Falafel Drive In

We had a few days to kill in San Jose before having to head back to LA, and one of the places we ate at was the Falafel Drive in. I was craving something that was unlike anything we had on the cruise (I had pretty much OD'd on all American foods during the cruise, at least for a few days), and Mediterranean food sounded pretty sweet when someone mentioned it, so I got a suggestion to head over to Falafel Drive in, close to the mall I used to work in while I was in high school.

They had recently been featured on the show Diners, Drive ins and Dives (I have a love hate relationship with that show - I like the places they feature but I really dislike Guy Fieri as the host. His annoying catchphrases like "That's capital 'T' tender" or "That's money" really irk me to no end. My favorite thing about the show is when the cooks or the people he talks to are obviously annoyed at his very being but doing their best not to be outright hateful towards him.)

Anyways, Falafel Drive in has been around for a long time, but I had never been to it in my history of living in San Jose before moving to LA for college, so it was new to me! We had arrived right before it closed, but the owner was really cool and didn't mind at all, and was happy to get our business. It's an "order at the front and pick up" kinda place, so I didn't feel so bad ordering right before he closed up, plus the seating is outdoors.

Everything looked so good, so I quickly chose some things...

...and this is how it arrived - everything on the tray. Our order consisted of...

A "Koubby". It's a "Mediterranean meatball", a fried shell with a filling of meat, pine nuts, onions and spices. It's very delicious! The outside is crispy, and the inside was bursting with meaty flavor goodness. The pine nuts especially added a nice texture to the mix. I dipped pieces of this in hummus and was super happy.

I really wanted to try some falafel, as this place WAS called Falafel drive in for a reason right? It did not disappoint, nice and crispy and tender on the inside, good mix of chickpeas and parsley and other such spices, and all around pretty darn good.

Owen and I each got a gyro sandwich, (small) consisting of pita, gyro meat, iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, tomato and tahini sauce. It was good but completely fell apart when I tried to pick it up and eat it like a traditional sandwich, so I used a fork and knife to dissect and eat it. Other than it descinegrating upon touch, it was a decent gyro, although not as good as the Mad Greek or some other places I've been to.

We also got a side of hummus, which was huge, even though it was a "small" order. I don't know anyone who could eat all of this hummus in one sitting. Owen and I tackled it and only made a small dent.

Friendly and prompt service makes me want to come back here, but not the best gyro I've had. I've heard the lines get pretty gnarly on a regular weekday, so I guess this place is pretty popular! I think they were cash only (??) so be warned.

Falafel's Drive-In
2301 Steven's Creek Blvd.
San Jose, CA 95128
Tel: (408) 294-7886
Website: www.falafelsdrivein.com