Alfanoose was founded in 1999 by Muhammad Shami in New York City's Financial District. Shami is a lover of authentic Middle Eastern cuisine and a purist at heart. Alfanoose came about, mainly because of his disappointment in finding true Syrian/Lebanese food in New York.
He discovered that most restaurants would offer their falafel dripping with oil, or their shawarma served with non-marinated meat. He also noticed that the main principal in creating good falafel--lightly fried in fresh oil- was often ignored by many eating-places due to high cost of replenishing the oil in the fryer.