Fordee's Falafel & Deli

I really adore the family that runs this little operation. As much as they bear the aura of *nonchalant-no-nonsense-straightforward*, they are actually very nice (and sometimes quite funny) folk. I recall one conversation the lady was having with an obvious regular over the phone. She had asked him several times what they wanted to order…I could tell that they had probably ate the whole menu at this point but couldn’t decide in the moment. A few minutes later, I heard her say in an exasperated voice, “Oh, yoooooouuuuuu *KILL* meeeeeeee, please tell me what you want.” (Note too that she says this in a particular sarcastic accent that literally made me absolutely LAUGH deep inside. Long story short, they continue for a bit on the phone and she finally finalizes the phone order.) I also fondly recall my first visit. I had ordered other dishes to try (none of which were Falafel despite it being part of the restaurant name). It was still pretty quiet as I literally got there as they were turning their open sign. Moments after I received my food, the owner himself stopped by the table with a small sample of his falafels after finding out it was my first time there. That short interchange immediately cemented their name in my list of places to dine. Why? They definitely serve some of the best falafels I’ve had stateside to date. And on top of that, I truly enjoyed the rest of the plates I’ve ordered so far. It’s one of those places that just somehow tackles your palate with simplicity and complexity making you feel like you’re at home and dining out at the same time.

You will not find more delicious falafel anywhere else no matter how hard you try. Their recepe is so unique and flavorful that it's capable of teleporting you to the middle east for a few minutes. Please do yourself a favor and order one right now! The rest of their menu is also very impressive, however, as rule of thumb, first try the dish that's in the name.

We ordered take out of lamb kabob wrap. Very tasty, ample pieces of lamb in an entire pita wrap with fresh lettuce, tomatoes and hummus. Excellent bargain!

Long time customer! Great place to grab a quick lunch. I LOVE the falafel combo wrap (I get baba ganoush and taboulleh on mine)! So so good!

Ducked into this little corner spot in the heart of Watertown's Armenian community for a bite and was not disappointed in the least. The falafel wrap was packed with fresh, delicious vegetables and pickled turnips and the falafel itself was fresh and nicely seasoned. The lentil soup tasted just like my grandmother's! Well worth a stop for a quick bite or takeout.

Five stars. Service was amazing and food was all made using fresh ingredients. It tasted homemade and it was lovely. We had a nice chat with the cashier, she was a very lovely and welcoming lady.

The falafel is excellent! Worth the drive.

The falafel sandwich is great here but the bread is too much for the sandwich. Ask for extra falafel and tahini in the sandwich to make it perfect.

We had our food delivered. My souse had the falafel combo and was VERY pleased. I had the Gyros dinner. It is gyros on rice pilaf. Tasty but much more rice than meat.

I really adore the family that runs this little operation. As much as they bear the aura of *nonchalant-no-nonsense-straightforward*, they are actually very nice (and sometimes quite funny) folk. I recall one conversation the lady was having with an obvious regular over the phone. She had asked him several times what they wanted to order...I could tell that they had probably ate the whole menu at this point but couldn't decide in the moment. A few minutes later, I heard her say in an exasperated voice, "Oh, yoooooouuuuuu *KILL* meeeeeeee, please tell me what you want." (Note too that she says this in a particular sarcastic accent that literally made me absolutely LAUGH deep inside. Long story short, they continue for a bit on the phone and she finally finalizes the phone order.) I also fondly recall my first visit. I had ordered other dishes to try (none of which were Falafel despite it being part of the restaurant name). It was still pretty quiet as I literally got there as they were turning their open sign. Moments after I received my food, the owner himself stopped by the table with a small sample of his falafels after finding out it was my first time there. That short interchange immediately cemented their name in my list of places to dine. Why? They definitely serve some of the best falafels I've had stateside to date. And on top of that, I truly enjoyed the rest of the plates I've ordered so far. It's one of those places that just somehow tackles your palate with simplicity and complexity making you feel like you're at home and dining out at the same time.

