Welcome to Falafeldelphia: Mama’s opens under new owner in Center City

Five years after it closed because of issues with its building, the popular Center City falafel shop Mama’s opened last week under a new owner.

Yariv Noyman calls it Mama’s Falafel instead of Mama’s Vegetarian, and the familiar dark-green facade with the stylized “M” fashioned out of a drawing of a tomato is decked out in white, trimmed with black.

The entire walk-up space at 18 S. 20th St. has been renovated, with seating at tables in the middle and at high chairs along a rail in the window; the counter and kitchen are in the rear.

A fixings case, with pickled vegetables and sauces to add to sandwiches or to nibble as a snack, is set along one wall.

You might call this part of town Center City Falafeldelphia. Mama’s launch has added to the pita picks in the area, including the vaunted Octopus Cart that sets up a hundred yards away at 20th and Market Streets, the syndicated Naf Naf Grill across the intersection, and Zahav offshoot Goldie’s a few blocks off at 1911 Sansom St.

Noyman, who grew up in Haifa, Israel, said he set out to redo Mama’s because he was bored with his primary business, Key on Spot Locksmith, and wanted a sideline. He missed the street food of his youth.

Asked on Sunday while he was balling and frying falafel if he had any experience in the restaurant business, he smiled and replied: “I do now.”

Noyman said he had no ties to the previous owner, Haviv David, who opened Mama’s in 2005.

He said he obtained recipes from someone affiliated with the previous operation. For now, the menu is limited to sabich (pita sandwiches filled with fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, hummus, cabbage, chopped tomatoes, pickles, and salad), falafel sandwiches, and fries. It is under kosher supervision by Community Kashrus of Greater Philadelphia, popularly known as Keystone K.

Mama’s flavors don’t seem to have lost anything over time. The falafel’s pleasing crunchiness and inner creaminess pair well with the chopped salad and hummus. The pitas come fully loaded. One sandwich ($12 for the falafel, $10 for the sabich) should be enough for lunch.

Mama’s Vegetarian closed in summer 2019 because of issues related to renovations of the building’s second floor, as David told The Inquirer then.

The next June, with the pandemic in its fourth month, the landlord declined to renew the lease. The space sat empty until late 2023, and Noyman spent months correcting issues.

Currently, the hours are in flux. Mama’s opens about 11 a.m. and closes in the late afternoon Sunday to Thursday and at 2 p.m. Friday. It is closed all day Saturday for the sabbath.