11-02-2025
Owners of former Beirut Restaurant open new Rosemount eatery
The second-generation owners of West St. Paul's former Beirut Restaurant have opened a new venture in their home community of Rosemount.
Beirut Lebanese Street Food & Catering opened Monday, four months after Beirut Restaurant ended its 41-year run.
John Khoury, and his wife, Madelaine Khoury, announced in July that their family-owned business' authentic Lebanese cuisine would carry on after the closure of Beirut Restaurant.
"Thanks to the support of our incredible customers and loyal staff, we survived — actually, thrived! — during those trying years of 2020 and 2021," John Khoury wrote in July. "But alas, our time here in West St. Paul has come to an end. And, just so there's no confusion, it is all under our own terms, and with great joy and optimism, that we are evolving as a business and, more importantly, as a family."
The new venture at 14873 Robert Trail South offers fast-casual counter service with a focus on catering, ready-made dishes and carry-out.
John Khoury previously shared they have a long-term goal to open multiple locations in the Twin Cities and even nationally.
Joe and Rita Khoury, John Khoury's parents, opened Beirut Restaurant in 1983.
In his announcement in July, John Khoury reflected on his parents' success after they left "war-torn Lebanon and arrived in the United States with $50."
"My parents found a small building on Robert Street that was up for lease, and they decided a Lebanese restaurant was what West St. Paul needed," he wrote. "Together, they transformed a former electronics store into a quaint spot that served food most people in the area didn't recognize and were hesitant to try."
He continued: "My parents' stubbornness, work ethic and refusal to fail — and above all, responsibility for feeding, clothing and raising two small children — kept them going despite all the challenges they faced."
John and Madelaine Khoury took over the restaurant in 2002 and are now stepping into a "new future" for Beirut, "one that allows us to reap the fruits of the hard labor the Khoury family has sowed over the last 40+ years," John Khoury wrote.
Beirut Lebanese Street Food & Catering is open Monday though Saturday from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.
