{"id":329157,"date":"2023-05-08T15:53:11","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T18:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/inspirada-na-street-food-arabe-marca-se-expande-no-brasil\/"},"modified":"2023-05-10T16:44:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T19:44:03","slug":"inspired-by-arab-street-food-restaurant-expands-in-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/inspired-by-arab-street-food-restaurant-expands-in-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspired by Arab street food, restaurant expands in Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Three young entrepreneurs of Lebanese descent found in street food<\/strong> a way to innovate in serving Arab cuisine<\/strong> in Brazil. The concept inspired the creation of the Falafull<\/a> restaurant in S\u00e3o Paulo. The brand is currently in two shopping malls in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Gabriel is a partner of Kevin (left) and Fuad (right)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The restaurant was established in 2019 by Kevin Zehil and the brothers Gabriel (pictured above)<\/em> and Fuad Nicolas, sons of Lebanese families, combining recipes from mothers and grandmothers. However, looking at street food in Lebanon<\/strong>, a country visited every year by the Nicolas brothers to see their family, the insight to create the brand came to mind. The concept is also trendy in other world regions, such as the United States, Europe, and Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo create Falafull, I was inspired by several Lebanese companies. Since I was a little boy, I have gone there every year, and there are several beautiful places in Lebanon where there are no tables to sit; you grab your lunch and go,\u201d said Gabriel Elias Habib Nicolas<\/strong>, operational director and one of the founders of the restaurant.<\/p>\n

With two units in shopping malls in S\u00e3o Paulo, Center 3 and P\u00e1tio Higien\u00f3polis<\/strong>, by mid-year, Falafull expects to be in a third one and, by the end of 2024, have ten points of sale. With an initial investment of BRL 500,000 (about USD 101,000 at the current rate), the chain has a central kitchen ready to meet the demand of up to 10 restaurants and started raising funds via equity crowdfunding on the Kria platform, intending to raise BRL 1.8 million (about USD 363,400).<\/p>\n

Restaurant and menu design<\/strong><\/p>\n

In April 2019, the restaurant opened a unit for the first time in the Frei Caneca shopping mall. But with the pandemic\u2019s arrival, the store was closed months after its opening. To remain in the market and keep the dream alive, they restrained operations to takeout until, in February 2021, they opened a Falafull<\/a> unit again, this time on a street in Vila Ol\u00edmpia, on the south side of S\u00e3o Paulo city.<\/p>\n

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Falafull has fast food options<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe street wasn\u2019t that busy, but we insisted and kept building the loyalty of the people who passed by. Over time, more people came, and the business was going well until we had to close the space due to the pandemic again. A while later, we opened again; however, the idea of having units in malls came back; after all, our concept had always been street food, something more casual, to eat quickly, fast food style,\u201d recalled Gabriel.<\/p>\n

One of the company\u2019s founders said the average amount consumers spend is BRL 40 (about USD 8), with a main course, side dish, and drink. The menu has healthy foods, and vegan options, such as falafel, snacks (burgers and sfihas), and bowls. Consumers can assemble the latter with different food options, including grape leaf rolls, raw kibbeh, dry curd, hummus, and tabbouleh.<\/p>\n

Nicolas family history<\/strong><\/p>\n

With an undergraduate degree in marketing, Gabriel, 31, said his parents, maternal grandparents, and paternal uncles arrived in Brazil in the 1980s. The state of Rond\u00f4nia was chosen as the family\u2019s first destination. Years later, they landed in S\u00e3o Paulo, specifically in the Br\u00e1s neighborhood, where they opened a restaurant.<\/p>\n

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From the ZEIT brand to Falafull<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Established around 2010 and 2011, the establishment was open for two years. But an illness of his maternal grandmother forced his mother, Wadia Klaime Nicolas, to abandon the restaurant kitchen. However, the desire to continue selling Arab food remained with the brothers Gabriel and Fuad. In 2015, they created ZEIT Lebanese food catering. The company was open almost four years and delivered Arab dishes in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n

Despite being profitable, ZEIT was replaced by Falufull after Gabriel met Kevin. With the same business idea, the two founded the Lebanese food brand. Sometime later, Fuad joined the duo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2018, I was trying to create a pharmacy technology startup, and one of my partners ate our ZEIT sandwich; he liked it, and I told him the idea to sell street food style snacks, then he told me he had a friend with the same idea. We scheduled a lunch, and after 30 minutes of conversation with Kevin, we became partners. We even have similar family histories; his parents came here about 30, 40 years ago,\u201d recalls Gabriel. \u201cThe idea for Falufull was Kevin\u2019s final assignment at Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Getulio Vargas college. Six months after our first meeting, we opened the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Special report by Rebecca Vettore for ANBA.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Translated by El\u00fasio Brasileiro<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press release\/Falafull<\/div>\n
Press release\/Falafull<\/div>\n
Press release\/Falafull<\/div>\n
Press release\/Falafull<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three young Arab descendants created the Falafull restaurant in S\u00e3o Paulo, inspired by Lebanese street food. It already has two units in malls and plans to have ten points of sale by the end of 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2342,"featured_media":329135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,114],"tags":[41579,4600,41576,41580,41582,14864,41559,41560,41561,41562,41578,41563,41564,41565,41566,41567,41568,8481,41577,41569,41581,41570,41571,41572,41573,41574],"class_list":{"0":"post-329157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"category-news","9":"tag-arab-fast-food","10":"tag-arab-food","11":"tag-arab-food-sao-paulo","12":"tag-arab-snacks","13":"tag-arab-street-food","14":"tag-comida-arabe-en","15":"tag-comida-arabe-sao-paulo-en","16":"tag-comida-de-shopping-en","17":"tag-comida-libanesa-en","18":"tag-falafull-en","19":"tag-falafull-restaurant","20":"tag-falafull-restaurante-en","21":"tag-fast-food-arabe-en","22":"tag-fuad-nicolas-en","23":"tag-gabriel-nicolas-en","24":"tag-kevin-zehil-en","25":"tag-lanches-arabes-en","26":"tag-lebanese-food","27":"tag-mall-food","28":"tag-restaurantes-sao-paulo-en","29":"tag-sao-paulo-restaurants","30":"tag-shopping-center-3-en","31":"tag-shopping-patio-higienopolis-en","32":"tag-street-food-en","33":"tag-street-food-arabe-en","34":"tag-zeit-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Three young Arab descendants created the Falafull restaurant in S\u00e3o Paulo, inspired by Lebanese street food. It already has two units in malls and plans to have ten points of sale by the end of 2024.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}