The Golden Falafel Ball

 

8

13

Cat M.

Santa Clara, CA

I like this place.

The chicken shawarma plate is excellent. The hamburger meal is juicy. The hot mint tea satisfies. Everyone is really nice.

Not much else to say, really, except this is a great find in a kooky strip mall.

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4

56

Steve S.

San Jose, CA

A friend recommended this place as having great falafels. I really wanted this place to be good but unfortunately I have to call them as I see 'em.

I had the chicken kebab plate. The chicken was lighly spiced and had a good flavor except for the excessive saltiness. The chicken was cooked well but was a bit tough and rubbery.

My daughter had the beef kebab in a pita. The pita was excellent. Light and fluffy. The sauce, lettuce, and cabbage was also good. But the meat was tough. There were a few pieces which were mostly tendon or gristle and could not be chewed.

Maybe it was a bad day, or maybe I should stick to the falafel.  I'm going to give this place one more try and hopefully I can revise my review in the future. But only 2 stars for now...

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1

10

Jessica R.

Campbell, CA

I love this place.  It's like being transported to Tel Aviv.  Seriously.  The food, the music, hearing Hebrew at almost every table...  It's fantastic!

The food is wonderful.  Very Israeli flavors.  I could survive on their pita and baba ganoush alone!  I've had their falafel, shwarma, kebab, chicken livers, salads, burekas, schnitzel, almost everything.  Everything is delicious.  Tov meod!

I'm giving them 4 stars simply for the fact that they don't take credit cards.  It's not like the food is cheap, so it's just annoying that they take cash only.  But, I'll change to 5 stars the second they accept credit cards!

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3

18

Debra E.

Sunnyvale, CA

The Golden Falafel Ball has pretty good grab and go Mediterranean food.  I found it by accident while shopping at the Bed, Bath and Beyond nearby.  Almost all dishes are under $10.  The dining area and open kitchen looks clean plus the food looks very fresh.  I think the owners are a mother and son team.

The menu has many foods from all over the Mediterranean including various drinks from Israel.  In fact, the menu states that food is Kosher Style.  Dine in, take out and catering are all available.  They had a variety of cakes and baklavas for your sweet tooth.

I got the Hummus Shawarma which was very yummy.  The well flavored chicken came off of one of those rotating meat ovens that looks like gyros.  The pita bread was awesome.  Not the typical flat thin pocket bread you usually think of but thick, fluffy, chewy, warm bread.  The pita breads are about 8 inches round and about .5 inch thick at the widest.  One of those badboys and I was pretty full.  

I got some Falafel balls on the side.  Came with very good tahini dipping sauce and some kind of jalapeno or chili relish type stuff.

The only negative comment I have is the lack of "glossary" for the unfamiliar foods.  I want to know what schnitzel, shaksuka, sabich, burekas, chicken mix and Golden Salad are, but I don't want to stand there 20 minutes asking the cashier.

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0

14

Ron G.

Santa Clara, CA

The stress test... lunchtime.
I liked the first impression, the place was kind of busy, there were a few people at the counter, it smelled great... wait... where do I order? There's no distinct order/pickup spots. I stepped up behind two guys standing there at the counter.
And I stood there. And stood there....
Now, granted, they're busy... there's also about eight people behind the counter, what's the deal? No one can take my order?
After about ten minutes, one of the employees finally takes the order of the guys in front of me. I thought they were waiting to pick up food!. Then he ignores me and goes back to what he's doing.
I walked out. Close to fifteen minutes of my life I'll never get back. Too bad, too, because the food smelled great, but the service, well, sucks ass, to be frank. I don't care how busy you are, you need a person at the counter 100% of the time when people are lining up, and a specific ordering spot and pick up spot (even if they're the same place) to keep people from just standing around inside the place, which they do.
And one other thing... $2.50 for an order of fries??
I have no plan to return, I may some day when it isn't mealtime, but I certainly don't recommend this spot if you're going for a quick lunch from work, or would like to at least have your presence acknowledged by an employee. Sure smells good though.
Also, you may have to park across the street (although the sign says your car can be towed if you aren't a customer of the stores there). Both the lot and the street in front of the place are loaded with cars during lunch.

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2

87

Terell W.

Santa Clara, CA

Absolutely the worst place to have Mediterranean food. Absolutely the worst. It's worst than street food. House of Falafel and Falafel Corner definitely defeat this terrible restaurant. Absolutely no service, half of the people don't understand English, and since the place is so empty, the employees sit on the tables just muttering loudly to each other. The food is just so icky and disgusting. The falafels are oily and mushy, while the falafels are just so bland, with no flavour at all. I have never had worse Mediterranean food in my life. Do you want to know how I came here? I live close by, and I had already tried the great House of Falafel, and delicious Falafel Corner, and this one was new, and the closest. My friend said it was bad, but I gave it a try anyway. I shall never go back though. I am not giving it a one star, I am giving it 0 out of 5 stars. This place is bad, and I recommend not wasting your money, time, or life here at all.

