A trendy falafel spot in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood is rounding out its offerings, and rolling out a new location in Oak Park this spring.
As reported by Wednesday Journal in January 2011, Falafill, 3202 N. Broadway St., has always thought about expanding, with Lake Street as a possible destination. Things have been quiet this past year, but are heating up again, as they’ve recently signed a lease for a space in Oak Park.
They’re currently building out a kitchen and dining room at the old Holiday Camera space, 1053 Lake St., with hopes of opening by April. Holiday Camera relocated just east of its former location.
“There’s nothing in there so it’s going to need full construction,” said Tarik Cogal, director of operations for Falafill franchising.
Falafill first opened in 2010 in a small space on Broadway just north of Belmont. Their menu offers those popular deep-fried balls of ground chickpeas either stuffed into a pita ($4.95) or atop a bed of lettuce ($6.95). Those items come with one trip to the restaurant’s self-serve topping bar, which includes everything from yogurt sauce to pickled turnips.
Cogal said they may expand the all-vegetarian menu to incorporate some meat options. They’re also revamping the look of the two locations (along with a third planned for Michigan Avenue) with more wood paneling and less of the white-walled interior of the original.
Falafill’s owner, Maher Chebaro, is a native of Beirut who has worked in the restaurant business for 25 years. He previously opened several eateries in his home country, along with the now-defunct Tribal Grill and Souk in Chicago. Falafill is Chebaro’s first attempt at fast food, and he said last year that he planned to expand the fledgling business into 100 outposts across the country.
Cogal said they’re hoping to open six or seven locations this year, and another 15 next year. Their expansion plans have unfurled slowly, he said, while they’ve worked through all the paperwork and legalities of becoming the next Jimmy John’s or Potbelly.
Falafill first submitted its building permit plans back in October. And after village hall bounced them back for changes, they were resubmitted on Jan. 31. Village hall was in the process of giving them a final look-through last week.
“I would think at this point we’re really close,” said village spokesman David Powers.