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Habibi Restaurant
Habibi Restaurant
	The restaurant's front exterior in February 2021
Restaurant information
Owner(s)	Mazen "Leo" Khoury
Food type	Lebanese; Middle Eastern; Syrian;
Street address	1012 Southwest Morrison Street
City	Portland
County	Multnomah
State	Oregon
Postal/ZIP Code	97205
Country	United States
Coordinates	45°31′12″N 122°40′57″W / 45.5201°N 122.6826°W
Website	habibirestaurantpdx.com

Habibi Restaurant is a Lebanese, Middle Eastern, and Syrian restaurant in Portland, Oregon.

Description

Habibi Restaurant serves Lebanese, Middle Eastern, and Syrian cuisine including baba ghanoush, falafel, grape leaves stuffed with beef, hummus, meze, pita, shawarma, and tzatziki.^[1]^[2]

History

Habibi had two locations, as of 2011: 1012 Southwest Morrison Street and 221 Southwest Pine Street.^[3] The Pine Street restaurant changed ownership in 2014.^[4]

The restaurant enrolled in Prime Now in 2015.^[5] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Habibi operated takeout service and via food delivery apps, as of May 2020.^[6]

In October 2020, owner Mazen "Leo"^[7] Khoury was stabbed by a customer who refused to pay.^[8]^[9]

Reception

In 2007, The Oregonian's ethnic food guide said, "After one visit to this Lebanese diner, you're a friend; on the second, you're family. Straight-out-of-the-oven pita is perfect, the hummus contends for the city's best, and the Lebanese rice is amazing. Finish with a strong, tasty Turkish coffee or a rosewater juice."^[10] DeAnn Welker wrote:

It's easy for a restaurant to get lost on Southwest Morrison's restaurant row between 10th and 11th avenues, where Italian, Indian, Mexican and Mediterranean flavors cheerfully coexist. The real standout is Habibi, a Lebanese diner every bit as good as well-known eastside joint Nicholas, with a few touches --the fresh-from-the-oven pita paired with a contender for the city's best hummus among them --that go beyond, ensuring it lives up to its name ("habibi" means "beloved" in Lebanese). And it will be even more beloved when it commits to a full-time Lebanese focus and drops the holdover Italian dishes.^[11]^[12]

In 2011, The Oregonian's Michael Russell wrote, "This family-run restaurant features Syrian and Lebanese recipes that will make you forgive the nightclub lighting. Stop in for friendly service, tasty falafel and shawarma sandwiches, creamy hummus, and tender marinated kebabs served over flavorful rice."^[3] In her 2019 list of the city's ten best places to get hummus, Shannon Gormley of Willamette Week wrote, "If you like your hummus with a rougher texture that's still plenty creamy, Habibi is the place to go. The low-key glitzy Syrian Lebanese restaurant's blend is light and refreshing, the kind of dish that makes you feel healthier."^[13]

References

^ "Habibi". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Best Places: Portland (8 ed.). Sasquatch Books. June 2010. p. 147. ISBN 9781570616990. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Russell, Michael (July 23, 2011). "Hideaways". The Oregonian.
^ "Cheap Eats". The Oregonian. June 27, 2014. p. 08. The Southwest Pine Street location of Habibi, downtown's cosmopolitan Lebanese restaurant, changed hands this winter, though regulars could be forgiven for not having noticed. The cafe's Beirut nightclub atmosphere remains largely the same, as does the menu. But turn past the hummus, shawarma and baklava to the final page of Tangier's menu and you'll find a handful of excellent Moroccan dishes.
^ Walsh, Chad (October 20, 2015). "Expect Amazon to Start Delivering a Lot of Your Food Very, Very Soon (Like Now)". Eater Portland. Vox Media. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke; Frane, Alex (16 March 2020). "Where to Find Takeout and Delivery During Portland's COVID-19 Outbreak". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Orti, Camila (October 2, 2020). "Portland restaurant owner survives customer stabbing attack". KPTV. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Ryan, Jim (October 6, 2020). "Man arrested after refusing to pay for food at Portland restaurant, stabbing owner, records show". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Young, Jenny (October 1, 2020). "Angry customer accused of stabbing Portland restaurant owner". KOIN. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
^ Butler, Grant; Zusman, Michael C.; Sarasohn, David; Levy, Shawn; Porter, Roger; McQuillen, James (June 15, 2007). "Your ethnic food guide". The Oregonian. pp. 42–51.
^ Welker, DeAnn (March 23, 2007). "cheap eats feeding frenzies with pocket change". The Oregonian. p. 23.
^ Welker, DeAnn (July 13, 2007). "recently reviewed by The Oregonian's restaurant critics". The Oregonian. p. 22.
^ Gormley, Shannon (November 5, 2019). "These Are the 10 Best Places to Get Hummus in Portland". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.