The Thirsty Camel Cafe was founded in July 2004, and has become a downtown Nanaimo hotspot for foodies as well as for community minded folks. Owned by Ilan Goldenblatt, and managed by Kendra Bains and Ashley O'Neil, the Camel is known for delicious, authentic, Middle Eastern food made from scratch from high quality ingredients.

All the food we serve is prepared at the restaurant preservative and filler free. We start with the bare ingredients and produce small batches to maintain optimal freshness. From the lemons that we squeeze on premises, to the garlic we peel, through our home made hot sauce, and the Spice Caravan spice mixes we take "home-made" seriously. Our food is preservative free and contains no artificial or weird ingredients.

We cater! Business lunches to dinner parties. Please contact us for more details.

We accept Bitcoin and host Nanaimo's first Bitcoin ATM.

Our falafels are fried to order in vegetable oil that we change daily! Our chicken is free range, veggie fed, non-medicated from Nanaimo’s Piper’s Meats. Check out our selection of thought provoking magazines. We aspire to be an independent, innovative, community fostering part of downtown Nanaimo.

Thank you, our customers and friends, for supporting an alternative to mainstream fast food culture. We put a lot of energy and love into our food and our space. If you enjoy what we offer, please tell your friends, family, and co-workers about us.