Lebanon has seen a lot of violence in recent years. So much, in fact, that many Lebanese worry that their country could easily slip into a civil war. That didn't stop the owners of a new restaurant in Beirut called "Buns and Guns." The restaurant's theme is all about Lebanon's violent side. And -- one month after it opened -- business is booming, as The World's Aaron Schachter reports.
Schachter: For many Beiruties, going to the Dahyeh neighborhood is akin to taking a drive from Beverly Hills to South Central LA. The Hezbollah stronghold is viewed with suspicion, if not outright fear.
photo: Aaron Schachter
Shibani: "There's bad advertisement, "be careful they will kill you," or something like that. I don't think so. Everyone can come, everyone can go..."
Schachter: That's Buns & Guns owner Rabbieh Shibani. His new restaurant is drawing a crowd from all over the city.
Shibani: "Everything seems scary when you don't know it. But when you enter you see the camouflage roof, you see the fake guns... Schachter: They're all fake, yes? Shibani: Yeah, they're all fake...
Schachter: Aside from the guns and the ever-present sound of attack helicopters, the walls and wait staff are covered in camouflage and sandbags demarcate the patio.
photo: Rafael D. Frankel
Shibani says he's not trying to glorify war, but poke fun at Lebanon's troubles, something that all Lebanese share regardless of which neighborhood they're from. On the menu is a Terrorist Meal and Lebanese Resistance Bread. The rest of the items read like a litany of weaponry.
Shibani: "I have stingers, ground/air missiles, I have bullets 50- caliber, I have M-16 carbine, I have B-52, it's a very big huge beef sandwich. I can give you the anti-tank missiles. Its name is cornet, very delicious. Schachter: Whatever the small one is, though.
The "explosive" menu: photo: Rafael D. Frankel
Schachter: While I'm waiting I chat with some guys who came from downtown Beirut to check out the place. Here's Ramsey Farhat.
Farhat: It's a good place and it's cheap too. If we had this in downtown it would have cost triple. So it's a good meal for a good value, it's nice. And it's a good PR scam.
Schachter: Buns & Guns owner Shibani wouldn't call it a scam... but he knew what he was doing when he came up with the theme. Shibani: "What's it called? It's self-advertisement. The name has its own advertisement, a way to get inside the brain of everyone reading the menu, it's very attractive." Schachter: So I'm just another sucker who's been drawn in by the name to interview you. Shibani: (laughs) Yeah.
Schachter: Yeah, that feels good. Shibani gets suckers from all over the city... some, like yours truly, may be nervous at first about coming to this neighborhood, dubbed Hezbollahstan, but Shibani does a good job of putting people at ease.
Guns & Buns owner Shibani (center) with employees: photo: Rafael D. Frankel
Buns and Guns also delivers. Shibani says sometimes he's nervous about his drivers going into other neighborhoods. If sectarian violence should flare up in, say, a Sunni enclave, there's no question that his guys from the Shiite neighborhood would be targeted. Shibani hopes to open a Buns & Guns franchise within four months at a seaside tourist spot just north of Beirut... and maybe in the not too distant future to a food court near you.
