Authentic Lebanese Food Murray Utah: The Soweidan Family's Recipe for Resilience at Beirut Cafe

You wouldn't expect to find some of the best Lebanese food in Salt Lake City tucked inside a convenience store next to a gas pump. But that's exactly where the Soweidan family has built something remarkable—a little piece of Beirut right here in Murray, Utah.

Walk into the renovated corner of Sunburst Food Mart at 1300 East and 5600 South, and the smell of fresh pita baking in a gas-flame oven hits you first. Then you notice the family behind the counter—Habib, Fatme, Mustapha, and matriarch Rodeina Soweidan—moving with the practiced choreography that only comes from cooking recipes handed down through generations. One customer who lived in the Middle East for 14 years called discovering this place "a breath of fresh air," and honestly, that pretty much sums it up.

This isn't your typical Middle Eastern restaurant. It's the kind of place where authentic Lebanese food meets Murray neighborhood charm, where Cottonwood High School students grab ice cream after school, and where the family's resilience shines through every dish they serve.

From the Paris of the Middle East to Murray: A Family's Journey

The Soweidan family started Beirut Cafe in 2019 with a simple mission: bringing their beautiful food to Salt Lake City, inspired by the fact that Beirut is known as the 'Paris of the Middle East' because of its vibrant culture. But their story goes deeper than that.

The recipes that fill Beirut Cafe's menu come from the Soweidan family's mother, grandmother, and even great-grandmother—time-honored techniques for making everything from scratch, the way Lebanese families have cooked for centuries. When you order their smoky baba ghanouj or those perfect falafel patties, you're tasting culinary traditions that have been refined over generations.

The timing of opening a restaurant in 2019 turned out to be both a blessing and a challenge. The Lebanese are nothing if not resilient, and that includes the folks at family-owned Beirut Cafe in Murray—they not only survived closures due to COVID, but are now thriving, open every day of the week, including Sunday.

What really gets me about the Soweidans is how they've stayed connected to their homeland even while building something new here. Owner Rodeina Soweidan launched a campaign at Beirut Cafe following the massive explosion at the port of Beirut to gather donations for the Lebanese Red Cross. When crisis hits Lebanon, this family feels it—but they channel that emotion into community action rather than despair.

More recently, when Israeli airstrikes devastated Lebanon in 2024, Fatima Soweidan stood in the restaurant, her thoughts with loved ones half a world away, including her sister with her kids and husband, all her friends and cousins who were separated, trying to hide themselves and save themselves. Yet even in those dark moments, the family kept serving their community, kept making that fresh pita, kept sharing their culture through food.

The Lebanese Food Experience: What Makes Beirut Cafe Different

Let me tell you something about that pita bread. The pita is cooked in a special gas-flame oven and comes out warm, puffy and delicious—and it's absolutely fundamental to almost everything they serve. One food writer declared that if you try nothing else at Beirut Cafe, you owe it to yourself to at least order a plate of hummus and a piece of that outstanding pita bread, calling it "life-changing."

I know that sounds dramatic, but when you taste bread that's been made fresh to order, still warm from the oven with those perfect air pockets, you understand. It's the foundation that makes every other dish better.

The Dishes Everyone's Talking About

The standout at Beirut Cafe, according to multiple reviews and even the local food scene consensus? The kibbeh. Beirut Cafe serves some of the best kibbeh in Utah—those golden-fried torpedoes of bulgur wheat filled with spiced ground beef and pine nuts. At just $1.99 each, they're an absolute steal and a perfect introduction to Lebanese cuisine if you've never tried it before.

Then there's the falafel situation. Food critic Ted Scheffler declared Beirut Cafe's falafel "the best falafel I've eaten in Utah—crispy delicious patties of ground garbanzos blended with veggies, herbs, sesame seeds and garlic, deep-fried and served with tahini sauce." First-time visitors have raved that "the falafel were flavorful and the best we've ever had," and trust me, when people use superlatives like that, they're not exaggerating.

The baba ghanouj deserves its own moment too. One reviewer described it as "my ideal representation of the traditional eggplant dip," noting how tahini, garlic, olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice blend harmoniously, creating the perfect amount of roasted eggplant and brightness.

The Grilled Meats & Shawarma

Grilled meats and proteins are where Beirut Cafe really shines—the mixed grill entree includes generous kabab skewers of marinated chicken, perfectly pink lamb and kafta (ground beef) plus two sides. The kafta is especially good—it's basically a sausage-shaped meatball made with ground beef, lamb, onion, spices and herbs, and customers consistently praise its tender, juicy texture and flavorful seasoning.

Here's something I love: the gyro and shawarma meats are made from scratch, not ordered in a pre-made hunk from Sysco, and when you serve delicious, juicy slices of crispy-edged gyro meat on that heavenly homemade pita, you've got a truly great gyro. That kind of from-scratch commitment is rare at wallet-friendly price points.

One Uber Eats reviewer simply declared it "Best Lebanese food, including hummus and pita, in Utah," while another noted the portions are genuinely generous. "VERY tasty and plenty of food for me. The Beef Shawarma plate was a good portion that was well cooked, seasoned and fresh with plenty of meat," one customer explained.

