Ronen Tanami grew up watching his grandmother run Famous Pita in Israel. When he and his wife Galit opened this shop on Avenue M in 2016, they brought her recipe — and her habit of starting the day at 6am to hand-roll every falafel from scratch.
For the first few years, it was just the regulars. Then Pete Wells of the New York Times walked in, ate, and in 2023 named Falafel Tanami one of the 100 Best Restaurants in New York. Grub Street called them the 'Absolute Best Falafel' in NYC back in 2019.
The shop is still tiny — three counter stools, Israeli pop music, photos of the Rebbe on the wall. A second location opened in Tribeca. But the Brooklyn shop is the original, and the falafel is still rolled by hand.
