A family Lebanese kitchen · Northeast Portland

My grandmother's recipes. My mother's pickles. My kitchen.

We open at five. We close when the last table is happy.

Thursday — Sunday · 5pm to 10pm
1217 NE Alberta · (503) 555-0188

[ Lamb shawarma on the spit ]

Mama's shawarma — Beirut, 1976

This week's mezze: baba ghanouj · muhammara · kibbeh nayyeh · fattoush with sumac onions

Hummus · chickpeas, tahini, lemon, olive oil $10

My grandmother's ratio. More tahini than you think. Warm bread on the side.
Muhammara · walnuts, pomegranate, red pepper $12

From Aleppo, really, but my family is from there too. Sweet, smoky, a little hot.
Fattoush · tomato, cucumber, sumac, fried pita $14

The sumac is from a tree my uncle planted in 1994. We've never bought it.
Kibbeh nayyeh · raw lamb, bulgur, mint, olive oil $18

If you've never had this, ask me about it. It will change something.

Shawarma plate · lamb, garlic, pickle, rice $28

Carved off the spit at the counter. The garlic sauce is the whole reason.
Half chicken, mussakhan · sumac, onion, pine nuts $26

A Palestinian dish my mother learned from her best friend Layla in 1981.
Lamb shank, freekeh · slow-braised, smoked wheat $34

Sundays only. Order it as soon as you sit down or it'll be gone.
Mujadara · lentils, rice, fried onions, yogurt $18

Comfort. The onions are fried until they're almost black.

My name is Layla. My grandmother taught me to make hummus when I was seven.

She grew up in Beirut, raised five kids through a war, and could feed twelve people on twenty dollars worth of groceries. Every recipe on this menu started in her kitchen.

My mother brought those recipes to Portland in 1982. She cooked them for our family for forty years. When she retired in 2022, I asked if I could keep cooking them — for other families, in a restaurant — and she said yes, but only if I let her come help on weekends. She is here every Saturday in the kitchen.

So when you eat here, you are eating three generations of women cooking the same dishes in slightly different ways, ending with mine. I hope you like it.

— Layla Saliba

[ Grandma, 1973 ]

Téta Yasmine

[ Mom in our kitchen ]

Mama Rana, 1989

[ Me, last week ]

Layla, 2026

A few things people ask about —

From the recipe box.

Mama's note —

On the garlic sauce.

It's just garlic, salt, lemon juice, and oil. The trick is the oil — you add it one drop at a time at the start, like making mayonnaise. Use a heavy mortar. Don't use a blender.

Téta Yasmine, 1968

A confession —

On the bread.

We tried to make our own pita for two years. It was never as good as the place down the street. So now we buy it from them. The owner is named Eli. He bakes from 4am every day.

Layla, 2024

A rule —

On Sundays.

Sundays we make lamb shank. It cooks for nine hours. We only have eighteen of them. They sell out by 7:30, every week, without fail. Come early or call ahead.

House rule

Come for dinner.

We have eighteen seats inside and six on the back patio. Reservations are encouraged but walk-ins are welcome — there's usually room at the bar.

Reserve a table →

When —: Thursday — Sunday
5pm to 10pm
Where —: 1217 NE Alberta
Portland, OR 97211
Call —: (503) 555-0188
Email —: layla@beirutkitchen.com

My grandmother's recipes. My mother's pickles. My kitchen.

The menu.

To start