Bay Area/ San Francisco

Ali Baba's Cave Magically Becomes Al-Fanoose

Published on March 07, 2011
Ali Baba's Cave Magically Becomes Al-Fanoose
Our first thought this weekend when we spotted this very new, very blue awning at 531 Haight Street: "Huh -- never seen 'Falafel' spelled 'Fala Fel' before. Is that intentional?" Our second thought: "Wait, what happened to Ali Baba's Cave???" Yes friends, seemingly in the blink of an eye, Ali Baba's Cave has magically transformed itself into a new restaurant called "Al-Fanoose."

Now, the sign in the window says "Under New Management" -- so, fundamentally we're talking about the same Mediterranean restaurant here. But with a pretty drastic external makeover and a new name (which we're told means "magic lantern" in Arabic), we wouldn't be surprised to find some internal changes as well. Not a whole lot more we can tell you about this one, but check out Al-Fanoose's very spare Facebook page for more info. And do report back if you give Al-Fanoose a try -- especially if you sample the fala fel!