LAST UPDATED: SEPTEMBER 2026 | ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2012
2026 STATUS: TRUCK UNVERIFIED
We haven’t been able to verify that the Taïm Mobile truck is still operating in 2026, and it is not on our verified vendor map. This 2012 review is kept for the record. In August 2026, Nation’s Restaurant News and QSR reported that New York State had padlocked Taïm shops, including the West Village, over tax warrants. Call before you go.
Get Taïm’s falafel today: the original Taïm shop at 222 Waverly Place in the West Village, open daily. Order the green falafel pita and the sabich.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Taïm Mobile was the food truck version of Taïm, the West Village falafel shop, and a 2011 Vendy Award Rookie of the Year nominee. In 2012, its $5.75 falafel sandwich came with creamy hummus, Israeli salad, pickled cabbage and tahini, plus s’rug and amba “with everything.” The truck’s 2026 status is unverified; Taïm’s original shop at 222 Waverly Place still serves the falafel.
TAÏM MOBILE: A SHORT HISTORY
- Taïm opened as a tiny West Village falafel shop at 222 Waverly Place in 2005, and took its green falafel to the streets with the Taïm Mobile truck.
- The truck was nominated for a 2011 Vendy Award in the Rookie of the Year category.
- NewYorkStreetFood.com covered several of the truck’s rotating specials, including red beet falafel with a smoothie, sun-dried tomato pesto falafel, and corn jalapeño soup with mixed falafel.
OUR EXPERIENCE (2012 VISIT)
If you like falafel, chances are you already know about Taïm Mobile. If not, give them a try. We would bet a fair sum that you’ll enjoy it.
Taïm is a Hebrew word that means “highly pleasant to the taste”, and they sure named this food truck appropriately.
Everything about their falafel sandwich ($5.75) was delicious. The pita bread was soft and fresh, the falafel was moist and herby on the inside and crispy on the outside, and the hummus in the sandwich was incredibly creamy, with a hint of lemon. Do you think I enjoyed eating this?
In addition to the main ingredients, the sandwich included Israeli salad (chopped tomatoes and cucumbers), shredded pickled cabbage and tahini sauce, which adds some sesame flavor to the mix.
If you like a little spiciness, I would suggest asking for s’rug, a traditional Yemeni sauce with garlic, chili and cilantro. You can also get amba sauce, a pickled mango chutney that adds a light fruitiness. Or you can get it with “everything”, which includes the s’rug and amba sauces and a few pickles. That’s what I did, and it was heaven in every bite.
There’s a reason Taïm Mobile was nominated for a 2011 Vendy Award in the Rookie of the Year category: they served one of the best falafel sandwiches in NYC.
Back in 2012, you could follow Taïm Mobile’s location on Twitter. If you happen to be in the West Village, Taïm actually started with a small storefront at 222 Waverly Place, just west of 7th Ave, and at the time it was preparing to open a second location in Nolita.
Order it “with everything”: s’rug for heat, amba for funk, and pickles for crunch turn a good falafel pita into a great one.
What People Actually Said About the Truck
Tina at The Wandering Eater caught the truck in March 2011 and ordered the day’s red pepper falafel in a sandwich, $5.75, in warm pita with hummus, Israeli salad, and tahini. Her friend took the green falafel platter at $9.50, with quinoa, hummus, and za’atar pita. She wrote that the truck matched the shop, and that the location lived on Twitter. A Brooklyn reviewer of the truck said it showed up in the Flatiron on Thursdays, and that fifteen minutes in line was the price of the smell. Another called the balls pillowy instead of cakey.
Mr. Hipster, writing in July 2013, said he ate at the truck at least once every two weeks for about ten months, whenever it was parked on Fifth Avenue with a line shorter than fifteen people. Sometimes plain, sometimes harissa. The thing he liked for a desk lunch was that it did not collapse into tahini. On r/food in 2018, u/2seriousmouse recognized a Taïm plate and wrote that they used to get the falafel from the truck and never made it to a storefront. Check-ins in 2023 still tagged @taimmobile at a Taïm Falafel and Smoothie Bar.
Where Can You Get Taïm’s Falafel Today?
The verified place to get Taïm’s green falafel today is the original Taïm shop at 222 Waverly Place in the West Village, just off 7th Avenue and W 11th Street. While you’re there, order the sabich too; it may be the best sandwich on the menu.
The shop has a split reputation now, and the door may be locked. On r/AskNYC in November 2025, u/burner3303 wrote that the original West Village location was still the one to try, and that expansion toward a Cava-style chain had knocked the quality down. u/ReliabilityTalkinGuy said they used to be good and were pretty terrible after the expansion, then added that his wife still loves them. u/carmelcorn305 called it the Chipotle of falafel bowls. In March 2025, @DoggyCapital still told people in the West Village to grab the falafel and called it the best in the city. In December 2025, @HistoryBoomer listed falafel at Taïm among the reasons to put up with New York.
Then the tax story landed. On August 11, 2026, Nation’s Restaurant News and QSR reported that New York State had padlocked Taïm restaurants, including the West Village, after sales-tax warrants filed in April. The reporting tied the warrants to Craveworthy Brands, which bought the chain in 2024, and to a dispute with former operator Phil Petrilli. Chef Einat Admony, who opened the Waverly shop in 2005, has not run the company since 2022. Call 222 Waverly before you make the trip.
Read our review of the sabich at Taïm’s Waverly Place original. For a breakdown of s’rug, amba and every other falafel sauce, and which Israeli, Egyptian or Syrian falafel is actually worth the trip, see our field guide. Every verified vendor is mapped in the NYC Falafel & Shawarma Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions About Taïm Mobile
Is the Taïm Mobile truck still operating?
NewYorkStreetFood.com could not verify that the Taïm Mobile food truck is still operating in 2026. Taïm’s original shop at 222 Waverly Place in the West Village is the verified place to get its falafel.
What is s’rug sauce?
S’rug, also called zhug, is a spicy Yemeni green sauce made with fresh chili, garlic and cilantro. It’s a common hot sauce for falafel at Israeli-style falafel shops like Taïm.
What does “with everything” mean at Taïm?
At Taïm, ordering falafel “with everything” adds s’rug (spicy green chili sauce), amba (pickled mango sauce) and pickles on top of the standard hummus, Israeli salad, pickled cabbage and tahini.
