By Stephen Michalowicz

Photo by Stephen Michalowicz/Torontoist.

Toronto is home to thousands of convenience stores, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen a convenience store, let alone a Hasty Market, with a built-in falafel and shawarma takeout. McFalafel, which opened a month ago, is located on the north side of Dundas Street West in the heart of Islington Village. We talked to the proprietor, who told us that business is going well, but he still gets a lot of people wandering in who are confused by the relationship between the store and restaurant.
Due to the prefix that McFalafel and McDonalds share, McFalafel really doesn’t sound all that healthy or Mediterranean. But, according to the owner, McDonalds is not McFalafel’s namesake: “Mc” is supposed to stand for “Master’s Choice.” Unfortunately, from what we’ve experienced, it seems that McFalafel may have a little too much in common with McDonalds; while we can’t speak for all the items on the menu, we tried the chicken shawarma and found the sauce good but the chicken hard and fatty. Frankly, we’re surprised that McDonalds hasn’t sued for both product and trademark infringement, as the litigious fast food giant already sells a product called the McFalafel in Egypt. Still, we hope that McFalafel’s quality will improve soon, as a Mediterranean takeout counter is a welcome change of pace to an area mostly dominated by chains like 241 Pizza and Double Double Pizza and Chicken.