We’re always on the lookout for locally-owned restaurants that leave a very positive impression on diners. When Colorado writer Irene Middleman Thomas reached out, telling us how impressed she was with Golden Falafel and asking if she could tell In Good Taste readers about it, we said “Yes, please!” The fact that it’s located in a strip mall makes the restaurant all the more appealing to us, where we often find what we call “strip mall jewels.”
Just open for one year, Zakaria Chamseddine (pronounced like “James Dean,” he chuckles), is proud that many of the folks who dined at Golden Falafel on its first day are still coming in, regularly. “One customer comes in almost daily, but orders the same thing,” he bemusedly notes in his Arabic-tinged English. “I really try to get him to try other things, but he just won’t stray from our shawarma!”
Golden Falafel is situated in a rather non-descript shopping center at Yale and Monaco. Neighbored by an Irish Step Dancing school and a pet shop, it is Moroccan with delightfully creative twists inspired by other Middle Eastern cuisines. Halima, Zakaria’s wife, is the chef and enthusiastically prepares, and artistically presents, dishes inspired by her childhood in northwest Morocco. “I learned from my mother and grandmother,” she says modestly.
With no formal culinary training at all, she offers sublime dishes such as the House Mushrooms (cooked mushrooms in tomato sauce with garlic, spices and herbs and finished with cream,) and the Kofta Kabob Plate (char broiled seasoned ground lamb and beef with onion, parsley and spices, served with hummus, rice, house salad, cucumber yogurt sauce and pita bread) and the Lamb Shank (tender spring lamb shank braised with onions, mixed vegetables and tomato sauce mixed with light Mediterranean spices.)
The unassuming bistro is casual, but cozy, with Moroccan-style blue and white tiles on the walls and a variety of table sizes, from 2-tops to 10-tops. Open for lunch and dinner, Golden Falafel is closed Sunday and Monday to provide prep time. Chamseddine notes that this type of freshly prepared food involves a great deal of kitchen time. “We make every single thing here, except for the pita bread, which comes from a local Syrian immigrant. We even make the french fries from scratch and the yogurt for our sauces,” he says.
On our first visit, we ordered take-out due to the high Covid numbers at the time. Eating out of our boxes, each of us proclaimed “aahs” and “wows” and “Oh my’s” with every bite. “This is the best baba ganouj I’ve ever had,” my daughter said. “But try this chicken!,” her sister urged. “This is just amazing food!”
Indeed, this couple knows how to run a restaurant. Chamseddine, who greets customers with inviting smiles and “welcomes” worked for years at the (now defunct) beloved Tante Louise under famed restaurateur Corky Douglas. Since then, he experimented with different careers but had always wanted to own his own restaurant. Two months before Covid hit the news, he and Halima leased the location, a former flower shop. It took over a year to remodel and pass all of the inspections, but despite the pandemic, Golden Falafel has a loyal and expanding clientele. “Once you go, you will keep going,” a happy customer told me.
Halima explained that she does not skimp on any ingredients. For example, the tasty rice she uses is Basmati Rice Royale, and although very pricey, she uses saffron for seasoning. The lamb is locally sourced, and plain lettuce is not used, rather, only mixed frisee and baby Persian cucumbers. “Our customers know how to judge good food,” she says.
As I delved into my vegetarian combo, I sighed with pleasure. “I don’t even like dolmades, but I LOVE this dolmade,” I exclaimed. The baba ghanouj, yes, the best I’ve ever had. Oh, and the fattoush salad, truly tantalizing. The finishing touch of not-too-sweet baklava with almonds, pistachios and walnuts – perfect!
Who would have thought such divine food could be in a Safeway shopping center? Hurry, before the line gets too long!
– By Irene Middleman Thomas
Golden Falafel is located at 6460 E. Yale Ave., Ste. G20A, Denver.
Check out their website. Or call 303-756-0505.
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