The Amsterdam Falafelshop is the new fast food restaurant in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington DC, open from lunch to late-night.

The Company Story is an unusual one. The owners had an idea, and pursued it until it worked.

People always ask: Why the AMSTERDAM Falafelshop?

Serving top-it-yourself hot falafels and fries was an epiphany for the owners while visiting friends in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

While eating in the many falafel places they patronized there, Scott Bennett wondered (aloud to his wife) why Adams Morgan had no diverse fast food available late at night, when the kitchens of the finer restaurants had closed and real foodies were still hungry. He further observed that in Amsterdam, fry places are as common place as our Starbucks, and falafel shops more prevalent than McDonalds!

Even the history of Amsterdam seemed to embrace these great foods. In the 16th Century, Amsterdam was the hub of the Dutch East India Trading Company, as well as a cosmopolitan doorway to Europe, and later as a haven for Jews and others fleeing oppression. It has been where many cultures have migrated because of the citys historically tolerant and embracing nature. Many of these cultures are from the Middle East, and they all come bearing falafel recipes reflective of their homelands. This yields a lot of falafel shops, much like the many pizza places here in the US.

Although the origin of falafel is Middle Eastern, the shop's theme was developed to reflect the street-food falafel restaurants of the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Israel and England. The motif, style, and ambiance of the restaurant are reminiscent of street food shops in nightclub and neighborhood districts of the major cities in those countries, particularly Amsterdam. Hence the store name Amsterdam Falafelshop (as a play on the word Coffeeshop, a popular Amsterdam destination).

That was the inspiration for bringing tasty top-it-yourself-falafels and delicious twice-fried fries to this Washington DC neighborhood. Embracing Amsterdam's great vibe, and combining different elements from the many shops they patronized, the Amsterdam Falafelshop was born!