When you are born into a legacy business like Sahadi’s, you don’t often agitate for change. What has worked will (usually) continue to work. It’s hard to be objective about a business you are so close to, it feels like family. But change and growth is the most natural course in families and in business.
I have had the absolute luxury of being able to do something I love for my entire career. Sharing food and Lebanese hospitality has given me great joy. From my grandfather, down through each generation, we have shared food and drinks with so many other families and friends, our amazing customers and guests.
Our flagship store on Atlantic Avenue has been a constant in the neighborhood since 1948. We are part of the fabric of the community and we love that. Being a legacy shop means serving generations of the same families -- and that is a great feeling!
These past few years, we've expanded beyond Atlantic. In 2019, our grocery at Industry City opened, and with that we launched a Mediterranean wine bar, a cafe and an indoor/outdoor event space. Then this past year, we added Sahadi Spirits to the Industry City location, sharing wines and spirits from underrepresented regions in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. In all these new ventures, the challenge was bringing what we're known for -- sourcing expertise, customer service -- into new contexts: across the bartop, tableside, hosting celebrations, wine and spirits tastings. What Sahadi's is has changed, and yet stayed the same.
This December 2023, we returned to our Manhattan roots after 75 years, by way of Pier 57’s food hall, Market 57. Sahadi’s first opened on Washington Street in “Little Syria,” now identified as Battery Park City, in 1895. This move made the news! The new Market 57 outpost of Sahadi’s will serve a variety of Mediterranean- and Middle Eastern-inspired dishes, including Toshka (a grilled cheese-stuffed Lebanese flatbread), hot Saj wraps filled with shawarma or moussaka, and rice bowls. It'll also allow us to deliver to Manhattan customers faster than ever before.
Who knows where we will go in the future, but with our amazing team I am sure our legendary Lebanese hospitality will shine through.
