Crazy Falafels

Lebanese-Armenian cooking, made to order, across from the QT on 214

If you've driven past the QT at County Road 214 and Highway 29 since July, you've probably noticed the trailer with the line that doesn't quit — and the smell of kebabs on the grill that makes you reroute your errands. That's Crazy Falafels, and once you've had the chicken kebab plate hot off the fire, you'll understand why regulars are already lobbying for a brick-and-mortar.

The story. <br>This is a family's second act. For Noubar Ishak, opening Crazy Falafels in Liberty Hill is about more than returning to the restaurant business — it's about family, community and getting a second chance to pursue a passion that never really went away. He opened his first restaurant, Good Times Pita Kitchen, in Pasadena, Calif., in 2003, serving a larger Mediterranean menu of grape leaves, kebabs, wraps, salads and baba ghanoush — until a street construction project and the 2008 recession took their toll, and he eventually sold it and returned to corporate work. The itch never fully went away, though. After the family relocated to Texas in 2020 and Ishak was laid off again in 2025, he decided it was time to be an entrepreneur again, knowing the food business and figuring he could start small and see where it went.

The family had originally considered Leander, but when that didn't pan out, the search led back to Liberty Hill — an area they'd already grown to love for its sense of community and its parking. This time, Ishak isn't doing it alone: his 22-year-old daughter Kylie, who as a baby had a crib tucked inside his California restaurant, now works the front of house beside him. She oversees that side of the business — taking orders, prepping plates, getting pickup and delivery orders ready — and runs the restaurant's social accounts. Three generations of the family now help keep the trailer running, and in just a few months, the word-of-mouth has turned into a steady line of regulars who already know the Ishaks by name.

The vibe. There's no dining room here — this is a trailer, a window, and a picnic-table kind of stop — but what it lacks in square footage it makes up for in warmth. You order at the counter, chat with Kylie while she rings you up, and watch the kebabs go on the grill knowing nothing's been sitting around waiting for you. "Nothing here is premade," Ishak has said. "When you order, that's when we make it. We time everything so when you get your order, it's hot and fresh." Go at lunch if you want to beat the dinner rush, or swing by in the evening when the flags are up and the grill smoke is doing the advertising for them.

What to order. The menu leans on family recipes — a mix of Mediterranean, Armenian, and authentic Lebanese homestyle cooking — and everything is cooked to order rather than held under a heat lamp. Early favorites have included the chicken kebab plate, beef kebab plate and chicken kebab wrap, though orders have spread fairly evenly across the small menu.

Good to know. This is a trailer operation, so there's no reservation system — it's order-at-the-window, and there's parking right on site across from the QT. Family platters and delivery round out the options, and the Ishaks added DoorDash this fall to reach more customers beyond the regulars who already know where to find them. The schedule is deliberate: Mondays and Tuesdays go to buying inventory and prepping for the week, and Sundays are reserved for family time. If you're feeding a crowd, call ahead — catering is available, and it's clearly a point of pride for a family that's run this kind of business before.

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