The food is some of the best Mediterranean in the Boston area. The family that runs it is friendly and make this a neighborhood food counter with a few laminated tables. Most of the customers are for takeout and everyone is cordial. The owners wife make homemade deserts one or twice a week. They are a treat. The falafels are the best! Besides the baba ganoush. It's all good, they have it down.

Excellent sandwiches and salads. I order from here almost weekly for lunch and everything I've had has been good. I especially love their BLT rolls ups and chicken shawarma. Lettuce is always fresh and crisp.

Solid place with reasonable prices. Falafel wraps are delicious. Freshly made pita chips in a big bag. The two proprietors are friendly and appreciative of your patronage. Been going for years and the quality and value remain.

Food was fantastic, we had gyro and shawarma both we excellent. The falafel were light and fluffy. We will be back for sure.

Ah May Zing falafel!!! And I love falafel Super fluffy and green, and those turnip pickles are fantastic. My new falafel joint.

Chicken shawarma is tasty and fresh! I was a tad disappointed it did not come with rice as most shawarma plates too, but I would have rather saved myself the carbs after I thought about it more! The chicken has a distinct warm taste to it which is different from others I've tried. All the vegetables tasted super fresh, including the side of falafel (which is cheap if you want just 1 or 2). Presentation was surprisingly awesome as everything was placed on the plate very neatly. Seating area is not huge and there is no A/C so I recommend getting takeout.

I had the gyro roll up and my girlfriend had the falafel roll up. I spent so long looking for a good gyro in Boston and I finally found one. Highly recommend.

The food was not the best. There are MANY other places where you can get better quality mediterrenian food.

COVID ALERT: Just picked up lunch at Fordee's. Neither of the men cooking behind the counter were wearing masks! I should have asked for my $$ back but didn't. I just left quickly with my roll up and now am not sure I should even eat it. I see another person had the same experience last week so this was not an isolated incident. If you value your health, don't eat here!

They're not wearing masks or gloves here. I already paid online or I would have turned and left. Don't come here unless you're willing to risk your health..

Quick and easy Middle Eastern/Mediteranean take-out in Watertown. Also can dine in. Highly regarded falafel. Crispy and larger in size than most. Satisfying on their own but nice to add an ounce of hummus or tahini. Grab a Middle Eastern platter on a bed of lettuce and tomato with pickles and tabouli. Hummus and tahini served on the size. The accouterments are not overly exciting and the hummus is slightly bland. The pickles are the highlight with zing and zest. The chicken shawarma platter is perfectly fine. Note the shawarma is not traditional in the sense the chicken is cubed and seasoned rather than sliced off the shawarma "rotisserie". [Note this review is a 3.5 but this reviewer rounds up].

Nice owner, fresh food, reasonable price and big portion. We Love their felafel plate which comes with fresh tasty tabouli salad, hummus, lettuce, tomato and pita bread. Big thanks to the owner and the staff.

Hi Fordees I really want to give you five stars because your food is so so yummy! However, delivery is a struggle. Sometimes you decide you are too busy to deliver after i have already placed and paid for my order online. Somtimes you scold us for trying to order extra dressing which we want to pay for but website doesnt allow. And today you told us that our $20.00 order was not enough to justify delivery and from now on we are only allowed to order delivery if we spend more money. But you didnt say how much more and your online order webpage says there is a $10.00 minimum charge for delivery. $20.00 is more than $10.00. Also, you didn't get the order correct!! I guess its time for us to part ways! It was fun while it lasted. If you decide in the future to allow us to order delivery maybe we can try again?

I miss this place so much. Always got the Armenian Veggie wrap and still think about it. Super fresh and tasty. Also, nice people and good customer service.

