The folks at Amsterdam Falafelshop told me that the store will open some time this Sunday afternoon or evening. It's a good idea to keep an eye on their Facebook page in case they change their plans again.
I was peering in yesterday and someone popped out to tell me that they would open Monday. I'm not sure which date is more current (Sun or Mon), so I suspect yes, checking it out before making a trip would be good.
They told me the official opening is Monday but there would be a 'soft opening' on Sunday afternoon or evening. They didn't yet know exactly what time that will start.
Seems like there are a lot of kinks to work out. The Wife and I went last night to check it out-- no signage, no menus, odd layout. We stood there trying to see how it works, what to order, HOW to order, and when it was our turn we were asked if we were ready. I said no, that we couldn't figure out what the process was and the employee just said "Oh, OK" and walked away.
I figured if they didn't care enough to let customers know what and how to order, and their staff didn't feel the need to make that clear, it wasn't worth giving them our money.
If anyone else knows the magic words, please share for the rest of us, since people were clearly getting food!
When I visited Saturday evening, it seemed pretty clear: you could order either 3 balls or 5 balls, then fill the pocket with as many different toppings as you wanted. There was a sign explaining what to do.
That was not clearly evident anywhere both of us looked. There was some cheesy 8.5"x11" towards the registers explaining how best to eat a falafel (squish vs. not squishing, etc) but nothing about how to order and what the process was for adding toppings.
At the least, that minimal explanation from the staff might have helped us figure out what to do and we might have stayed. It's not like they were that busy. C'est la vie, you only make one first impression, right?
They seem to have worked it out a bit better now that they've been open a few weeks, although the staff is still not good at explaining how it works if you couldn't figure it out from the signs.
Options: by the sandwich: white or wheat pita with 3 or 5 pieces of falafel and all the toppings you want. By weight in a bowl: as many pieces of falafel as you ask for (including 0), plus anything from the toppings bar. So if you just want some assorted vegetable/bean/etc salads that seem like you didn't want to add them to a sandwich, and perhaps a few falafel, there *is* a third choice, and it means you don't have to like the overstuffed pita sandwich idea to eat here.
A bowl with 3 falafel balls and maybe 3-4 different items from the toppings bar so that the bowl was moderately full but not heaping worked out to about the same price as a small sandwich.
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Date: 2012-07-06 12:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-06 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-08 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 01:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-09 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 04:20 pm (UTC)I figured if they didn't care enough to let customers know what and how to order, and their staff didn't feel the need to make that clear, it wasn't worth giving them our money.
If anyone else knows the magic words, please share for the rest of us, since people were clearly getting food!
no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 10:14 pm (UTC)At the least, that minimal explanation from the staff might have helped us figure out what to do and we might have stayed. It's not like they were that busy. C'est la vie, you only make one first impression, right?
no subject
Date: 2012-07-22 02:04 am (UTC)Options: by the sandwich: white or wheat pita with 3 or 5 pieces of falafel and all the toppings you want.
By weight in a bowl: as many pieces of falafel as you ask for (including 0), plus anything from the toppings bar. So if you just want some assorted vegetable/bean/etc salads that seem like you didn't want to add them to a sandwich, and perhaps a few falafel, there *is* a third choice, and it means you don't have to like the overstuffed pita sandwich idea to eat here.
A bowl with 3 falafel balls and maybe 3-4 different items from the toppings bar so that the bowl was moderately full but not heaping worked out to about the same price as a small sandwich.