Place your order at the counter of the new Starbox Falafel on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard, and spy a flurry of kitchen prep happening within eyeshot, each station engaged in a multistep process for constructing the eatery’s core items. Owner Aysar Mohammed says he deliberately made his restaurant kitchen open, a design choice that keeps his team of 12 on their toes and reveals his commitment to honest cooking.

“Everything is from scratch,” owner Aysar Mohammed says. “Even the pita bread.”

Mohammed, a Baton Rouge entrepreneur, nods to his head chef, Jacob Dawood, who is molding fresh falafel dough around tail-on shrimp. A half dozen will soon be lowered into the deep fryer and served over fresh greens over a pool of tahini sauce. The falafel mixture was started two days earlier from dried chickpeas that were rinsed, soaked, ground and combined with fresh herbs and aromatic vegetables. It’s the eatery’s signature dish, and you can also order it served simply with tahini sauce and picked onions, or stuffed with onions and tomatoes.

Behind the counter, it’s also possible to spot hot, glistening chicken and gyros turning on spits, ready to be sliced for sandwiches, combo plates and salads. Whole eggplants rest on a grill. A worker turns them with tongs until they’re just charred. Their pulp is the base ingredient in the restaurant’s fresh baba ganouj. Mohammed points to a commercial standing mixer in a far corner whirring gently, its dough hook turning a mound of dough for fresh pita.

Open since July 4, Starbox Falafel is the latest restaurant to join Baton Rouge’s well-established expanse of Middle Eastern concepts. Mohammed, who is Palestinian, was aiming for what he describes as authentic Arabic food.

“I wanted to serve the foods that I cook at home,” he says.

A former pizzeria owner in Jerusalem, Mohammed immigrated to the U.S. in 2014, working at another Mediterranean restaurant in Baton Rouge before opening a liquidation bin store, Family Deals, which he has since franchised and grown to seven locations across the country and Dubai.

The itch to jump back into the restaurant industry never left, and it was a negative experience at a local Starbucks that ignited the spark. Mohammed and his wife ordered the chain’s spicy falafel pocket, which he says tasted mass-produced and nothing like the real thing.

“When I eat it, I said, ‘It’s not falafel,’” he says. “We threw it out.”

He figured Baton Rouge would benefit from a legit falafel shop that served handmade versions of the staple Middle Eastern snack.

Fresh falafel is part of a broad menu at Starbox (its name a play on the international coffee giant), that spans Arabic appetizers like kibbi and grape leaves, and sturdy offerings like shawarma and gyro-stopped salads and sandwiches. There are also plates anchored with a variety of different proteins and served with three sides. Choose from rice, hummus, salad, turkey salad and baba ghanouj.

A separate breakfast menu (the restaurant opens at 10 a.m. daily) includes shakshuka, poached eggs in spicy tomato sauce; and mfarakeh, diced potatoes sautéed with scrambled eggs and fresh herbs.

Starbox Falafel also includes a dedicated sweets counter, which Mohammed says is designed for anyone looking for dessert after their meal or as a separate, singular experience. It sprang from his own children asking to be taken out for dessert after he got home from work.

Order gelato or a shake, smoothie or fresh-squeezed juice. The pastry case holds showy cakes, crepes and other pick-ups prepared by the restaurant’s resident pastry chef. Dubai chocolate fans will find plenty to get excited about, including crepes and mini-cakes that feature kataifi (shredded phyllo) made in-house. Other sweets include cheesecake, the honey-soaked harissa with coconut cake and whimsical creations like a nameless terrine featuring Cocoa Puffs atop layers of white chocolate and fudge sauces.

The interior of the fast-casual eatery is bright and cheerful, with cushioned seating, faux marble tables and flooring, and elevated murals of Jerusalem.

Mohammed says he plans to open additional locations of Starbox Falafel, aiming for 12 by 2027, he says.

Starbox Falafel is at 4353 S. Sherwood Forest Boulevard. The restaurant is open daily, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and features a drive-thru window.

This article originally appeared in 225 Magazine’s 225 Daily newsletter.