Falafel are ostensibly street food, but you wouldn’t want to wolf a Chick-O-Pea's falafel while striding down the street, because you owe it more than that, because each bite bursts juicy-chewy-crunchy-hot, then yields a sneaky slow sophisticated spice charge on the double-take. Packed into a thick soft house-baked pouch, it’s not really street food but the sort of hybrid that could be conceived only in Berkeley: sit-down street food. Worth the trip to this 100-percent vegetarian aerie is Chick-O-Pea’s falafel/salad bar, where nine or more exotic, house-made Lebanese-style toppings can be ladled or pincered into falafels, into falafel burgers, and atop organic baby greens. Shoestring fries come in five flavors, but the “pita fries” — fried strips of leftover bread — are a guilty pleasure that goes well with a serving of cacik, hummus, or baba ghanoush.
Organic ingredients are used whenever possible, which is often.
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Chick-O-Pea's | 1926 Shattuck Ave | Berkeley | CA, 94704 | Phone: 510.540.8880 | Fax: 510.540.8882
