A new restaurant on Main Street in Wakefield is serving up more than falafel and shawarma — it's keeping alive the legacy of a South County food legend who spent decades feeding University of Rhode Island students and South Kingstown families alike. Falafel Dave's opened last month at 203 Main Street, named for David “Bahij” Boutros, the founder of International Pockets who died in 2024 after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Boutros built his reputation long before he opened a storefront. According to recollections shared on Reddit, he got his start serving falafel sandwiches out of a food truck at regional outdoor events, including the Cajun Fest at Stepping Stone Ranch, years before he became a fixture of the Kingston Emporium food scene. That early mobile operation is reportedly where he earned the nickname that now lives on in the new restaurant's name.
Boutros was born in Al-Hasakah, Syria, and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, immigrating to the United States at age 16 before building his food businesses in Rhode Island, according to his obituary from Nardolillo Funeral Home. His Beirut upbringing shaped the Lebanese-inspired dishes that would later define both International Pockets and Falafel Dave's. He went on to found and grow Baja's Restaurants, a Tex-Mex chain that expanded to more than 16 locations across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, according to GoLocalProv.
A Family Business Built on His Recipes
Falafel Dave's is owned and operated by the same family that ran International Pockets, according to The Independent. Co-owners include Elias Boutros, David's younger brother; his sister Carla Ghorayeb; her husband Moufid “Mo” Ghorayeb; with Alexandra Boutros also supporting the venture, per the same report. Elias Boutros serves as the restaurant's primary corporate representative, and Falafel Dave's officially joined the Southern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce last month, confirming the family's active management of the new venue.
The menu draws directly from David Boutros's own favorites. “We made a menu from Dave's favorite dishes from Beirut,” Elias Boutros said, per the Independent's report. The restaurant describes its style as fast-casual Mediterranean, preparing food from scratch daily without shortcuts, and offering customers a free falafel sample upon arrival while staff explain the dishes on offer.
From Mezza Samplers to a Favorite Harissa Bowl
The menu is organized into categories including Dave's Signature, Build Your Own, Salads, Shareables and Sweet Mezza. Signature dishes include Dave's falafel, chicken and steak shawarma, a grilled halloumi sandwich, gyro, chicken harissa bowl, loaded hummus bowl, Dave's mezza sampler, and Dave's mezza feast, a dish designed to serve two to four people. Elias Boutros named the harissa bowl as his personal favorite — a mix of marinated harissa chicken, seasoned rice, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled onions, chickpeas, avocado, feta, and tzatziki sauce.
Those who knew David Boutros say the new restaurant reflects values he held throughout his career: authenticity, loyalty, and love, along with a consistent emphasis on customer service and greeting guests promptly. The family's approach at Falafel Dave's — fresh food prepared mostly to order, paired with hospitality touches like the free falafel sample — echoes the philosophy he built at International Pockets.
Two Locations, Two Different Worlds
International Pockets still operates in the Kingston Emporium at 99 Fortin Road, an off-campus commercial strip directly adjacent to the University of Rhode Island, according to the University of Rhode Island. There, the restaurant has long served falafels, shawarma bowls, gyros, and other Mediterranean staples to a steady stream of students. Falafel Dave's, by contrast, sits in the commercial village center of South Kingstown, a town of roughly 32,000 residents, placing it in a downtown district distinct from the university crowd that built Boutros's original following.
On September 28, the two-year anniversary of Boutros's death, International Pockets hosted a community memorial at the Kingston Emporium location, handing out free wraps to honor his legacy, according to a Facebook post marking the occasion. The gesture came just weeks after Falafel Dave's opening, underscoring how the family has continued to mark Boutros's memory across both the campus community he built and the downtown storefront that now carries his name.
Boutros died at age 57 on September 28, 2024, at his home in South Kingstown after battling glioblastoma, a terminal illness. Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive malignant primary brain tumor found in adults, accounting for roughly 48 percent of all primary cancerous brain tumors, with about 14,000 cases diagnosed annually in the United States, according to the Glioblastoma Foundation. Patients face a median overall survival time of just 12 to 15 months with standard treatment and a five-year survival rate below 7 percent, per research published in PMC.