Don't Sleep on the Vegetarian Options

The Veggie Combo showcases how everything on the combo plate except the tomatoes and lettuce is made from scratch—homemade grape leaves stuffed with chopped greens, rice, herbs and spices; three balls of falafel; and a generous serving of tabouli.

The Beirut pies are another hidden gem. The spinach and cheese pies feature a flavorful filling of leafy greens and onions, all baked in that same gas-flame oven that produces the legendary pita. They're perfect for a lighter lunch or as an appetizer to share.

The Murray Neighborhood Connection

What makes this place special isn't just the authentic Lebanese food—it's how it fits into the Murray community. Ice cream from one of Utah's oldest creameries, Farr Better Ice Cream, shares space with Beirut Cafe and caters to high school students next door at Cottonwood High School.

It's this weird, wonderful combination that somehow works perfectly. Teenagers stream in after school for ice cream. Families come for dinner and stay for dessert. The fast-casual format means you order at the counter and find a seat, but the service feels personal—one of the owners noted they made all the food on-site, and it shows in the attention to detail and care.

The restaurant is large and spacious with a nice patio for folks who prefer to dine outside, making it ideal for Murray's warmer months when you want to sit under the shade and enjoy your meal.

The location itself tells a story. The Sunburst Food Mart and Car Wash has been a fixture on the corner of 1300 East and 5600 South for years, better known for its auto repairs, gas, propane and sundries—so when a Lebanese restaurant opened in a renovated portion of the building, it was a neighborhood surprise. But that surprise has become a beloved fixture.

What to Order at Beirut Cafe

Look, the menu is extensive—it takes up an entire wall behind the counter. Here's what I'd recommend based on what customers consistently rave about:

For First-Timers:

• Start with the hummus and fresh pita (seriously, this is non-negotiable)
• Add an order of fried kibbeh ($1.99 each—get at least two)
• Try the falafel plate to experience Utah's best falafel

For the Adventurous:

• Baba ghanouj with extra pita for dipping
• Foul mudammas (stewed fava beans and chickpeas—a traditional dish you won't find everywhere)
• Stuffed grape leaves

For Meat Lovers:

• Mixed Grill combo (chicken, lamb, and kafta skewers)
• Beef or chicken shawarma plate
• The whole roasted chicken with garlic sauce

For Sharing:

• Veggie combo platter (perfect for vegetarians or as a shared appetizer)
• Multiple Beirut pies (spinach, cheese, or zaatar)
• Family combo plate with grill mix, salads, and sides

One reviewer noted the authentic Middle Eastern hospitality and kindness, all at wallet-friendly prices, which really captures the Beirut Cafe experience. The pricing is remarkably reasonable for the quality—most entrees range from $10-17, and you're getting generous portions of food made from scratch.

Planning Your Visit to Beirut Cafe

Location & Hours: 1326 E 5600 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84121 (Murray/Cottonwood area)

• Monday-Thursday: 10:30 AM - 8:30 PM
• Friday-Saturday: 10:30 AM - 9:30 PM
• Sunday: 11:00 AM - 8:30 PM

Getting There: The restaurant shares parking with Sunburst Food Mart, so there's plenty of space. It's literally right across from Cottonwood High School, making it easy to spot.

What to Know:

• Order at the counter, then find a seat with your number
• They offer catering for events (and customers rave about the presentation)
• Online ordering available through their website and delivery apps
• Outdoor patio seating available during warmer months
• Farr's Ice Cream counter inside for dessert

Insider Tips:

• The premises and bathrooms are spotless—a sign that they really care about every detail
• Go early for lunch to beat the Cottonwood High School crowd
• Don't be intimidated by the extensive menu—the staff is incredibly helpful with recommendations
• If you can't decide, the combo platters let you taste multiple dishes

Follow Them: Find Beirut Cafe on Instagram and their website at beirutcafe.com for menu updates and specials.

Why Beirut Cafe Matters to Utah's Food Scene

To be honest, you wouldn't expect to find such authentic Middle Eastern flavors smack dab in the middle of Murray, but that's exactly what makes Beirut Cafe so important to Salt Lake City's evolving food landscape.

This is a family that could have taken shortcuts—used pre-made pita, bought frozen falafel, relied on Sysco for their meats. Instead, they chose to honor the recipes passed down from their grandmother and great-grandmother. They chose to bake fresh pita in a special gas-flame oven. They chose to make everything from scratch, even when times got tough during COVID, even when heartbreak from Lebanon made it hard to focus.

As one delighted customer put it: "All extremely fresh, piping hot, obviously made for us. All were so enjoyable... Another sign of excellence? The premises and bathrooms are spotless...they really care!"

That care shows in every crispy falafel patty, every perfectly grilled kafta skewer, every warm piece of pita that comes out of that oven. The Soweidan family isn't just serving Lebanese food in Murray, Utah—they're preserving a culinary tradition and sharing their culture with a community that's embraced them right back.

In a city that's rapidly expanding its international food scene, Beirut Cafe stands as proof that authenticity doesn't require a fancy downtown location or a massive marketing budget. Sometimes it just takes a family willing to work hard, cook from the heart, and share the flavors of their homeland with anyone willing to walk through the door.

Even if that door happens to be in a convenience store.

Find Beirut Cafe at 1326 E 5600 S, Salt Lake City (Murray), UT 84121 | (801) 679-1688 | beirutcafe.com