I never have high hopes for chain restaraunts. Even so, all hummus deserves a chance. Despite being a big franchise, Hummus and Pita Co. is actually pretty dang good. The prices are more than fair and the variety of sides is excellent. The hummus is surprisingly excellent. It is creamy and has a good taste and texture. The baba ganoush is less excellent with little to no smoky taste. It is, somewhat confusingly, served as two varieties: vegan and non-vegan. Both are pretty mediocre. In fact, compared to any good baba, they're actually pretty bad. The "Turkish salad" is quite good. It resembles matbucha and has a good tomatoey/onion flavor. Most of the other salads are average, but the variety is nice. The falafel is not so good. It is way over-fried and has a thick, crunchy exterior. The pita is actually quite good- better than most hummus places I've been. For me, this is a good, safe choice if I'm looking for a lot of food and a lot of variety. 8.0/10
What a sleeper! Middle Eats is situated in an unfortunate location. Surrounded by mediocre chains and tourist money-grabs, it does not inspire confidence. The exterior of the building, and the whole cutesy branding only compound this, but for a grab-and-go lunch spot, none of that matters! The hummus here is outstanding. It definitely gives the nearby Bite a run for its money. The falafel is great too. It is large, unlike Taim, and moist, unlike Hummus and Pita Co. The menu is not very diverse, and the sides: rice, couscous, and Arabic salad are pretty bland, but the hummus, falafel, and pita (chewy and bready) save it. 8.7/10
Goooood hummus, guys. Bite is probably the best hummus in the Flatiron area. It is also one of the precious few areas that serves hummus as a main dish. The hummus bowls come topped with one of a few options including salad/egg, roasted peppers, and, my personal favorite, sauteed mushrooms and chickpeas. The portions are not huge, but the prices are reasonable ($7.50 as of 1/13/19). The pita bread is great as well. It is thick, very soft, and bready. For the amount of hummus you get, the provided pita seems excessive, but that's no cause for complaint. If you're eating here around lunch, order online. It gets very busy during the lunch hour rush. People rave about the sandwiches and salads here. I can't speak for them, but the immense influx of customers that swarm Bite around lunch suggest they are quite good. Though slammed by customers every single weekday, the service remains very friendly. Bonus points for that. 8.7/10
Taim falls into the category of places that I really, really wish I could have loved. It is less than a block from my place of employment, and I waited eagerly for months as it was being constructed. It is a beloved chain in NYC, founded by an Israeli transplant. And, knowing the quality of hummus and falafel in Israel, I was very excited to see how it would compare. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the hype that I built for it. The portions are tiny, and the hummus, supposedly prepared in small batches multiple times daily, is pretty bland. The sides are pretty bland as well, and everything just feels stingy. All the dishes seem to either be missing spice, lemon, or both. I will say, the pita is quite good. It is also about half the size of a normal pita, but that suits the portions of everything else on the menu. 6.0/10
It's difficult to even compare Vish to the other contenders here. This is an Israeli operated restartaunt that is serving truly outstanding hummus of the likes you'd find in Israel itself. In addition to amazing hummus, you'll find the service to be absolutely wonderful. In Israeli tradition, refills of hummus are free, so, in that regard, this is the best value in town too. The pita is great, the salad is great, and the post-meal coffee/cookies are complimentary. I don't understand how a restaraunt this generous can survive in the expensive and bustling area of Midtown that it occupies, but I'm glad it does. 9.5/10
Mamoun's hummus definitely stands out among some of the others. It has a great garlicky kick. It's served with a delicious assortment of pickled veggies. If there's one thing to knock, it's the pita, which is neither warm nor fluffy. Still, a highly recommended plate if you're in the area. 8.5/10
I was really hopeful for this one. The hummus looks great, but it is just too citrusy for my liking. The falafel, on the other hand is great, as are all the cabbages and salads. I can recommend Nish Nush highly for these, but the hummus alone I found a bit disappointing. Nonetheless, Nish Nush is absolutely worth the visit for the falafel alone. The pita bread is also very good, the service is very friendly, and the decor, including a layer of dried chickpeas under the glass tables, is fun and whimsical. I can confidently say you will be satisfied with your visit if you stop by here. 7.5/10
I distrust anything near Union Square, but this is surprisingly good. There are other locations, which are, presumably, no worse. The hummus is actually quite outstanding. It is a thinner consistency than most, which I am personally enjoy. The baba ganoush is also great as are the plethora of salads that are available. I had this catered, which was an excellent way to sample everything, but it seems that, unfortunately, the menu is focused on sandwiches and salads. It does include a hummus platter, which is awesome, but it would be nice if there was a combo meal available a la Hummus and Pita Co. so that people could sample the various options. Perhaps if I'd dined in I would have been served the carefully rationed tourist portion and my impression would be different, but, on quality alone, Maoz is pretty strong. 8.0/10
Easily some of the best hummus I've had in NYC. As the name suggests, Hummus Market is _all_ about hummus. You have a few options of toppings including the classic tahini and some more eclectic options. The service is top notch. Being a sit down restaraunt, it is not your typical grab-and-go hummus joint. It takes a few minutes to get your bowl, but it is served with fresh pita that, so far, beats any I've had in NYC. The service is super friendly, which makes for a very pleasant dining experience as well. 8.8/10
