Our story
Umi was founded in 2013 by a Palestinian family passionate about food and eager to share their mother’s authentic recipes with the local community in Ireland.
What began with a small kitchen mixer, an original home recipe, and an idea that few people in Ireland were asking for at the time, grew into the restaurant group it is today, serving the most authentic Middle Eastern flavours in Dublin, Cork and Belfast.
“Umi” is the Arabic word for ‘My Mother’
Um Khaltoum
The inspiration, recipes & spirit behind Umi Falafel
Chapter one
The plan was simple and ambitious: introduce genuine Palestinian hummus, falafel and fresh mezze to a country that ran on chicken fillet rolls. The first Umi opened on Dame Street with an open kitchen, traditional recipes, and a counter you could see straight into.
The name came directly from home: Umi is the Arabic word for ‘My Mother’. The recipes belonged to her, so every sandwich, salad and mezze we prepare is in her honour.
Chapter two
Everything was made by hand from the very start. The falafel mix came out of a small kitchen food mixer. Every dessert on the counter — the baklawa, the basbousa — was baked fresh with traditional methods and carried in each morning.
Some of that has scaled to our kitchens across Dublin, Cork and Belfast. The core principle hasn't changed: the mix is still prepared fresh every single morning, seven days a week, and nothing is fried until somebody orders it.
Chapter three
Vegetarian and vegan Palestinian food was not supposed to be a mainstream hit in Ireland. People loved it anyway — and in 2018 the Palestinian falafel sandwich was among the ten most ordered items in Europe on Deliveroo.
Four front doors later, the falafel mix is unchanged: fourteen fresh ingredients, prepared every morning. Come and see it happen — the kitchen is right there in front of you.
from her kitchen to yours