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0

1

Rob G.

San Jose, CA

We liked it, not bad for a quick, made to order Mediterranean  plate

The rice and little salad that come with the plates are very delicious.

We had the chicken mix and it was a tad undercooked, but tasty.

We also had the falafel balls and a falafel pita sandwich.  The pita bread is so smooth and nice... feels home made.  They probably make it there (not 100% sure).

The falafel balls and the tahini sauce were a bit salty though.

Good price, made to order.  Salty though.

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Elite '08

45

70

Ashley Q.

San Francisco, CA

Balls!  Delicious golden Balls!  My coworker let me in on a little secret, the secret was The Golden Ball.

A bit of history... Rumor has it that there is only ONE other Golden Ball in the world, in the motherland of Israel.  Hence, this is a family owned restaurant.
Now the food... The falafel balls are fried right when you order them, so don't take a huge bite into one too soon!  Hot, Hot, Hot.  We ordered a side of balls and amazing hummus in addition to our main dishes.  I'm so glad we did.  The falafel in pita is excellent.  The shawarma is HUGE, customized how you like it, and appropriately comes stuffed with fresh french fries.  There are plenty of veg and meat lover options accompanied by family friendly service.

I think I've exhausted the use of the word balls.  Enjoy the fast food staple of the Middle East brought to America, known as The Golden Ball.

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Elite '08

23

222

Michaela S.

Sunnyvale, CA

I dropped by and got a falafel plate to go, which ended up being fries, six falafel balls, and hummus for about $7.50 with tax.  If you want rice instead of fries (option given on their wall menu), make sure to ask, because they won't ask you.  

The falafel were good, but a bit salty for my taste.  This does let you make all the "salty balls" jokes you want, but I wish they had been toned down just a tad.  Eating them with hummus and pita did tame the salt; I am not sure if this is as designed.  I kind of think falafel should stand on their own.  

The thing I didn't like was they gave me cold fries.  Sure, I was getting food to go, so maybe they assumed the fries would be stone cold anyway by the time I got home, but I wanted to eat them in the car on the way -- nope, already limp.  The falafel were fresh; not sure why they didn't make the fries at the same time.  

The place was packed at 2 PM on a Sunday, which was impressive.  I had to park across the street, where luckily, there are many, many spots in the Bed, Bath & Beyond parking lot.  

Three stars on probation...I might go back to see if the cold fries and salty balls are a regular thing for them or if it was just a fluke.

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5

35

Steve U.

San Jose, CA

My friend from Israel turned me onto this place. Kinda hidden off the main drag of Stevens Creek Blvd., across from Blockbuster, The Golden Ball was a delightful surprise. The chicken kabob dinner was tasty and filing. The falafels were great. It's always fun to see how each culture does their own "twist" on the Middle Eastern staples that we Americans have come to love. There's a variety of interesting sauces that you can ask to add (still trying to decide which ones I like). Nothing fancy, just good food. And they're open late.

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0

15

Priya K.

San Francisco, CA

Had the Chicken Sheesh Kebab plate and a side of felafels.

The "plate" comes with fries/rice, pita and salad. Chicken was decent. Salad was good. Fries were normal okay. Overall, nothing to write home about.

Felafels on the other hand were a disaster. They were greasy, and the inside was all mushy, not the semi-moist as they should be.

I work with a lot of Israelis, and they dont like this place either. I am becoming as finicky about my felafels as the Israelis themselves. I wouldnt go there again.

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8

11

Sugam J.

San Francisco, CA

When you're in the mood to munch on some tasty balls, this place is the spot to go. Tucked away in the back of the new blue-tiled building, these guys turn out some of the best Falafel's I've ever had.

Crispy, perfectly spiced, fresh out-of-the-frier and stuffed into a pita with all the accouterment. (Which, by the way, are extremely tasty. Fresh romaine, cabbage, home-made hummus, etc.; None of the crappy old iceberg and unripe tomato that tend to sully other attempts at a good falafel pita). Further, they are one of the ONLY places that maintain's structural integrity in their product! From Drive-In's Falafel pita, to burritos, to schwarma-lavash rolls to sandwiches, many often meet their demise as a pile on the table in front of me and all over my hands. Not here! Fresh, Thick-skinned and surprisingly tasty pita keeps all the fun stuff in check.

