a brief history
2014
From the bottom of the sea to Tel Aviv
For years Daan was roaming the bottom of the ocean doing all sorts of construction work in places most of us will never even see. At some point in between his travels around the world he went to visit his friend Jesse in Tel Aviv. The food (accompanied by a few beers here and there, nothing worth mentioning) that is served on every corner of the city planted a seed. When about a year later we met in the Pintelier in Groningen, we started talking about this food again, and then and there agreed we should bring it home.
2016
A cargobike on the vismarkt
While Jesse was wrapping up his life in Tel Aviv, Daan was already shaping the next step. A very old cargo bike (rumors say it was over a 100 years old) was refurbished to fit a fryer and a salad bar. A recipe that was shaped in the middle east was finished up north and all of a sudden we were selling falafel from an old bike. A great first start to test the water and see if Groningen was ready for something new, something fresh!
2017
The first FLFL shop
While selling falafel a couple of days a week from that old bike, we were on the prowl for our first brick and mortar location. Thanks to our loyal customers from the Stadsakker, we were informed about a tiny space in Oude Kijk in 't Jatstraat. Even though quite old and neglected, we decided to go for it and made a plan how to reconstruct it into the (way too tiny) shop it is now.
2021
Opening in utrecht
Late 2020 we acquired our first spot outside of Groningen. Where we both travelled the world, we remained Northern. We thought about our next step for a while and chose Utrecht because it resemblance with Groningen. The compact city centre, a young crowd and in need of some fresh food.
2021
FLFL Haarlem is born
Since we made the first step toward the rest of the Netherlands, the second step looked like the logical thing to do. After looking around in different cities we picked a nice little spot in Haarlem to try next. Since there's no big student population in Haarlem, it felt like a leap in the dark. After a few months we were happy to find out that the people of Haarlem are eager to try new things and didn't think twice about letting us know they are happy that we have found are way there.
2022
Now what? How about Arnhem?
Our search for new locations brought us through the whole country, to lots of places we had never been before. Arnhem being one of them. After being pleasantly surprised by the beautiful city we found just about the perfect spot. A beautiful building in the middle of the city centre. Bigger than we've ever thought we could need. Now it's up to us to fill that space...
2022
Nijmegen is next
Since we had opened in Arnhem, Nijmegen felt like a logical next step. Only half an hour away, shared staff and a beautiful city full of history and students.
2023
FLFL goes Zwollywood!
A step following the many request that came from that area. A beautiful wooden shopfront is what lured us to this building. Right at the end of the big shopping street in the middle of the historical city centre, we've opened our 7th shop.
2023
FLFL aiming on retail, restaurants and bars
After receiving requests everyday about the possibility of delivering falafel to bars and restaurants, we decided to start with a pilot. Where else than our home town Groningen. The first to try is het Pomphuis in Groningen, and there's many more on the way.
2023
There goes The Hague!
We've found a nice spot in the city center, this time we didn't go for a characteristic building but a big new shopfront with a lot of glass and sliding doors. A perfect spot to try out some new signing. Armed with quite some indoor seating and our signature open kitchen we are coming for The Hague!