This has been a long time in coming but I need to give these guys a huge shout-out. First of all, they do a solid Armenian meal and that says a lot when you are smack dab in the middle of "little Armenia". My kids like the falafel and I am a fan of the chicken kebab. The real winning dish is the pilaf. It is as perfect as a restaurant can make it. It is not dry nor sticky - as close to mom's as you can get. The shout-out goes to them rescuing me when I had to get catering for 50 people. I was working on a workshop and needed to provide an Armenian meal and the caterer I was working with stopped communicating with me - no menu, no prices, no nothing. Five days before the event, I started to panic but then I stopped in here and the owner helped me work out a meal plan with a vegetarian option at a price that worked with our non-profit budget. His awesome attitude made me calm and took one less major thing off my mind To say everyone at the event was thrilled with the food is an understatement. They loved it and kept asking where to find such delicious treats. Thank you guys so much!

Made fast on the spot and served hot! Clean place and on the walls are awards for being best of best. Seating is for 12 maybe. Parking in back near the Med. market at the end of the building.

When I went there this past Saturday, my friend and I ordered 2 falafel roll ups. Before I could even place the order, the owner of the restaurant asked me 3-4 times if I was Armenian and I said no, he said you look Armenian (this was a serious case of racial profiling). When I said no, he asked me very authoritatively where are you from (as if he had any right to ask, asking this question is extremely racist and politically incorrect because it implies that the person is not from here), then when I said here, he said ok where are your parents from, I said here. It should be noted that he didn't ask ethnic identity of my friend, who happens to be white. Then both mine and my friend's rolls had hair strands in them. I am not sure if it was an oversight or that jerk aka the owner of the place was trying to get back at me or something due to my ethnic identity (which was pointless and rude of him to ask in the first place). We ended up throwing away our rolls and leaving. Then upon leaving, the owner had the audacity to say dhanyawaad (which means thank you in Hindi). I should have left when he kept on asking me if I was Armenian because his behavior was extremely disrespectful, hostile, racist and sexist and it made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I wonder if he'd done the same thing if I had blonde hair and blue eyes or if I were a man. I will never set a foot there again and I would advise any person of color, especially women of color to not go to this place either.

Although I usually get their Gyro, Falafel and Salads, their burgers are amazing!! Whenever my dad visits from Calif, it's where I take him for burgers. They are huge and you must get their outstanding fries!

Good food... a little silly the meals don't come with rice... and then when you order some rice- it's enough for 3! Went a little while ago and sort've forgot about the food.

The best falafel in town, hummus is good too. fresh and delicious food please support local restaurant

I never saw Gyro without pita and tzatziki sauce... I order Gyro dinner without salad or rice so they send me 4 slice gyro full Of oil and tahini dressing ( I think everyone knows the difference between sauce and dressing) so how can I use this dressing with my meat? And without pita... So I call the restaurant and I told them that they send me something that I can't use and they forget the pita... I never hear an apology and she told me that when the driver come back they will send me pita... delivery estimate is around 40min so they want me to wait the driver... So at the end don't call something Gyro when you don't sell it... I forgot to tell that the lady on the phone is so "cold" and rude... if you don't like your job just quit.... You can try something else who knows maybe you are lucky....

I placed an order online. An hour later I received an email from their third-party vendor who does online ordering saying that action was required and to call the restaurant. I called seven times and no answer. Finally someone picked up. I asked if my order was coming. He basically yelled at me and said that he had no driver today so there will be no deliveries and it has been a crazy day. I said well why would you not call to let me know that and he continued to tell me that he didn't have time to talk with me on the phone or make calls because there was a line in the store. I asked for a refund and he said to contact the third-party vendor but continued to rant about his crazy day etc. Absolutely ridiculous!! If you know you don't have a driver, let the people know who have placed a delivery order online or shut down your online delivery. I paid and waited for an hour only to find out that he knew the whole time that there would be no order coming. I was previously a faithful Fordee's customer, but will not be ordering from them again as they are unprofessional and disorganized.

Felafel roll up is great. Have also had the Mediterranean Chicken and Lamb Kabob roll ups. The meat is perfectly cooked, and the vegetables are fresh. I went here on the advice of a Lebanese friend of mine, who told me the felafel tasted like it did at home. Great place to grab take-out.

