Joe’s is still my favorite of all these places. The chicken is juicy, the shawarma is moist and seasoned PLUS the falafel there have a little bit of heat, cayenne maybe?
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I was there yesterday actually. Shawarma not as spiced as tel aviv and slightly drier IMO but there’s a ton of skin in that shawarma mix which adds a lot…
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Generally speaking, I don’t care for chicken shawarma. I much prefer the beef and lamb. Which is really what I like at Joe’s. ( I swear when I reread my posts I am not good at being clear LOL). The chicken I was referring to was his chicken kebab and his lemon chicken. The chicken is grilled and juicy.
I agree with you about Tel Aviv’s chicken shawarma. Theirs is maybe the first that I actually do like. And after my visit there the other day I’m definitely heading back there more often.
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It’s fluffy but not as fluffy as the pitas. More like naan or sangak. I prefer it to pita because it allows for better filling distribution. With pitas, they have to cram each salad in separately, so you get bites of all eggplant, all tabouli, etc. With laffa, everything is spread out more evenly, like a sandwich or burrito, so the flavors combine and compliment each other more.
Silly Bob. 
The correct answer is always INSIDE where me and fries are concerned. See also California Burritos.
I love Joe’s and actually prefer their falafel and shawarma, but the laffa sandwich there is a sore spot for me. The laffa bread itself is outstanding but they are so militant about what they will and won’t put in the sandwich. It’s very odd and frustrating. My move now is to order a veggie combo with extra falafel and laffa on the side.
If there’s lots of skin in your chicken shawarma, it usually means the meat is from the exterior of the cone, which tends to be drier and less appetizing imo.
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Pita Bar and grill is not bad on Fairfax (across from the high school) either, had a tasty falafel pita there for dinner tonight.
Thanks to @Gr8pimpin for the recommendation, we decided to try out Joe’s to see how it compared to Ta-Eem (and Tel Aviv Grill). 
This had been on my bookmark list for a while but I forgot about it until the reminder.
Joe’s is an interesting place in that unlike Ta-Eem or Tel Aviv, it focuses on more than one cuisine. When I asked the server, they mentioned “We are a Greek Israeli restaurant.”
Looking at the menu of Tabouleh, Baba Ghanoush, Gyros and even Lamb Shank over Rice (I was looking for some Ghormeh Sabzi at this point LOL), and you can see it’s more diverse than the other places (and maybe not as focused).
Chicken Shawarma Plate:
The actual Chicken Shawarma is dryish (it seems @Gr8pimpin was talking about the Chicken Kabobs, but then it’s not a fair comparison with Ta-Eem at this point (they don’t serve Kabobs), but like @Ns1 @Bigmouth mentioned, there’s some nice crisped skin / edges which makes it appealing. It was pretty tasty.
1 Salad:
However, after that the rest of the offering was disappointing. It comes with 1 Salad (and not even an Israeli Salad), just some mediocre, semi-limp Romaine Lettuce and unripe Tomatoes in a generic Vinaigrette. 
Compare that to Tel Aviv Grill’s bountiful (4 - 6 Israeli Salads), or Ta-Eem’s absolutely delicious array of Israeli Salads (they are delicious on their own - Curried Carrots, Red Cabbage Salad, etc.), and this is woefully disappointing.
Their Hummus was fine. Creamy, semi-thick.
The Pita was warm, but dryish. Tel Aviv Grill’s Pita is far better, and Ta-Eem’s is even better than that (slightly toasty on the outside) and both of them are fluffy, airy and outstanding. Definitely better than Joe’s.
Joe’s also only gives you 1 Pita per order, and charges you $0.75 for each additional Pita (vs. Ta-Eem’s 4 (amazing) Pitas and additional ones for Free).
Falafel Pita:
It’s kind of hard to see here, but Joe’s Falafel Pita is pretty sparse and only about 40% - 50% of the size of Ta-Eem’s or Tel Aviv’s.
It is also filled with just some Tomatoes and the semi-limp Romaine Lettuce.
However the Falafel itself is wonderful! 
It is what @Gr8pimpin @Ns1 have said: Definitely the crunchiest out of all of the places. So if you like crunchy Falafel, Joe’s is the best of the bunch. The inside is still moist, and it’s nicely spiced (although we didn’t get any heat).
