BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Hertel restaurant boom of the past year or two has been well-documented with such high-profile openings as Lloyd Taco Factory, Deep South Taco and more.
Under the radar might be the best falafels in the Queen City.
House of Hummus is the creation of Ahmad Hamideh, a Palestinian born in Jordan who came to Buffalo over a decade ago by way of New York City. He opened the restaurant about six months ago with the goal not just of bringing Middle Eastern food to the area, but also food with no fillers, real ingredients and freshly made.
"A lot of people are very skeptical in the beginning, but when they eat it, they get hooked on it," says Hamideh. "This is real ingredients. We're using real food, everything's homemade here and it's made with a lot of love."
Among the most popular dishes is the chickpea dip that gives the restaurant its name. The hummus is fresh, tangy and goes perfectly with the pitas that are baked just up the road at Pete's Lebanese Bakery. Other Middle Eastern favorites there include the mashed-eggplant dish baba ganoush, the finely-chopped tabbouleh, and various schwarma meat dishes.
There are a few dishes that stand out from the menu, though: the popular Jerusalem Salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley and tahini, which gives it a creamy taste) and the Vegan Surprise wrap (a falafel wrap with grilled eggplant and cauliflower). Hamideh says he uses separate utensils to cook them and other vegan options on the menu, a sign of the care that goes into the food.
"I always tell my customers I wouldn't feed my customers anything I wouldn't feed my own kids," says Hamideh.
Check out House of Hummus at its Facebook page here, and let us know where to go next by emailing us here.
House of Hummus
1150 Hertel Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14216
(716) 322-6484
Hours:
Mon-Sat: 11am-8:30pm
Closed Sunday