Unassuming place, but IMHO the best mediterranean carryout among the many choices on Mt. Auburn. The hummus was the best I've had around here. Chunky and freshly made. Everything was fresh and yummy. The tabbouleh packed with fresh parsley. At some places it seems like the mezze has been sitting around for a few days but not so at Fordee's. Stuff is made with care. The fries are crispy and excellent. My daughter loved the gyro. Give them a try!

Great service (family run restaurant), and very yummy authentic food. Great food for the price.

I have had their falafels and their burgers only. Those two items are literally the best in town and that's what keeps me coming back from time to time. But they have a habit of charging extra when you use a credit card. They say it's because of the company that lends them the card reader, but no other restaurant does this. I told them they should find a new system because this is highly uncommon. They insisted they get none of the extra money they charge, which is all well and good, but still really bizarre. So pay cash if you'd like to avoid that extra charge. Meanwhile, they are a pleasant, friendly and slightly flirty group.

My mom and I have been going here for quite sometime since it's walking distance from our house. We used to go weekly until I started this whole low-carb thing and had to drop the pita bread. Their roll-ups are wonderful! Fresh and delicious and very quick and friendly service. My favorite roll-ups are the Greek, Ranch Chicken and Honey Mustard Chicken. I recently tried their Greek Salad w/ Chicken Shawarma and loved it. They also have some of the best french fries around. I definitely recommend this place if you're in East Watertown looking for a cheap eat.

Ordered delivery a few times. Wife has enjoyed the falafel wrap. I've thought the food is mediocre at best. Two awful ordering experiences that drive me to never order again. First was in Jan 2016. Ordered through the website. Waited almost 2 hours and the food was a no show. I called and they said they had to cancel the order because they were too busy. Too busy to even call me to let me know the order was canceled. Tonight I tried again. They were all out of one of the items we ordered so they sent something totally different. Again, they didn't bother to call and let me know. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Fordees will never have the opportunity to fool me again.

This is the first time I write a review, usually I don't because I don't want to be judgmental and negative however my experience with this disgusting place and his rude owner made me write my honest experience. A week ago I ordered on line; one falafel platter (per menu, comes with hummus, tabouli, tomato, tahini sauce. and a salad I stopped by and picked it up and went back to work, I opened the to go platter/box there was 4 almost black burned falafel on a bed of rice, ONLY rice, no greens, no tomato, no tahini sauce! And because I had no time I put the "platter" aside and took the salad from the paper bag, the second I did, I can see a fairly big bug inside the container, (pictures attached) so I called the place and the young lady called the owner who was very very, very unprofessional and not even hearing my request he started yelling on me, so I told him why are you yelling? I have the pictures and everything, his only solution was "bring back the salad and I'll give you another salad" BUT remember I have no time to drive that's why I ordered online, so I told him I can't come now so please credit my PayPal and I'll trop your meal o my way home. He was very rude and he said "I Can't all I can do is to give you a new salad" Here goes my $13.23 ( tip included) and I, not only didn't eat, I was disgusted and been yelled at by an ignorant rude owner. I suggest No one deal with this place... Run, run

This is my favorite middle eastern take away. Delicious falafel, losh, lamb, chicken beef kababs, plates or roll-up sandwiches. Very friendly service and local delivery as well ! Highly recommend.

This place is worth every penny. Great homely food that'll make your mouth water at a great price!

Great Food. Very little space to sit down and eat. Affordable. Clean and Homely.

Food is good but service is lacking. I tried asking questions about their menu but they were very rude and aggressive with their answers. That being said, the food is decent and reasonably priced. I suppose this is fast food. Tip: Expect poor service and you will be happy

Food was excellent, had the chicken dinner with rice & Greek salad. Highly recommend.

So excited to find a flavorful, reasonably priced Mediterranean restaurant in town. Placed a pick up order for falafel, lentil soup & a Greek chicken shawarma salad. The lentil soup was super yummy! I tried falafel for the first time. It was amazing, but it was a lot smaller than I recall it being at other places. I was super pissed when I got home and realize they messed up my salad. They gave me beef instead of chicken shawarma & charged me incorrectly. They also didn't give me the dressing I had asked for either. When you call them to order, definitely have the person on the phone read your order back to you!!! Besides the salad debacle, I would come here again.