What goes great with Falafel? Well, Fries of course and these guys do it right. (Way better than vivi's down the street). Again, fresh, hot, crispy and tasty, these are the thin-cut McDonald's style fries that we all love. And if you ask nicely, they'll even put some in your pita too!

What are they missing? Not much, I'd love to be able to get a banana milkshake here, but its not important enough for me to brave the long lines and the self-destructing pitas down at the Drive-In.

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Elite '08

68

394

Maryanne R.

Cupertino, CA

I've been waiting for months for this place to open and I'm going to admit that I had high expectations for The Golden Ball because I love falafel, shwarma and kabob.  We need a good falafel restaurant in the neighborhood because the closest falafel joint to my house is disgusting and my husband got sick there.  This is the third location for The Golden Ball (the other two are in Israel) and they are planning to open a fourth in SF.

Must report that The Golden Ball delivered on those high expectations.  The place is spotless.  The service is really friendly.  The food is excellent.  I tried their falafel plate for lunch today and found it super fresh and tasty.  I'm looking forward to many yummy meals from The Golden Ball.

I have one small complaint - so small that it won't effect those 4 stars up there.  The "plate" menu says it comes with "salad, rice or fries and pita bread", so I ordered mine with rice and was surprised when I got home that my plate didn't have any salad.  I guess it should read "salad or rice or fries".  I'm letting you all know so that you don't make my mistake.

BTW - free delivery within the city of Santa Clara (min. $20 order)

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51

102

BeBe C.

Palo Alto, CA

Tasty, huge servings, and clean.

There are many items on the menu and it really will take you some time to read through it.  For each type of meat, you can choose to have it served on a plate (with salad, bread, and fries), with baguette, or with pita.  I chose to have my sharma served on pita. Wow, the pita was as big as my face! Unlike cardboard-like pita or lavash bread served at many other places, the pita bread here is extremely fresh. Falafels served on the side (6 of them) costs only $2.50 and it's a true steal.  

Compared to House of Falafels a few blocks away on the Cupertino side of Stevens Creek, Golden Ball is very hygienic.

There are two small tables outside and so it's dog-ok. The owner was very friendly to my pooch and offered some water. I guess if these two tables are taken, then you can always get the food to-go and have a picnic at Maywood park on Pruneridge, which is less than half a mile away. From Golden Ball, get on to Stevens Creek heading west but stay on the right lane. Turn R on Lawrence Expressway North bound. Take the next exit (Pruneridge). Make a R on Pruneridge. After five tiny blocks, you will find the parking lot of the park or park on the curb.

They will take credit cards in a few days or so.

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Elite '08

18

158

Aaron M.

Mountain View, CA

Pretty solid!  It's a counter service falafel restaurant with lots of clientele from the holy land.  Here's what you need to know:

- It has a Stevens Creek address but it's really 50 yards down the side street.

- The falafel balls are indeed fresh and golden.  And medium spicy too!

- The "schewarma" is the chicken variety and was undeniably curryish.  Moist and fresh too - yum.

- The veggie, rice and hummus sides were all fresh and good.  Fries were just OK and the bread was run of the mill.

- It is open until 4am, yes 4am on weekends - WAIT no they changed it finally to 12am weeknights / 2am weekends.  In any case, are they serving the jet lag crowd or is there a secret bar district around there??

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39

7

Jennifer Y.

Campbell, CA

This is a great new Israeli restaurant in Santa Clara.  I've only ordered to take away and have enjoyed everything I've tried so far.  An Israeli friend of mine says it's the most authentic food from home that she's had in the Bay Area.  I'm no expert on this cuisine, I just think the food is delicious.  The service is friendly too.  And you can't beat those late night hours.  A welcome addition to the neighborhood.

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Elite '08

131

551

Jane L.

Santa Clara, CA

It's so new that the only sign they have is "Grand Opening".  It's on the same side as Bed Bath & Beyond, but across the side street.  

The falafel pita was okay.  It tasted a little on the plain side and I think I'm more accustomed to drenching it in dressing.  The side order of hummus was just okay, too.  I would like to have tasted more garlic.  It is kind of expensive for hummus ($4.99) because they don't give you a lot.  And the accompanying pita bread is too thick.

You know what was really good?  The beef shish kabab pita.  I love the meaty taste of medium rare beef, but it's only good when you get a mouthful of meat.  It is kind of hard to just bite off a piece, so you end up with meat or salad filling.

The casual atmosphere is fun and even though it's not crowded, with friends of the owners visiting and a couple of customers at a time, it probably won't be long before this place gets packed.  

