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Lebanese restaurant in Jamaica Plain shuts down
By adamg on Sun, 01/07/2024 - 10:47pm
Via Jamaica Plain and Roslindale Facebook groups comes the news that Cafe Beirut on Centre Street closed for good yesterday.
Cafe Beirut grew out of Sami's, a fabled kebab stand in the heart of the Longwood Medical Area, which itself closed in 2019.
It's the third Lebanese restaurant in the area to shut. In October, the owner of Fairouz, on Washington Street in West Roxbury, closed his restaurant to concentrate on catering. Also in October, Shawarma King on Beacon Street in Brookline shut down.
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Comments
Oh no!
Another neighborhood staple lost. Damn.
Is this part of the city's
Is this part of the city's war on restaurants or just collateral damage?
Not Lebanese, Blanche...
L-e-s-b-i-a-n
There have been clues.
I mean, you've seen her eating baba ghanoush, if you've watched the show at all, and hummus, and a big, big fan of Casey Kasem.
Hey, wait a minute. I'm a big fan of Casey Kasem. Maybe I'm Lebanese!
Too bad, but I hear that we
Too bad, but I hear that we will have another Lebanese restaurant coming this year
Do tell?
What? Where?
We must protect Al Wadi at all costs!
Great Middle Eastern cuisine, fantastic service, well worth the trip out to West Roxbury. I'm very glad they survived covid, but wish they'd reopen for weekday lunch.
Bummer. Their food is really
Bummer. Their food is really good and there isn't really much around to replace the type of food they make.
That's a Huge Bummer
They got much of my take-out spending and were the only area place I could find Vimto. I will be hard pressed to replicate their fantastic baba ganoush, which was my favorite of all our local baba ganoush options.
On a bright JP food note, it looks like Momo Masala, in the old Haven space, is almost ready to open. It's run by the crew from Himalayan Bistro in West Rox and shares many of their dishes. The bonus is that there are more momo options, which is great for me and anyone else who likes dumplings.
Cause is inflation?
In the Boston Globe article reporting on the closing the owner claimed that inflation is the reason for closing the restaurant. That does not make sense because inflationary increases of the same food is on the shoulders of the other restaurants in the same 2 block radius.
Everyone faces inflationary pressure
But not everyone has the same ability to adjust or absorb the impact. If the business were only marginally profitable before Covid & inflation, it might be losing money today with little hope of turning things around. Eventually the owner makes a decision to stop throwing good money after bad. Maybe they had stayed open because the losses were less than the cost of eating the lease.
Inflation is not an issue if
Inflation is not an issue if you overcharge for clams from a can and your main ingredient is salt.
Try Stardust in West Roxbury
Lots of Middle Eastern goodness. I want them to survive.