Ordered roll ups for 15 people and salad. Everyone loved the food and said it was best ever. Thank you Fordee's for great tasting food and good value.

Very much enjoyed the food, Falafal salad & Pap Ganesh however there was one ahead of me and we waited for 25 min. for someone to get off the phone and take his order. After his order was taken another phone order was taken and then he took my order with a bit of difficulty with the cash register. So! I recommend you call your order in or plan for plenty of time waiting.

I've been to this establishment before, and the falafel had been delicious. My one star rating, however, has to do with what I witnessed while waiting for my order last night. I ordered two falafel wraps -- the falafel was fried to order, great, but took over 15 minutes to make. 15 minutes for street food? Come on. My real issue, however, is with who I assume is the owner of the establishment. He clearly had a backlog of orders and was running around the kitchen, screaming at his line cook, acting frantic and chaotic. In his haste, he took my falafel out of the deep fryer without gloves on his hands, he had just been attending the cash register a moment before, handling cash and credit cards from customers. In hindsight, I should have asked him to remake the food, but after waiting 15 minutes and watching this chaos, all I wanted to do was leave. The falafel was great, but the cleanliness and overall chaotic experience of simply ordering two falafel wraps leaves me to find somewhere else to eat.

One fateful day a few years ago, I was out in West Cambridge for work and, starving, decided to look for food. About 3 minutes later I was just past the Cambridge/Watertown line and spotted Fordees. The sign said Falafel but I was very, very skeptical due to the name. Most of the falafel that is acceptable to an American palate really sucks -- even if prepared by Middle Easterners (I'm looking at you, Moody's). So, picturing an Irish dude making my falafel made me nervous. The falafel craving won and I went into Fordee's. I was kind or relieved when I saw a Lebanese guy behind the counter. I will preface this by saying that I am from the Middle East. I grew up eating great falafel with homemade hummus on freshly baked bread and it was like $2 for a pita as big as my head stuffed with deliciousness. That price will not be replicated, but this falafel would totally compete with the stuff back home. The hummus is also really, really good. I know I sound like a jerk but I don't care -- Americans eat the crappiest hummus ever. The first time I tried supermarket hummus here I gagged. It's grainy and dry and the flavors are wrong. Fordee's hummus was tangy garlicy creamy deliciousness. Whenever I'm in the general vicinity I drop in here. There are yummy pita chips to cram in your face while you wait and great falafel with great hummus and good veggies on tasty bread. I have never eaten anything else here and I don't plan on it.

I'd give this place a higher rating if it wasn't a health code violation! Ugh, came in there last night and the guy who took my money than turned around to make my rollup and he wasn't wearing gloves. I noticed that NOBODY working there was wearing gloves as they handled bread and other raw food items. Has anybody else noticed this?

I had a very very simple order: (1) order of grape leafs and (1) order of baba ghanoush. grape leafs: great. loved them. baba ghanoush: It was awful. Worst tasting I've ever had. WAY too salty and just too much garlic - I had to throw it away. I rarely throw away food. I'll stick with falafel king. I drove out of my way to get here because I wanted to try somewhere different.

Fordees was proudly displaying a Yelp plaque on their counter when I was just in there. It was much more than a "People love us on Yelp" sticker. It was a plaque type of thing and it said "this is our favorite Yelp review" and it had a review quoted. Looks like it was the one from Ray S. Anyway, Fordees is excellent. I got the chicken shawerma plate which came with hummus, taboule (sp?) and salad. So much food. i should have stopped eating sooner than I did. Co-workers got lamb kabobs they raved about and Greek salad with grilled chicken. They have an incredible menu, they are fast and the people that work there are really friendly. Plus, most of the Middle Eastern guys behind that counter are HOT! The place was freezing today but the guy saw me shivering and offered to put the heat on, which was nice.