Price-wise, Joe’s is the cheapest of the bunch: Joe’s Chicken Shawarma Plate is $10.25 (vs. $16.95 (Ta-Eem) / $14.95 (Tel Aviv)). And Joe’s Falafel Pita is $5.95 (vs. $7.95 (at both Ta-Eem and Tel Aviv Grill)). However, portion-wise, it feels almost like only 50% of the size of Ta-Eem or Tel Aviv.
If you’re looking for just pure crunchy crust and the Falafel alone, Joe’s Falafel is the crunchiest and tastiest of the bunch, and their Chicken Shawarma has the most crunchy edges. However it comes up short in too many other ways: It’s not Glatt Kosher (this matters to many of my Jewish friends). Its side accompaniments consists of just 1 limp Romaine Lettuce Salad, whereas Tel Aviv Grill and Ta-Eem’s Israeli Salad array are a meal unto themselves (let alone the fantastic Roasted Eggplant (for free)), and really make a difference elevating both places’ dishes.
The Pitas are so far superior at Ta-Eem and Tel Aviv (they are paradigm changing tastes - so fluffy, airy, warm, tasty), compared to Joe’s. And there’s no Housemade Skhug or Harissa Sauce which are stunning at Ta-Eem Grill. And it’s like half the portion.
Ultimately while it might seem I’m down on Joe’s, we really liked it for the delicious Falafel and Shawarma. It’s a nice place for the price if we were in the neighborhood. But when we want to eat Falafel and Shawarma, the additional accompaniments really matter, as does the base (Pita), and so we’d tend to favor Ta-Eem and Tel Aviv.
Joe’s Falafel
3535 Cahuenga Blvd West
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Tel: (323) 512-4447
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As usual, great job reviewing!!
Yeah, I never get the pitas at Joes. I only get the fresh made laffa.
That romaine salad is indeed pretty lame and way beneath the quality of everything else. For the salads I would definitely choose Ta-eem or Tel Aviv over Joe’s.
And yes I was referring to the chicken kabob which is really juicy good. But the falafel is not only the most flavorful but it has a great backheat too.
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Hi @Gr8pimpin,
Thanks for the rec! I’m glad to have tried it and yah their Falafel are really tasty. 
I’ll have to try their Laffa next time, thanks.
I’ve only eaten @ Joe’s once and got a gyro on laffa. The laffa was really good, the gyro ingredients could have been better (I’m w/ @Ns1 on crisping the gyro meat after slicing it off the cone) .
My co-worker who LOVES the falafel @ Ta-eem thought that Joe’s falafel wasn’t as good flavor-wise (I haven’t tried either). Both of us like the salads and pitas better @ Ta-eem.
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me too.
Laffa Falafel is the thing to get for me at Joe’s. That sandwich towers above the others, IMHO.
Everything else is so much better at Tel Aviv and Ta-eem.
Sadly I found the Laffa at Ta-eem to be a real mess, and really hard to eat. Way overstuffed. Falls apart immediately.
That place is pretty legit. Believe they have the roasted eggplant we all love so much. Just wish they offered a few more salads.
Did you notice any curry flavor? That’s the main reason I prefer it to Ta-eem.
Yes, this is very frustrating about Joe’s. I’m with you that the diversity of salads and sides is what makes Israel-style falafel and shawarma special.
Used to be they would give you other salads if you asked nicely. But a couple of years ago, they got a lot stricter about about what veggies go with what dishes. That’s why, as I say, my order is now a vegetable combo plate with extra falafel and laffa on the side. That way you get a few different salads.
Wish you’d tried their exceptional laffa. It’s the way to go at Joe’s imo – and Ta-eem, though their laffa is a step below Joe’s.
So glad you enjoyed it! The crunchiness is actually why I prefer the falafel at Joe’s. While I love the falafel at Ta-eem, too, I’ve gotten balls that are undercooked and slightly gummy in the center.
I’m sorry you had a bad experience but I really think it was atypical. Overstuffed? Sure. But I’ve been eating the laffa at Ta-eem since 2012 and never had it fall apart immediately. A simple search of their Yelp reviews for “laffa” will confirm my experiences are the norm.
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Hi @Bigmouth,
Thanks for your recs. I didn’t notice any curry flavor, but it might’ve been an off day?
