{"id":333951,"date":"2026-08-12T16:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T16:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clevescene.com\/?p=333951"},"modified":"2026-08-12T16:58:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T16:58:56","slug":"falafel-cafe-has-reopened-at-uptown-in-university-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clevescene.com\/food-drink\/falafel-cafe-has-reopened-at-uptown-in-university-circle\/","title":{"rendered":"Falafel Caf\u00e9 Has Reopened at Uptown in University Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this summer, Sirjoon Elassal announced that he was taking over the day-to-day responsibilities at Falafel Caf\u00e9 from his mother, who has been running the popular Lebanese restaurant for nearly 30 years. After 18 years at its previous location in University Circle, and another six at its present location at Uptown, Mae Elassal&nbsp;was ready to move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMom said, the lease is ending, I\u2019m tired, I\u2019m over it,\u201d Sirjoon told me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elassal, who grew up in the family business and later received his master\u2019s degree in organizational psychology with a focus on hospitality, decided to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve been in the industry my whole life,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m pretty equipped to take this restaurant over. And not in the way of just taking it over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since temporarily closing the restaurant, Elassal has redesigned the space, brought back a Middle Eastern retail foods section and trimmed the menu of gratuitous items such gyros, burgers and cheese phillies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m decolonizing the restaurant, bringing back the Lebanese authenticity,\u201d Elassal explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Falafel Caf\u00e9 (11454 Uptown Ave., 216-381-1591) reopened this past weekend, continuing a tradition that his parents started in 1998 when they opened their first shop in South Euclid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI wanted to get away from the family restaurant for so long and then I got over myself,\u201d he says. \u201cThe restaurant is such a great opportunity, not only to flex culinary stuff but also to have community, to work with other businesses. I\u2019m in such a fortunate position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this current chapter of Falafel Caf\u00e9, mom has transitioned from owner-operator to \u201cHistorian of Falafel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe is super excited,\u201d says Elassal. \u201cShe has wanted this for us for a long time. The hope is to let her go and enjoy herself and enjoy the world and let the restaurant be the restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/falafelcafecleveland.com\/\">website<\/a> is currently being updated to reflect the changes, the owner states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clevescene.com\/cleveland\/ClevesceneNewsletterSignup\/Page\">Subscribe to CLE Bites, Doug Trattner\u2019s weekly food newsletter.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Follow us:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKQgKIiNDQklTRkFnTWFoQUtEbU5zWlhabGMyTmxibVV1WTI5dEtBQVAB?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US%3Aen\">Google News<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbreak.com\/@c\/1599763?s=01\">NewsBreak<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ClevelandScene\/\">Reddit<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/clevelandscene\/\">Instagram<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClevelandScene\">Facebook&nbsp;<\/a>|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClevelandScene\">Twitter<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this summer, Sirjoon Elassal announced that he was taking over the day-to-day responsibilities at Falafel Caf\u00e9 from his mother, who has been running the popular Lebanese restaurant for nearly 30 years. After 18 years at its previous location in University Circle, and another six at its present location at Uptown, Mae Elassal&nbsp;was ready to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2061,"featured_media":333952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-08-12T16:52:19Z","apple_news_api_id":"8881f138-b357-42d9-9e14-746dd5de2819","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-08-12T16:58:54Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AiIHxOLNXQtmeFHRt1d4oGQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/news-api.apple.com\/sections\/73a6a9aa-b699-4a93-9d7d-7e4d93ab527a"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"newspack_collection_is_cover_story":false,"newspack_collection_post_order":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"The restaurant closed in June for a remodel and refresh as the decades-old business shifts to the next generation.","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,112],"tags":[36513,459,3216],"newspack_collection_taxonomy":[],"newspack_collection_section":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[127],"class_list":["post-333951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-drink","category-food-news","tag-falafel-cafe","tag-university-circle","tag-uptown","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Falafel Caf\u00e9 Has Reopened at Uptown in University Circle - Cleveland Scene<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Diners can expect a refreshed interior, 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Want more stories like this directly in your inbox every Saturday morning?\u00a0Subscribe here.) One of the main reasons that family businesses fail is a lack of interest by the next generation to assume responsibility. 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