{"id":477148,"date":"2026-10-26T13:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T13:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/477148\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T13:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T13:46:08","slug":"michelin-recommended-palestinian-restaurant-opening-in-oak-cliff-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/477148\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelin-recommended Palestinian restaurant opening in Oak Cliff church"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When husband and wife Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud\u00a0opened Ayat in New York City in 2020, their goal was to share their stories and culture through home-cooked Palestinian food and fresh takes on other Middle Eastern cuisine.<\/p>\n<p>The concept\u2019s tenth location opened in Richardson earlier this year at 200 W. Spring Valley Road (<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dallasobserver.com\/food-drink\/ayat-palestinian-soul-food-dallas-40647744\/\">it was a hit<\/a>), and now they\u2019re opening the second Dallas location in Oak Cliff at the site of a former church, slated to open sometime in 2027. The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/jimlakeco.com\/660-zang-blvd\/\">new property at 660 S. Zang Blvd.<\/a> is just a couple of blocks south of Jefferson Boulevard and backs up to I-35; it\u2019s several blocks outside of the Bishop Arts District.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur new home was once a church. A place where generations gathered, where families came together, where people found comfort, faith, and a sense of belonging,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/De209k4kcyJ\/?img_index=1\">starts Ayat\u2019s announcement post<\/a>, \u201cAnd although the building will have a new purpose, our hope is to carry that same beautiful spirit forward. Different traditions, different backgrounds, different ways of praying, but the same love for bringing people together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"694\" width=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Ayat-Pizzawarma-Photo-by-Melanie-Hernandez-1.jpg\" alt=\"The pizzawarma at Ayat stuffed with shwarma.\" class=\"wp-image-40648160\"  \/>The only complaint we have about the Pizzawarma is that we\u2019re just now learning about it. <\/p>\n<p>Sign up for the Food &amp; Drink newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n<p>THANK YOU!<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;re all set.<\/p>\n<p>CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>There are plans for an outdoor dining space and \u2018Lyanna\u2019s Playground,\u2019 a Montessori-inspired space where children can play and explore, \u201cwhile mom and dad finally get to enjoy a warm meal and maybe even a little peace and quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The goal for this restaurant is to be part of the neighborhood and a place where everyone feels welcome, regardless of where they come from or what they believe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause at the end of the day, whether we\u2019re gathered in a church, a mosque, a synagogue, or around a dinner table, the beautiful thing is that we\u2019re gathering,\u201d closes the announcement post, \u201cWe hope you\u2019ll welcome us with open arms, and we promise to do our very best to be worthy of that welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ayat shares Palestinian culture through foods like slow-cooked Mansaf and Maklouba feasts, to shawarma wrapped and ready for to-go orders. <\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Ayat was recognized by The New York Times as one of the 100 best restaurants in the city, and continued the streak into 2024, the same year it was recognized in the Michelin Guide.<\/p>\n<p>Among the standout hits is a pizzawarma (photo above): a pizza crust stuffed with shawarma, halloumi cheese, pickles, olives, pomegranate molasses, sumac, onions, and tahini sauce. The silky hummus with olive oil is also popular, and save room for the knafeh dessert.<\/p>\n<p>Ayat in Oak Cliff will open sometime in 2027. In the meantime, you can try it out at 200 W Spring Valley Road in Richardson. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When husband and wife Abdul Elenani and Ayat Masoud\u00a0opened Ayat in New York City in 2020, their goal&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,4896,1961],"class_list":["post-477148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-oak-cliff","tag-openings-closings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}