This restaurant is closed! It's now a coffee shop. The traffic on Doniphan is brutal now making if difficult for these local places.

Ambiance in new location is more casual. Olive and cheese appetizer was lovely and well presented. Middle eastern salads were delightfully fresh and delicious. Service is friendly. The only complaint? I came because I was craving baba ganouj. Theirs is made with (I can only assume) canned roasted eggplant. You can taste the citric acid used in the canning. It simply wasn't good. Texture is too puréed, overly salted, and deficient in both tahini and lemon. Do order the individual size if you want to try it. I'm leaving a $15 order of it on the table with 3 teaspoons missing. The pita was warm, tender and plentiful. read more

El Layali - Lebanese Near Me - El Paso, Texas

Lebanese food is one of my favorites, and El Layali is a hidden oasis in this city. It's a small family-owned establishment and the intimate setting makes for a cute and cozy meeting spot. I met up with the owners of Just Between Friends to see what the newest consignment event was up to. It's coming hopefully in March and taking tags now. Parking was a little confusing and we ended up parking in 3 different lots, lol, but the restaurant did have a dedicated lot behind the space. The staff was so professional and friendly, and they even suggested we BYOB since they didn't have their alcohol license yet. The menu is extensive and I loved the hummus plate. You can tell they use quality olive oils and they weren't stingy with the pita bread. I ordered the coffee and it was Turkish style with the grounds and it came in a tiny cup with sugar cubes. The best part is that they left the entire pot. The main entree for me was the Shish Tawouk (chicken skewers) with potatoes and my friend got the same with rice. You can't go wrong with this dish, the chicken was tender and full of flavor. Our other friend got the Lebanese plate and the tabouleh and the cooked kibbeh were delicious! The portions are perfect, not too large but enough that we were happily full. I would like to try out the desserts next time. This was such a nice little neighborhood spot, I look forward to coming back! El Layali Lebanese Cuisine (915) 259-8004 5222 Doniphan Dr. Suite B, El Paso, TX 79932 https://maps.app.goo.gl/HkgWQedFc12Netwh9 read more

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Tried the Grilled sirloin steak plate and the Nutella baklava. The day that went, the place was very busy. The sirloin steak plate came with steak, rice and pita bread (8 in no). The meat had good taste; the downside was that it was very chewy. I was unsure if the reason of it being chewy was because it was an order to go and maybe the steam made it have that texture. The pita bread, rice and steak went well together. The Nutella baklava was basically baklava with a ton of Nutella on top which made it extremely sweet and unappetizing. Overall, I will try again in person and check if it's better. Another important point to make is that they charged a 3.5% extra charge if you use a credit card and it's noted on the credit card tap/insert machine, however, the employee didn't notified me about the extra charge which showed lack of transparency in the business. read more

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La comida en El Layali es una celebración de los sabores auténticos del Líbano. Cada plato es preparado con ingredientes frescos y siguiendo recetas tradicionales que han sido transmitidas a través de generaciones. The food at El Layali is a celebration of the authentic flavors of Lebanon. Each dish is prepared with fresh ingredients and following traditional recipes that have been passed down through generations. read more

Wonderful and friendly customer service Excellent food and the teas are delicious Baklava is made there and all the meal are made by them . read more

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From start to finish, every single thing about this restaurant was mediocre. The service, the food, the ambience. I don't really care about waiting for my food if the food is worthwhile. But please don't charge unreasonably high prices for mediocrity and expect returning customers. A basic chicken shish was $18: two tiny skewers on a bed of greens. First of all, WAY too much salt! The chicken was semi-tough, and didn't have the juicy tenderness of a properly grilled chunk of meat. The kibbeh was not only dull and flavorless, it was steaming on the inside and room temperature on the outside. Chef Gordon Ramsay has taught us all what this means, and it ain't good. I had to mask the entrees with the even more bland hummus and yogurt sauce. I only finished my food because I felt guilty about how much I spent. I seriously question if the chefs have tasted the food they serve, because are some major adjustments that must take place for me to return! read more

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We had a wonderful luncheon there today. Hummus was grainy and wonderful. The olive and cheese appetizer was delightful. We shared a plate of lady's and believe me it was plenty for us both. Arabic coffee to finish the meal and we came away satisfied and very happy. read more

Delicious appetizers, chicken skewers, and Lebanese coffee! Love it. Another hidden gem in El Paso.