After reading a lot of rave reviews, I was excited to try this place out. Upon receiving the menu, I was a little disappointed to see that hummus was nowhere to be found on the list of main courses. They did, however, have masabacha, which, done properly, is perhaps the only thing as heavenly as good hummus. Now, upon first bite it was clear this was not the masabacha I am used to. It is extremely lemony. Zizi Limona is not the only hummus place that makes this kind of citrusy, lemon doused masabacha. Newtown, one of my favorite hummus places in the city, also has a very lemon-heavy take on the dish. In fact their's doesn't even have tahini, which I think of as the main component of masabacha, according to the menu. I don't know how much tahini is in Zizi Limona's, but it's certainly not the dominant flavor. The dish is interesting. It's good, but definitely not what I expected when I ordered masabacha. :) Now the hummus is pretty standard and relegated to the appetizer menu as is far, far too common. This is pretty disappointing considering the awning outside the restaraunt reads "Hummus Kitchen". The pita was pretty good and I was offered more upon depleting the one that was provided. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily a given at many places. But, also unfortunately, nothing is cheap here. I can't say I recommend going here if you want a great bowl of hummus. The vibe is pretty good, but there are better options in Williamsburg that have that too (Vish and Hummus Market) to name two. 5.9/10
Oasis has a lot going for it: location, hours, and price. It's in a part of Williamsburg that has a lot going on and it's easily accessible via the L-stop right out its doors. It's an easy place to stop by when you're shopping at Whole Foods, picking up a new pair of AirPods, or whatever else it is you do in Williamsburg. The food is very affordable and provided generously, and it is open really freaking late, so you can get your post bar falafel fix. As far as quality goes, it's pretty good. Nothing tastes amazingly fresh, but I guess that's what you would expect from a dang-near 24 hour stop. Still, I have to knock it a little for that. The pita, in particular, is quite stale and served room temperature at best.7.6/10
Wafa's is a great stop for a variety of cold and hot mezzes. The hummus, however, is merely good. I was excited to try the baba ganoush after hearing rave reviews about it, but that too, was "only" good. It has the requisite smoky flavor, but it was a bit too stringy and could've used a little more roast time in my opinon. I'd definitely go to Wafa's again. The experience was good enough to deserve a second visit. I should also add that the mujadara, which I ordered as the main dish in my vegetarian platter, was excellent and large in portion. The pita that accompanies the platter is very thin, but it's passable considering the small portion of the hummus side. 7.0/10
Bushwick Pita Palace is a Mexican/Middle Eastern fusion that serves a large menu that spans breakfast to desert at a very affordable price. It's a unique combination of cuisines, and I think there's a lot of potential in the concept. At Bushwick Pita Palace, the execution is middling. As a hummus review blog, I'll stick to the Middle Eastern side of the menu. The falafel is pretty good. There's not much to say beyond that. It isn't overfried, but there's nothing that stands out in terms of spice or texture (both are fine in my opinion). You do get a lot of falafel for the money, which is nice ( the veggie platter comes with 5). Unfortunately, in my experience, the side situation as not as generous on the dip front. The hummus and baba ganoush are both provided in rather small portions on top of the rice and salad. Honestly, the portion was so small that it seemed more like a sauce than it did a standalone side. As such, it's somewhat difficult to review on its own merit. What little I did taste seemed standard. The baba ganoush I found to be quite good. It is very smoky and has better texture than Wafa's up the road. The rice is decent, and the salad that comes with the platter is good: it includes cabbage, chickpeas, beets, and roasted carrot, which is a lot more variety than typical. I'll try to update this review when I try a full hummus plate. But for now I feel confident saying that this is a pretty decent spot to get your hummus fix. The wide menu is a nice plus, and sadly there isn't a lot of competition in the area. What you have is what you get. In the case of Bushwick Pita Palace, that's not a terrible thing. 7.0/10
Newtown is the best hummus is the entirety of Bushwick, Ridgewood, and East Williamsburg. The competition is not close. If not for the recent opening of a new Vish location, I would add Williamsburg to that list as well. Newtown is a vegetarian restaraunt with a strong focus on hummus. You can get it in a few varieties: ful, masabacha, mushroom, and the classic tahini to name a few. The presentation is delightful. The hummus is served decorated with oil, parsley, cumin, paprika. Hummus is a simple dish, and it's that extra bit of attention that separates the great hummus from the average. At Newtown, the hummus is also cheap and the other items on the menu are similarly priced. It is creamy and fresh, served with a warm toasty pita or two. Newtown itself is a lovely, cozy little space off the beaten paths of the Morgan and Bushwick Avenues. It must be the location that keeps this place a secret because it really deserves to be more crowded than it is. Don't expect any kind of wait when you stop by. But do expect to leave happy and full of delicious hummus. 9.3/10.0
The hummus situation in Bushwick is not good my friends. Queen of Falafel is the only location in the neighborhood where hummus is the star of the menu as far as I'm aware. Blessedly, Queen of Falafel doesn't abuse this lack of competition when it comes to making their food. The menu is small, but everything on it is very well priced and of superb quality. The hummus is on the thicker end of the consistency spectrum, which is always a nice change from time to time. It also has just a bit of grit, but nothing that would offend even a smooth-hummus hardliner. It comes loaded with your topping of choice (no partitioned platters here). Everything is made to order and very fresh. This can be, at times, at the expense of speed. It can take a while to get your food. This is made worse by the fact that their assembly queue is seemingly eternally saturated with Seamless and Caviar orders. But the demand is there for a reason. The hummus is great, the falafel is super fresh and crispy, and the pita is so much better than, say, Wafa's a a couple L-stops away. It's always a good sign when you run out of pita before hummus, and that is the case here. The portions are generous. Generally, Queen of Falafel is very focused and just does a great job at everything. For hummus, this is the spot to be if you're in Bushwick. 8.5/10
