it could be a significant wait for the next one. If approval for your item gets 'tabled', you'd lose another month.
I know when I was involved with food related businesses in the city, my bigger concern was with the county health inspection, and being sure that everything went fine with them. I know I did not involve the city to the extent these restaurants have.
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GDC
WoW , a restaurant in this end of Allen St. open till 4am besides the bars. FINALLY!!!! Now we have 1 more choice on this block in the later hours.
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sbrof
Leon got hassled because he cut through previous structural / fire walls to expand without proper planning. Inspectors don't like it when business owners make decisions that could put people in danger especially when they show up one day and there is a huge hole in the wall that no one talk them was going to be there.
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benfranklin
Heidi from Java Temple was the one that originally broke through the wall ( I gave her the sledge hammer). The level of effort to comply, from a time and monetary standpoint, makes this cost prohibitive for most small businesses.
Inspecting all possible danger out of a property makes it difficult to do anything, when we see it on a small scale we blame the business owner, on a larger scale it's what grinds all progess to a halt (I don't need to detail the examples, we all know them).
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urbanboarder
Planning Boards hold agendas every two weeks in the city. If you miss one it gets tabled until the next meeting..
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bobo5467
opened until 4am AND they're advertising HOT MEN. Awesome. I am so there.
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