Happened to come across this location as we were looking for Persian/Iranian food from Tasty Kabob. Still exploring this side of EP, TX. Lots of eateries here and we were lucky. Tried the Mezze Sampler appetizer with the wife. Wanted to be like Tony Stark and Sirloin Shawarma Wrap while my wife tried the Layali Rice. Very delicious and will be back to try other items on the menu. This place is fantastic. read more

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The food and service are wonderful. The food brings back to so many memories of the food my grandfather used to make for us. We even had them cater my mom's birthday party. Everyone loved the food! read more

Not only is the food absolutely delicious but the service is beyond amazing. The staff is super tentative and make sure everything is up to par. The menu has a variety of dishes and each dish was super good. Definitely returning! read more

Excellent food, friendly, efficient staff. Best Layali Rice I've had. I will return. Great

I try very hard not to give harsh reviews early on in a restaurant's opening weeks. I love Lebanese food, and have been gifted with lots of Lebanese friends and home cooking. I was excited to have yet another Mediterranean option on the west side, but I am less thrilled after my visit yesterday. First, there are a lot of things they're doing well. The decor is fun, the music is traditional, the staff is friendly and moderately efficient, and the menu options are fairly broad. I worry about the gold lamé runners on the tables though. They don't look machine-washable, and will probably be soiled by food on a regular basis. The drink glasses are a bit on the small side, but soda and tea have free refills. Continuing on with things that are going well, the portion sizes are generous. They also make their labne (Mediterranean style thick yogurt) from scratch and it is quite delicious. There are no thickeners or additives that I could detect. Because I make yogurt and labne at home, I would have preferred a longer fermentation time for a thicker and more tart product, but that's a matter of personal opinion. I suspect most people will prefer the milder version that they serve here. Now, for the less pleasant parts of the review. Parking was a literal nightmare. My friend who was joining me had to park at Taco Bell and walk. Because of the density of businesses in that area, there is simply not enough parking available. I was lucky and got a good space, but apparently this is an issue on a regular basis. We ordered the rice dish called "layali rice" to share. It was nicely cooked white rice with small bits of ground beef, shredded chicken breast, pine nuts, almonds, and pecans. When I have Mediterranean or Lebanese food, I expect certain flavor profiles to be present. This rice dish was quite good, and the nuts in particular were generously used. However, it tasted like something that you might get at a church potluck in the Midwest. It was flavorful, well salted, and nicely cooked, but there was nothing that would have readily identified it as a Mediterranean dish. It wasn't really disappointing - (we did finish it and enjoyed the taste) - but it was also strangely not very Lebanese tasting. Perhaps there are very mild comfort food dishes that I've never had from my Lebanese friends, but this tastes like something I would cook to eat as comfort food while binge watching Game of Thrones. They did serve a small complimentary portion of the yogurt with crisp Lebanese bread. It led us to order a full size portion to enjoy as well. Now the harsh criticisms. The menu prices are wildly out of line with most other Mediterranean restaurants in El Paso. The rice dish was $20, and I believe the small size of most of the appetizers is around $10. All of the prices on the menu seem excessively inflated compared to other options (Jerusalem Grill, Ali Baba, Sinbad, Farrah's, Nour) in the area. Understandably, I'm sure the space rental for that property is high, but they are going to have a difficult time building a consistent loyal clientele from the typical customer. Neither my friend nor I mind paying for excellent food. There were certainly things about the meal that we enjoyed even as we puzzled over some of the flavoring and spice choices. Finally, this was the nail in the coffin for us that means we probably will not be back. My friend was craving something sweet as we were checking out. They have a nice display case with traditional Mediterranean treats, and we ordered two small pieces of baklava to go. Those two pieces were $5 each. So, $10 for two small pieces of baklava. More annoyingly, the young girl who rang us up didn't give the total for the two pieces of baklava before she ran my friends card. It's unlikely that we would have cancelled the order in any case, but it was certainly not ideal customer service. Again, this is wildly out of line with other businesses - most restaurants serve 2 portions of baklava for $5 or less. We walked into the parking lot and decided to enjoy our baklava there. We each took a bite, ready to savor the delicious marriage of nuts, crisp pastry, buttery goodness, and honey that goes along with excellent baklava. However, the nut layer, singular, was quite thin. The syrup did not taste of honey at all, though it may have had some honey added. It was more reminiscent of sugar and corn syrup. Finally, I took another bite and realized that my mouth was being assaulted by some kind of cooking fat that was not butter. We puzzled over it and decided that whatever oil had been used had been vaguely rancid... Yes, $10 for 2 pieces of unpleasant baklava that we did not finish eating. I will be really shocked if this restaurant manages to stay open more than a few months unless they make some drastic changes to there business model. Tl;Dr - the rice and yogurt are good, if overpriced. Avoid The Baklava at all costs. Plan on a hike unless you have great parking Karma. read more

I stopped for lunch and had the hummus which was served with a hard flat bread similar to the one in Indian restaurants, rather than the traditional pita. It was freshly prepared and well garnished. For my entree I had beef shawarma, I did not care for the wine marinade and the cut of meat was tough. Restaurant is clean and the service was attentive and excellent. They have a pastry display and an incredible layout. I asked for recommendations, as I have never had Lebanese food, but found it to be very similar to Mediterranean. An appetizer drink and entree was $30.00. A bit high of a price point but not bad. There are no lunch specials and I unfortunately have to agree that but for the hummus, the food was mediocre. read more

Great, authentic, fresh, and served with a smile! Nice variety and vegetarian friendly options.