And yes, I thought some of the tastes could have more flavor, but I really left feeling like I had fresh healthy food, not greasy or heavy.  The owner and guy behind the counter was super nice and helpful.  I'll have to try the burekas next time - which is like a flakey square calzone.

And their hours are really good for night owls.  They'll be open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.  (Changed from 4am, but if they're busy they might extend hours.)

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0

5

Moe R.

Santa Clara, CA

I had a falafel plate. The falafels were excellent. The pita bread was soft and fresh -- appears to have been made there. Only slight disappointment was the hummus which was creamy and rich but would have been better if more garlicky.

I will definitely go there again.

The sign said "Mediterranean" food, which I love, but turns out to be one of maybe three kosher places in the area. Actually, it is not quite kosher because they are open on Saturdays and can't get rabbinical blessing but the food is otherwise rigorously kosher.

It's run by a family (Mom, Dad, son), all of whom work there. Dad cooks the meat, mom cooks the rest. Looks like just about everything is cooked on premise.

Very clean.

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4

8

David H.

Sunnyvale, CA

We had driven past The Golden Ball a few times and then saw the positive reviews on Yelp and decided to try it out.

The place is spotless clean.  Very nice, and comfortable, and very well lit.  The man behind the counter couldn't have been more friendly and helpful in recommending some items.    I LOVE falafel of all kinds!  We had the Falafel plate.  Which, at the suggestion of the counter staff, had 6 falafel balls, hummus and fries.  The Falafel, while very good, was not quite as good as Falafel Drive-In.  Which, I feel has the best.  But the Hummus was AMAZING!  Probably one of the best I've ever had.  Creamy, and a bit of garlic.  Really nice.  And the Pita bread did not taste like others.  It was thicker, and a good compliment.  I would not continue to serve the fries though.  Just standard run of the mill.  Nothing special.  
We also had the golden Ball Salad.  This again was great!  Nice small pieces of mixed lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes in a very light, but flavorful dressing.  And on the side a mayonnaise based dressing.  

All in all, this was quite good and will definitely be back to try other items.  Highly recommend others go and try it out.

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0

23

Audrey H.

Cupertino, CA

Our new favorite middle eastern eatery.  Super fresh, high quality ingredients.  Great taste.  Love the Golden Salad.  Seriously the best hummus we've had in this country.  And we would know since my husband is Israeli.  And the meats are juicy and yum too.

In addition to great middle eastern food, the place is spotless and the owner is really friendly.  This will be our destination for middle eastern food from now on.

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0

9

Sabra L.

Santa Clara, CA

I'll start by saying that even with three stars I'll eat here again in a heartbeat.  I grew up on this Israeli styled Middle Eastern food.  I'm a harsh critic.  I will go back to try other items but for the moment I'll start on their falafel plate.

What is wrong:  the falafel was overdone, but tasty and glad it was freshly made not sitting around under a heat lamp (next time I will mention this to them and see what happens).  No olives included in the mixed pickled items on the plate.  I can't understand that because you would never get away with that in Israel.  A tad too salty for my taste.  I will say that every family who makes this food has their own version of salt, lemon, and or garlic etc ratios for their hummus, tahni, and other foods.  The pita was cold which made it a bit stiff.

What is right:  the prices, the portions, the clean clean environment, it is kosher but not glatt (this will only mean anything to people who keep kosher), a nice varied menu (which we will go back to work through), they customize the Israeli style salad a bit (next time we'll tell them more lemon , less salt), their hummus was nice and they added a teeny bit of yummy hot sauce on it.  The pita although cold was the nice fat doughy kind, not the regular skinny kind.

They are really nice there and they are the only game in town if you are looking for real Israeli styled fast food.

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0

1

Marcy W.

Hayward, CA

Golden Ball has the greatest falafel!  

The pita is thick and fluffy, nothing drips out of it (I hate that), the pickles were great, the baba ganoush was smokey and super tasty and the hummus was creamy.  Yum!

The falafel itself was so good.  

I'm STUFFED!

The place was clean, everyone was friendly (even the customers) and I'm certainly going back.

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0

1

Isabella S.

San Jose, CA

I am not a picky eater, I eat almost everything but this was below my expectation. I came with two guests. I had Shawarma (made of chicken, rather have had beef or lamb) that was OK, not the greatest.

My friend had Chicken Shish Kabob (not a white meat), the Israeli salad was soooo salty that he could not eat much; the chicken had skin on but was tasty and had flavors on. He did not like it since it had skin and was not white meat.

The third dish was beef shish kabob had lots of fat. I do not know if the cook was out it did not taste like a food from a restaurant nor a home cooking and service was very slow.

I still do not give up- I will try the falafel next time and l hope that the food will improve. There is enough room for improvement.

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