More Free Food -- Now From Kosher Village Falafel

Today was all about the free iced coffee (and free chicken sandwiches, apparently). Tomorrow, it's free falafel. The East Village eatery formerly known as Chickpea held a contest to find a new name for its Glatt Kosher re-opening. They received hundreds of entries from crafty wordsmiths all vying for the $3000 prize. Only one winner was selected,

Adi Libson, a NYU student, despite the fact that 21 other entrants submitted the same name -- Kosher Village. According to the owners, "Kosher Village was the entry that most captured our spirit. It perfectly ties together the comradery of the neighborhood and the menu’s Mediterranean cuisine." Seems a little dull, given some of the other submissions (So Glatt I Could Plotz, St. Mark's Kosher Cousin, Falafel Mafia -- just a few examples) .

Additionally, all entrants were spammed by the restaurant a few weeks back, when they sent out multiple emails with every single entrant's email address in the to: field. Apologies ensued: "We send along a gracious THANK YOU to all those who entered. We also extend a most sincere apology to all of those who received our email mis-step more than once. Our expertise is with cumin, not desktop apps. We hope you enjoy our falafel more than the “spam”, which yes, we realize is not Kosher."

Kosher Village will be giving out free regular falafels from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. following the 2:00 p.m. award presentation to the winner. 23 3rd Avenue at St. Marks Place.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Laren Spirer in Food on May 15, 2008 7:58 PM

Comments [rss]

DIGMO

I went by and grabbed a free falafel from these folks today. There was no line and they were nice fellas. I could probably eat one of those again, but I won't often choose it over a good burrito...

rtd2101

booring...

smitty

@dustyrebel - they sold off the chickpea brand to another company.

nivek

This place isn't that bad if you have somewhere to run to aftewards.

diabolix

Oh boy, another really bad Israeli falafel place! Maybe there should be a few more Palestinian and Lebanese places in the Village because all the Israeli ones suck (hint: don't put egg in the hummus).

dustyrebel

About 4 years ago, before they opened they had a contest to name the place....and Chick Pea was the "winner".

Not sure why they needed another contest for a new name...other then all the free press, which I assume is the purpose.

mocanlagunas

"only one winner was selected"?!?

ribaldry

I would love to write my usually snarky, bitter comment here but nothing really comes to mind.

Jerky

Back to the headline....why the F*k did they have a contest

and name it "Kosher Village". What the hell was the point of

that??

Are the owners that f*in stupid that 1), they thought

serving baked nasty-ass falafel squares was a good business decision and 2), after that debacle, that naming your great falafel hole with the most generic idiotic name will draw back customers?? I want some of what these guys are smoking behind the dumpster....

Back when Chickpea served fried falafel, it was one of my regular places to eat. Now, I walk by, laugh, and head to Mamoun's, which sucks, but is still a mile ahead of this farce.....

Jerky

Why????......

Because the Jews think they're Gods chosen people, despite the fact that they live in a desert full of ignorant violent Muslims and are fighting a losing battle......

And because the Arabs think that suicide vests are the greatest fashion accessory since hemp bracelets, but they're afraid of dogs, pork, and sex. If that was the basis of your pathetic heritage, wouldn't you want to kill yourself too??

Al hamdu l'illaah!!

babyhitler

You ever notice that Jews and Arab Muslims love Falafel? why can't they agree on everything else?

shamanovsky

2 Aridginal, for the exactly same reason they have BIBLES at that place now...

I used to eat there all the time, now my place is http://www.maozusa.com/ in the union square. It doesn't get better than Maoz in the area.

Free, delicious do it yourself as often as you want toppings bar makes it a winner. Did I mention whole wheat pita upgrade is free?

babyhitler

my friend took me there once. chickpeas taste like tuna fish without the tuna taste. I can stomache a little but a whole plate of chickpeas is just gross.

Aridginal

these people are just idiots for having a contest and giving away all that money and getting the most bland, typical name out of it. "Kosher Village", are you serious!??? why have a contest??