This place is awesome. food is fresh made to order and their turkish coffee is out of this world. Really great place.....I wish their hours were a bit different....1pm opening and if not mistaken fridays they dont open until 4pm.....that late opening misses the lunch time rush. read more

As an Arab, I believe I have full authority when I say that this is the worst Arabic food I have ever had, in my life. Truly this was a horrible experience. Before we even get into the food side, the ambiance was that of a nightclub. I walked in here with my family, we saw that the scene wasn't something we were really into (super loud music), and literally an empty restaurant. However, we decided to stay and judge the place based on its food. For appetizers: We ordered the hummus, baba ganoush, and tabula. I immediately recognized the hummus and baba ganoush's consistancy and taste was EXACTLY the same as the mediocre hummus and baba ganoush I buy from the can. So there is that. We also ordered the Tabula. The burgul (the grain used in tabula) wasn't cooked at all. My poor son said he felt like he was eating pebbles since the burgul was uncooked, and was worried it would break his teeth. For our entrees, I ordered the squash stew. I swear I am not exaggerating when I tell you that when I bit into the squash, it was still frozen on the inside. After that, I lost my appetite and all I wanted to do was leave. What is worse, is that this place isn't cheap. We left the restaurant with a relatively high bill for disgusting food and service. If you are looking for Arabian food, I beg you to stay away from this place. read more

Nice generus plates. Excellent service. The sampler was very good. It was our first time here and we had only once before had any Lebanesse food, so we were fish out of water... but the young lady explained each option and recommended some items... we were very pleased. Prices seemed resonable, good variety and a nice quiet place to really relax. We ordered some Baklava the pistachio one was really good.. and we were offered rose syrup..must admit really sweet, but delicious... One cool point to be noted.. they use biodegrable paper straws.. GREAT!!! read more

Entire family got sick minutes after leaving the restaurant. The only thing we shared was hummus and terrible pita chips. We love Mediterranean food and this place really disappointed. First it's strange this place opens up at 1 on Saturdays for lunch we waiting outside for 20 min. They're we're out of a couple of things. The wait staff was hardly seen and not very helpful. What drew us to this place was the really good looking food the post on their Instagram. Don't go and get sick, plenty of other great Mediterranean places all up Mesa st. read more

Really pretty good middle eastern food. Reasonably priced too. A few other places are a bit over priced in El Paso. This was yummy and not expensive. Glad they moved to their new location. Will be going back! Grape leaves were a must! read more

I went to check this place out and it did not disappoint! I have been searching for a restaurant that is worth the money that I spent. Well I can firmly say that I found it! It was delicious, the chicken kebab that I ordered was tender and juicy. I cannot think of anything that I would have changed from my plate. Definitely going back again! Check out this place if you are tired of being disappointed by mediocre food. This place is now my go to Lebanese restaurant! read more

This place is super delicious!!! I definitely recommend it, the food is very good and it's filling. What I liked about it is that it's not heavy yet filling. I recommend the sampler!!! I will definitely recommend it and definitely coming back. read more

Amazing!!! Was here from out of town a few days ago and wanted to try some good eats. My husband is of Lebanese heritage and is very picky when it comes to Lebanese food. This is by far the best Mediterranean restaurant we've tried anywhere!! The grape leaves were as soft as angel cooked, the tabbouleh was excellent with lots of taste and don't even get me started about the Shawarma!!! Will definitely be making a comeback for more on our next visit, amazing Lebanese food!!! read more

Amazing food! The quality is very sophisticated and authentic to taste. Best hummus anywhere around here. Buy it to take home i stead of grocery brands. All the dishes are made with care so try something new and enjoy it! read more

Totally worth it we had the sirloin shawarma, grape leaves, tabuleh and falafel. Best falafel in town. We also had the Lebanese hot tea it was wonderful! To finish we had a pistachio baklava you have to add the rose water orange blossom honey for an extraordinary dessert! Prices are good and service is awesome read more

Great service and great food! Desserts are yummy! Clean and delicious, we ordered the lentil soup and the chawarma wrap all very yummy

The food is good, but several times we've stopped for lunch & your doors are locked, sign says closed. Change your hours if you don't want to serve lunch at 11:30. It's very disappointing read more

Very good food, super friendly staff. Will definitely be back. Combo sampler was well done.