Thanks for the heads up on the laffa, I’ll try it next time. But since I tried the Pita and full Plate versions at Tel Aviv and Ta-Eem, that’s why I went with it here as a point of comparison.
It’s interesting, for Ta-Eem, of the 4 times we’ve been there, we’ve never had undercooked Falafel. We like them better than Tel Aviv and only a touch below Joe’s (which was definitely crunchier).
Thanks!
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Or maybe they’ve slipped? Truthfully, it’s been a while since I tried the shawarma there. I will say this discussion has forced me to confront the fact Joe’s seems to be trending downward, while Ta-eem just seems to get better and better.
I get it. An apples to apples comparison seems intuitively correct. If you think about it, though, that can arbitrarily bias you in favor of whichever place you try first. Since it’s your first visit, you try all the best dishes. But when you visit the second place, you try the comparable dishes whether they’re the best or not. Not saying that happened here but it’s something to consider.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the norm. It actually happened the very first time I ever visited, so perhaps, like @CiaoBob with the laffa, it looms large in my recollection. On subsequent visits, however, the falafels have indeed been fully cooked, if a bit softer than I prefer.
On that note – and I don’t mean to keep bagging on Bob but still – it seems to me complaints about overstuffed laffa are partly on the person ordering. After all, the servers at Ta-eem are just complying with your requests.
It’s sort of the flip side of the strict rules about what you can get on your laffa at Joe’s. Ta-eem gives you the power to have whatever you want but with that power comes great responsibility.
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THANKS A LOT @Chowseeker1999…
All this talk, I had to go to Tel Aviv while I was in Valley Village today.
Yeah their chicken shawarma is quite tasty. And this is coming from someone who’s generally not a huge fan of chicken shawarma.
As for the salads, though OK, they are great if you like a lot of cabbage. I enjoy a few bites here and there. I do like the charred peppers and sauces!
I also got a side of falafel. They are tasty but they are a tad too soft on the inside for me. I like them, because I have yet to meet a falafel I didn’t like, but, like @Bigmouth, I definitely prefer Joe’s for that. Spicier and a tad firmer. That’s just a personal preference.
I’ve only gotten falafel and chicken kebab at Joe’s over the past six months or so and I can’t eat laffa
I’m have to go back there and try some of the other things again.
And I also need give Ta-Eem another shot.
I was tempted to do a Taco Llama bang bang and get one of @Ns1 pastor tacos in the hard shell (Though I think he said it’s only at the location in Van Nuys)
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no worries.
FWIW, I did not tell them to put anything in it like fries or extra hummus. I ordered the laffa falafel to stay (maybe the to go’s get a better, tighter wrap?). They asked what I wanted inside and I said whatever is typical, but xtra spicy It was just Isreali salad, cabbage, hummus, hot sauce and the delicious falafel. The thing that came was just immense and shaped more like an NFL football, rather than a fuselage that could be handled fairly easily. After one bite the thing was going, so I dumped it all on a plate and ate about 80% with a knife and fork. It was good, very good but not easy to eat.
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Sometimes they wrap it in foil and waxpaper and sometimes they only do waxpaper when you’re eating at the restaurant. The foil definitely helps with keeping it together.
Would definitely encourage you to go again, Ta-Eem is one of my favorites!
OK, on my way back I passed by Falafel Arax, their new location on Moorpark Road in Studio City.
It was kind of like a Falafel Fast Food joint. Interesting, in that all they serve is falafel in various ways.
I got some falafel to go (this is not a good low-carb day)
They were much firmer than the ones I had at Tel Aviv. They were very crunchy, but oil was glistening on the outside. Not spiced like Joes. Their tahini was lemony. Quite nice.
I wish I had taken a photo of the inside.
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I go a few times a year - I love the place - and will continue to do so. I just won’t be getting the laffa sandwich. Pita is so great there, eggplant is outrageously great too. And don’t get me started on the chicken thigh plate!
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That’s interesting that the SC location only has falafel—the one on Normandie/Santa Monica has a full menu. I usually get the schwarma pita. I like it a lot but it’s different than the Israeli version @ Ta-eem. I still need to try the tongue sandwich.
The Falafel Arax in Glendale offers chicken and beef schwarma.
http://www.falafelaraxglendale.net/
We only had their falafel once: extremely, disconcertingly oily (I’d wondered if the oil wasn’t hot enough). But I recall liking the flavor.