Lotus Falafel Shawerma - Oakland

The food is delicious and the staff is incredibly friendly!

This restaurant always delivers delicious food! It is my favorite place for falafel. The meat is high quality, the rice is excellent, and the hummus is creamy and packed with flavor. The falafel is crispy and not greasy, and absolutely delicious! I highly recommend trying the House Special.

TL;DR Great, crisp, brown gyros and crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside falafel, but on the pricier side I got the beef and lamb gyro plate which came with hummus, house salad, 2 falafel balls, pickles, tahini sauce, hot sauce, and pita bread. First, the gyros were crisp and brown in the best way, and came covered in what I’m assuming was tahini. Under the sliced meat was some diced onion and another wedge of flatbread, unlike the pita that came on the side. Really delicious, especially when paired with the house salad. Now, the house salad was mostly iceberg lettuce, but with the tomato, parsley, feta, and the dressing it all came together in a very flavorful but refreshing way. While I liked the crunchiness of the exterior of the falafel and the creamy lightness of the interior, I felt like it was missing something. Still, if you like falafel, I would definitely give this one a try. The hummus was also good and while it would have been nice to have more pita to go along with it, I was happy to dip the gyros in before each bite. All in all, this was an excellent plate of food and the service was very friendly. If this plate were about $4 cheaper than the $19.24 that I paid in June of 2022, this would be a 5 star review, no question! I would definitely eat here again; while I was expecting rice with this plate, I didn’t miss it and in fact appreciated that I wasn’t in danger of slipping into a food coma after eating!

I tried this restaurant for the first time and I loved it! The meat is cooked right in front of you and served fresh on your plate. I ordered the Chicken Lamb Shawarma over rice and while they could add more meat, the amazing taste makes up for it. There is plenty of seating available, but it does get busy during lunch. If you're taking your food to go, make sure to ask for extra white and red sauces. I will definitely be coming back to try more dishes on their menu the next time I'm in Oakland. I highly recommend this place to everyone!

We just had Doordash deliver from this shop for our first try. It was delicious! It came hot and fresh and the french fries were not soggy but were warm and crisp. My husband is Egyptian and a good cook so we do not give reviews lightly when it comes to Arab food, but this was flavorful. The kofta kabob was tasty, we liked the pickled veggies that came as a side, the falafel was also flavorful. Our picky daughter even squeezed in between my husband and I sharing a falafel plate and a kofta kabab plate and some french fries, and she made mini falafel sandwiches with the bread, falafel and hummus and ate the fries. It is definitely enough for 3 people to be full. We will be back! *The food stays well for delivery (we live a city away and it arrived hot and the fries were crisp)