Ta’amiya in the City: Felfela, Street Food and the Memory of Downtown Cairo
Felfela is tucked into Hoda Sha‘arawy Street, its entrance is unassuming, a small entryway in downtown Cairo that leads into one of the city’s most iconic restaurants. Founded in 1959 by Amina Zaghloul it started as a small kiosk. It then expanded into a takeaway counter and restaurant, aiming to present Egyptian street food in a clean, welcoming environment for locals and tourists alike. Over the years, it grew into a full-fledged restaurant famous for its lush interior: greenery, birdcages, mashrabiy’yas, antique mirrors, and rustic wooden furniture that evoked the feel of a vernacular Egyptian home or garden
Amina Zaghloul (Founder) on the right
“My own first encounter with Felfela was in the 1970s, when my uncle Osama took me there. It was nothing short of a revelation. To eat falafel and ful in that environment — seated at heavy wooden round tables, on roughly hewn chairs, surrounded by birdcages and mashrabiya panels — felt like participating in something quintessentially Egyptian yet elevated, curated. I remember the clientele: mostly Western tourists and expatriates, but also Egyptians from the middle and upper-middle classes. Unlike the carts on the street, Felfela’s atmosphere allowed one to linger, to savor what was otherwise a grab-and-go meal.”
