- Ayat, serving authentic Palestinian cuisine, has opened at 1243 W. Tilghman St. in Allentown
- Ayat offers a range of Middle Eastern dishes, including hummus, laffa and mashawy
- Operating hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., except for Tuesdays when the restaurant is closed. Hours are extended on Fridays and Saturdays
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The first Palestinian restaurant is now open in the Lehigh Valley.
Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant starting in New York, has opened its Lehigh Valley location at 1243 W. Tilghman St. in Allentown, a Facebook post announces. The location used to house the Italian restaurant Bellissimo Restaurant, which was closed in 2021.
“Can't wait to serve the wonderful Allentown community and eager to hear your feedback. See you soon!” the restaurant writes in a Facebook post.
The restaurant serves Middle Eastern dishes such as hummus, laffa and mashawy. It is closed on Tuesdays and primarily runs from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. for the rest of the week, except that Friday's and Saturday’s hours are extended to 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. respectively. Check out more details here.
The restaurant is named in honor of the owner’s wife who is a Palestinian lawyer and has a passion for her hometown food.
“Here is a different kind of love that radiates through her when she is cooking,” the owner Abdul Elenani said in a statement on the restaurant’s website. “Seeing this passion in her and experiencing her delicious food, it was clear to me that the community needed to experience this too.”
In addition to the incoming Allentown location, the restaurant also has opened two locations in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island.
The restaurant does not require reservations and hosts both large and small tables. To learn more about the restaurant or the menu, visit Ayat’s website. For customer reviews, click here.
