Filfillah Restaurant

 Filfillah Restaurant 4301 Central Ave Columbia Heights
 Filfillah had a rocky start. As a long-time Northeaster my attention was piqued a couple (if not more) years ago when I saw a brand new restaurant on Central that appeared to be going all out. They had two very professional looking signs, were completely gutting the building and had their logo on two cars, one a van the other, a sports car. Just as quickly as they appeared to be getting everything together, they promptly stopped, with an official shut-down notice from the city on the door. Oops.

Filfillah finally opened again about a year ago. We heard positive reviews from friends but didn't get around to checking it out until we came across one very important detail in a Heavy Table blog review. The detail is this: Filfillah makes their own Shawarma. What is that? Simply, it's gyro meat. There's only one other place in town that does this, Java, an Egyptian restaurant off Nicollet. Everyone else uses the same pre-made meat from a supplier in Chicago. I'm not ripping on it, but there has to be more to gyro meat than the compressed, thin fried-like stuff everyone else uses, and this is it. 

We visited for lunch last Saturday. The place was empty, but understandably as it is October and 85* outside. The owner immediately greeted us and once realizing we'd never been there and had seen the Heavy Table article, he went all out to give us the whole experience. He was charming and very earnest, explaining his specialties and the ways he tried to make his restaurant stand out. We order the shawarma wrap, of course, and the falafel plate (in the appetizer section). Both are highly recommended.

Exhibit A

Exhibit A- the shawarma. OMG, do you see that? It is clearly freshly made, not overly garlicky, like most, and the meat was perfectly cooked. The bonus- fresh baked bread. It came out warm with a perfectly crunchy outside and soft, chewy inside, it held the meat, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley perfectly.

Exhibit B

To the left is Exhibit B- the falafel plate. It came with eight falafel, fresh tabbouleh, the same fresh bread (piping hot), hummus and fresh made tzatziki. It was a large portion, of which I brought a ton home, and very good. The falafel aren't the best I've had, but it was made up for by the dipping sauces and fresh salad.

Finally, dessert. If you know us, you know the odds of us ordering a dessert for a weekend lunch are pretty much, I don't know, the odds of having more than a week of temperatures higher than 80* in Minnesota in October (I know just can't get over it). But the earnest, charming owner would not let us leave without giving us complementary baklava. Um, wow. It was delicious. It was very nutty, light and crispy and not overly sweet. The perfect end to the meal. So, what are you waiting for? Get yourself to Filfillah, you can thank us later .