A family-run falafel outlet has announced it will close one of its two locations after 14 years of business. Falafel King, which claims to have been Bristol's first falafel outlet 22 years ago, will shut its Cotham Hill branch for good this week.
The business first launched from a kiosk in the Centre in 2000 and later expanded to Cotham Hill in 2008 at a time when there were very few cafes and restaurants in the area. "The street has now blossomed with a range of hospitality and it has been a great pleasure to have been a part of it," a statement from Falafel King read on Instagram.
Speaking to BristolLive, owner Oren Adani said: "It's sad but it's also a positive move for us so it's not all tears. We're cutting down on the hospitality and retail side and focusing more on our wholesale business."
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Falafel King specialises in making "simple yet flavourful" falafel using fresh ingredients. The Cotham Hill site offered lunch from Monday to Saturday with evening sittings on Fridays and Saturdays along with a number of events in the Khan space downstairs at the venue.
He continued: "It's sad because we've been around for so long. The Cotham Hill location has been around for 14 years and Falafel King as a whole for 22 years. We're quite established in Bristol so it is sad but at the same time it's a positive step we need to make to grow the other business."
The falafel outlet thanked everyone who had supported and played at the venue over the years alongside its loyal customer base. Owner Oren promised that it wasn't the end for the business and that fans could still get their fix from the kiosk in the city centre.
"It's not the end of Falafel King as we're going to keep the original kiosk in the centre," Oren said. "We're a small family and all this time we've been spreading ourselves quite thinly over many projects and now we want to hone it all in on one project."
Oren said his parents are now retiring and he will continue to run the outlet in Bristol city centre and the family's wholesale food business, Abunoor Foods, with his brother, Noam. Launched in 2006, Abunoor Foods specialises in breads and products from the Middle East that are distributed across the UK.
"Covid was a big delay - we have mainly been dealing with the South West but we've been getting a lot more interest from the Midlands and in the North and further afield" Oren added. "We want to expand our product range and become more national. It has a lot of potential and that's where we want to put our focus."
Falafel King's last day of trading at its Cotham Hill site will be on Friday, December 16.
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