Dining in Mt. Lebanon gets more of a Middle Eastern flavor
Licha Fayad, co-owner of Laziz Lebanese Cuisine, also has been a sous chef at LeMont Restaurant in Mount Washington for 30 years.
Adele Fayad is co-owner of Laziz Lebanese Cuisine with her husband, Licha.
Oak and John Becker flank daughter Prim, whom John refers to as “our general manager.”
A taste of Lebanon has come to Mt. Lebanon, along with another dining destination with a Middle Eastern fare.
Laziz Lebanese Cuisine is operating in the Executive Building at 615 Washington Road, about two miles north of the Lebanon Shops, where Time Out Time Eat has set up shop off Mt. Lebanon Boulevard.
The two share several commonalities. Each is a family-run endeavor owned by a husband-and-wife team, three of the four individuals being first-generation Americans. Both restaurants have opened during the pandemic and have struggled with supply-chain challenges, rising food costs, finding employees and gaining visibility.
“This had been a longtime hope,” said Adele Fayad, who owns and operates Laziz with her husband, Licha. The couple moved from Lebanon to Mt. Lebanon in the early 1990s, and attempted to open a restaurant in the South Hills on a couple of occasions. They succeeded this time, launching April 4 in a space that Aranchini House had occupied before them at 615 Washington Road.
The Fayads renamed it Laziz, originally an Arabic word meaning “one who is pleasant.” They ended up with a pleasant, brightly lit location with ample space that required new furniture and equipment. Signage near the entrance directs patrons to the restaurant, which sits below street level.
Laziz fills a need as well as stomachs, as Lebanese dining spots are not common in Western Pennsylvania.
At a young age, Adele learned how to cook and bake from her mother and prepares a number of menu selections. Her five sisters and two brothers likewise learned their culinary lessons well, and are in the restaurant business in the Pittsburgh area.
Adele isn’t the only kitchen luminary in her immediate family, though. Licha has been a sous chef for 30 years at LeMont Restaurant, a five-star Diamond Award restaurant atop Mount Washington. He, too, prepares dishes for Laziz and owns an auto dealership/gas station in Whitehall. They have two sons.
A five-minute drive from Uptown Mt. Lebanon, John and Oat Becker are striving to gain a foothold at Time Out Time Eat in the Lebanon Shops. They launched Dec. 21, 2020, shortly after the coronavirus vaccine began to roll out.
“We agreed to buy the business when the pandemic hit (earlier in 2020). We couldn’t have picked a tougher time to open,” said John Becker, who with his wife bought out Cocina Mendoza, a Mexican restaurant.
“We got all of their equipment and renovated,” he said. “Actually, it’s more a redecoration – doing a little painting and adding pictures. The layout is the same.”
Becker, who has an extensive banking background, had worked in restaurants during high school, college and a stretch afterward, but admits he is not the chef his wife is.
Oak Becker, a native of Thailand, displays the ingenuity to mix and match elements that sustain an extensive menu, ranging from soups to a “flurry of curries” to desserts that include banana rolls and mango rolls.
“Oak makes 90% of what we offer and cooks to order,” said John, a New Hampshire native who met his spouse while on a trip to Thailand. “It’s not just the Thai and Indian” specialties that are available, “it’s Oak’s version of everything.”
Both couples say they are getting favorable reviews from diners, but hope business accelerates. “It’s still pretty slow,” Adele Fayad said. “We don’t want it to be crazy all the time, but we want to be more busy.
“We have our great days and quiet ones,” John Becker said. “But we’re feeling some optimism as word gets out about our food. Once we’re more established, we feel we’ll do well every day.”
The Beckers live in Mt. Lebanon with their two young daughters.
Laziz is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; it is closed Sunday.
Time Out Time Eat’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 to 10 on Friday; noon to 10 on Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday.
Both restaurants offer dine-in, take-out and delivery options.