Fordee's is great. First, the prices are very reasonable. Second, the people working there move like they are on fast forward, just to get you your food faster. Third, they never forget to pack napkins and utensils, because that bugs me when they don't. Fourth, the food is always very fresh. Fifth, it's an open kitchen, and they are always practicing hygienic protocols. Sixth, and most importantly, the food is very, very good. I like Middle Eastern food anyway, but these guys are great. So far, I have had their grape leaves wrap, their red lentil soup, the side of grape leaves, and, of course, the falafel. The grape leaves wrap is great. They use a great big piece of lavash and wrap up vegetarian lemon and mint rice style grape leaves with hummus, tahini, lettuce, tomato, pickled turnip, and whatever else they feel like sticking in there. And it is good, very good. The grape leaves are strong (must be the lemon and salt), but are well-balanced by the other elements, and it is all very fresh. The lavash is very nice. The side of grape leaves is also nice. As mentioned, the stuffed grape leaves are very strong, as I think they kicked up the lemon and mint with a good dose of salt. The side is served in a good helping of olive oil, as nature intended. The grape leaves themselves are very tender and not at all stringy. it's a very good stuffed grape leaves overall. The red lentil soup was thick, like pea soup. It's not red, which is sometimes the case with red lentil soup, but it is delicious. There's not a lot to it. It came across as pretty much one homogenous mixture, but it was filling, and very reminiscent of pea soup in flavor as well. It was good. This brings us to the falafel wrap. The falafel made this wrap, which is good since it is a falafel wrap. But we already know the salad ingredients are fresh, and the lavash is very nice, so the wrap could have been very good even if the falafel were not. But they are! they are moist, and really well-balanced. No one flavor dominates, and it's not too salty as some can be. it really made me think I should have bought two wraps! So, I know I am easy when it comes to handing out 5 stars, but that's only because I don't generally like to yelp anyone that I don't think is worthy of at least five stars. These guys, for their flavor, speed, professionalism, cleanliness, and more, are definitely worthy.

Been going to this place for years and I love it! Great hot roll-ups, falafel, and my personal favorite beef shawarma. Also they appear to be very safe and clean during this pandemic! Definitely recommend.

This place is the best of the best! As good as it gets! The food is SPECTACULAR! I mean, it is so good I basically crave it all the time. Mmmm. I want it all the time. I want it right now. There are a few other things about this place (besides the food) that make it the best. I be you are wondering what besides the food makes a place awesome? Well the guys who work there, that's what. These guys are so nice, I basically feel like family every time I go there (maybe because I'm there a lot?). They will joke and laugh with you and they always have the best attitude (I would too if I got to be in a room with their amazing food all day!). They even manage to be awesomely nice when they deliver. I'm telling you that there is no place better. I'm giving it 10 out of 5 stars. Try the stuffed grape leaves... and everything else.

I like Fordee's. I couldn't eat here every day, but it definitely beats the pants off of the sad, flavorless falafel in my neighborhood. The chicken roll-ups are enormous. The menu over the counter doesn't describe what's in the special wraps (and it took me a few tries to realize that you could look at their printed menu to find out). Honestly, though, you can probably get anything you want on a chicken roll-up, and they won't mind. Everything is fresh, crunchy and flavorful. They have those yummy pink pickled turnips, and eggplant, and all the things you might want on the side. The fries are tasty, the selection of vitamin waters various and plentiful. I haven't tried the salads myself, but they look HUGE. And the lettuce here is never wilted or sad. A roll-up is somewhere between $5 and $7, which seems about right to me. Order ahead if you can. I've often waited around for a long time for my food during the lunch rush.

Hey. I've only been here one time and it was at the very beginning of a long road trip, but I was bowled over by their fresh, moist falafel. I don't know what else to say -- it was nice, large, had the cherished pickled turnip item that makes me go ga-ga, and it's one of those places that inexplicably will sell you a big cone full of fries along with your sandwich. Don't buy into that scheme, folks! I mean, I'm sure that the fries are great, but less is more. Your heart will thank you somewhere down the line, I bet. Very crowded here at lunchtime on an April Thursday afternoon.