Comptoir Libanais is more than a Lebanese restaurant; it’s a souk, too!
When Lebanese people feel homesick when they’re abroad, they directly head towards a Lebanese restaurant to get a taste of home. However, food is sometimes not enough.
Comptoir Libanais is not your typical Lebanese restaurant. Located in the United Kingdom, this restaurant is all about making clients feel like they’re really in the Middle East, more specifically in Lebanon.
Apart from offering authentic and delicious Lebanese dishes, this restaurant has also a souk in it! You can get herbs, spices, rose water, clothes, handmade Lebanese crafts, and more! The idea behind
Comptoir Libanais is to give a casual Lebanese atmosphere to clients or “guests” as the founder of the restaurant Tony Kitous calls them. But Kitous is not Lebanese, he’s Algerian!
He opened a Lebanese restaurant because he appreciates Lebanese food and wants to share the Lebanese hospitality with people! Kitous wants his guests to feel relaxed when eating at Comptoir Libanais.
By making the food affordable and the interior-design friendly, Kitous wants everyone to get the whole Lebanese experience.
Despite being a casual place to dine in, Comptoir Libanais serves many high profile people such as Prince William, Pippa Middleton, and Prime Minister David Cameroon.
Paul McCartney, Bjork, and Robert Plant have also visited this Lebanese restaurant. Kitous opened his first restaurant in 1993. Now, 24 years later,
Comptoir Libanais has 20 branches and more than 700 staff. He also wants to expand his business and reach new markets such as the US, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa.
This initiative is all about showing people what the Oriental culture is about and making Middle Eastern people proud of their heritage. If you’re a Lebanese in the U.K. and you’re missing home, you know where to go!
