King of Falafel & Shawarma is a bold, throw-down-the-gauntlet title for what started out as a lone street cart in the shadow of the elevated train in Astoria, Queens. It might suggest hubris if it weren’t so well earned.

The magnanimous monarch and chef is Fares Zeideia, known as Freddy, who for 14 years was a fixture on the southwestern corner of Broadway and 30th Street, clad in billowy pants with look-at-me prints, calling his subjects by name and handing out free falafel like alms.

In January, he opened a restaurant a block away from the cart’s original location, converting a former Chirping Chicken to a bright dining room tiled in red and green, with chairs to match, around glossy black tables. The colors are a nod to the Palestinian flag (Mr. Zeideia grew up in Ramallah, on the West Bank) but also, he said, a way to keep the atmosphere “not too official.”

The falafel hasn’t changed. It is still shaped like an egg with squared-off ends, not the usual lopsided sphere found around town. This is strategic, to expand surface area, for more crust, without sacrificing inner tenderness.