Layali Beirut — Restaurant in New York

I have been regularly and continuously going to Leyali Beirut for the past 2 years almost and I have brought my friends, relatives, stars and even my own family to visit this great place.

To start things off the scenery is very relaxing and homey. The minute you walk in and take a look at the comfortable furniture, decorations, lights, music and ambience you feel as if you're actually visiting someone's house in the heart of Beirut.

While most places in Steinway typically either have a nightclub setting or a very cheap recreation room sort of asthetic, you automatically feel at home with the way one feels welcome when one walks in. You can sit down - watch TV, gather and just relax listening to either classic Arabic tunes or whats going on in the media.

In regards to the staff - the owner Nabeel is one the most kindest and welcoming individuals anyone can ever meet upon entering his resteraunt, he runs the resteraunt as if he's running his own house and makes sure you feel welcome. In addition, he was many staff workers who are very kind and committed and also make sure to take care of whatever food you need - so you wont feel awkward or pressured by asking anything.

When it comes to the food - I truly ask you to take my word on this and say that whatever people have said in the past is something I personally haven't experianced.

The food is fresh and right off the fire and grill, the ingrediants are top quality and the drinks/deserts are often made locally as soon as you order. Take it from me - even something as simple as the Lentil soup will definently make you hungry for more and the Lamb chops, kebabs and various entrees are not to be underestimate - the best advice I usually give to newcomers is to order a mixed grill as you get a huge plate you can share with 2-3 people with a wide mix of grilled meat that comes with your choice of salad or fries - adding a side of hummus also doesnt hurt at all.

The hookah is also something to be greatly desired after. As of now, they have recruited this really brilliant young Algerian guy with a little top knot who makes the hookah fresh and its very much worth it. The hookah can last you for a long while, the quality is great and the price is half of what you pay at all these nightclub type of spots coming around. I personally love the Lemon or Lemont Mint Hookah but you have many different options and heads to choose from.

To sum it all up - if you're looking for a great spot to hang out with friends, have a date, family get together or even come down to a nice place where you can get your work done in a café environment - I truly would and have reccomended this place in the time Ive come here.

Coming from someone who has tries hookah spots from Jamaica to New Jersey, Leyali Beirut is the spot - it may be a little pricy but you get your complete money's worth and time and always want to come back for more.

If you have any doubts or questions about this review, please feel free to comment or reach out to me as this is completely my...

We decided to go here for lunch couple of days ago around 3:30pm and it was weird to see how such a big place barely has any servers. We dined outside and the place seemed to be messy, the tables were dusty and needed cleaning. We ordered chicken kebsa and beef kebab platter; the food took about 15 mins to come which wasn’t so bad. Beef kebab platter came with a side of white rice and some roasted onion, tomato, and pepper. I was surprised to see the onion wasn’t peeled off properly and some of the papery skin of onion was roasted along with it; I did not find it very appetizing honestly. Overall, the kebabs with rice were good while Kebsa on the other hand was also quite flavorful, but extremely oily. We had to go inside in order to get hold of the server so that we could pay and leave as nobody was coming out to us. The server was alone and had to deal with multiple customers which I understand was hard so I really don’t blame him as he was trying his best and was really nice. The food prices were really high as compared to the quality of the food and the whole dine in experience. We literally spent 65$ for two people. Also, another thing that caught us off guard was that they don’t accept credit/debit, but only cash or zelle payments which was really weird as nobody mentioned that in the beginning and there wasn’t any such sign in the restaurant either. I would recommend the management to have enough servers to ensure satisfactory customer service in the restaurant and let customers know beforehand that it is cash/zelle only because otherwise it is really unprofessional for a restaurant of such scale. To those looking for middle eastern food/hookah lounges, I wouldn’t really recommend you wasting your time...

I'm in NYC every week for business and have been wanting to try this place ... Well we stopped in yesterday for lunch and a hookah...they just started opening at 2:00pm a few days earlier.

We were starving and couldn't wait to get something to eat...so we started with several appetizers...I can recommend everything I ate...all delicious. We started with: Fried Kibbeh fried cracked wheat stuffed with ground meat & onions - it was served with a Ranch "like" sauce - very tasty Falafel vegetable patties deep fried - delicious - Stuffed Grape Leaves, stuffed with rice, tomatoes, parsley, mint & olive oil, they were served warm and tasted magnificent. And Naturally we had hummus - there was warmed Pita for us to enjoy with the hummus - I really enjoyed all these appetizers. My friend and I shared a Lunch Entree - a Shish Kebab platter, tender lamb grilled with onions, and peppers grilled in flatbread....served with fries DELICIOUS. Both my friend and I enjoy Hookah - so we had a Lemon Mint shisha and later enjoy another round of Blue Mist - GREAT HOOKAHS, the bowls are packed well and they continually replenish your coals as needed. I recommend this place - a very friendly staff and just a cool place to hang out - I can't...