Santa Monica Restaurant Guide

While the aptly named Hungry Pocket may not stand up to the competition on Ben Yehuda Street, it does a wrap-up job on Pico Blvd. Fresh falafel, homemade carrot juice and baklava good enough to write home about are specials here everyday of the week. The week is the best time to hit this unassuming stand, however, as the kind owner does not lend his falafel-making expertise on the weekends and his employees tend to be a bit heavy-handed with the hot pepper. For less than $5 , expect an authentic Middle Eastern sandwich on the coast of Southern California.

This is a great hole-in-the-wall restaurant that cooks its food right in front of you. The gyros here are sumptious. The chicken kabob is moist and tender. The hot sauce is a wonderful compliment to the food. Also try the fresh squeezed juice - the drinks are hand squeezed and incredibly frothy. The service is friendly and you can get a filling meal for very cheap. The restaurant is not very big but rest assured, you'll be very satisfied!

Few things that come in ball form are as wonderful as Hungry Pocket's falafel balls. You get about 3 or 4 freshly made balls in a pita stuffed with lettuce and tomato, which I find to have a little too much "salad" but that's just me. It is topped with their tasty tahini sauce and it will fill you up for $3.50, that is if you are a petite girl such as myself, a larger man may want to order two. Or you could go on Mondays or Wednesday's and have all you can eat for $6.50. I also had their gyro's which are decent and more expensive ($4.75) than their bally friends, I prefer the falafel as gyro's with tahini sauce just aren't as tasty as those with tzastiki, which HP does not have. The food is strictly middle eastern, no Greek flavors here, which includes the baklava which is an amazing sweet blend of honey, nuts and rose water and tastes little like the Greek version which personally I think pales in comparison to HP's.