Amir’s Falafel Los Angeles, Los Angeles

Recipes have a way of traveling through space and time. To trace the origins of the food at Amir's Falafel, you'd have to go all the way back to 1930s Jerusalem. It was here that Noami Amir perfected her falafel recipe and opened a restaurant with her husband, Chaim. The couple would have a son, Yehuda, who began working in the restaurant at age six, standing on a stool to take orders.

Today, Yehuda serves the same traditional Middle Eastern cuisine—but in Los Angeles. Bold lamb shawarma twists on the rotisserie, waiting to be sliced and piled high in a plate with hummus and salads. And of course, there's falafel, made the same way Noami used to back in Jerusalem.