Open Sesame Grill - Long Beach

Ali Kobeissi opened Open Sesame in Belmont Shore in 1989, after an earlier Lebanese restaurant called Sahara had already introduced the neighborhood to the cuisine more than a decade before. The kitchen still stuffs grape leaves and rolls falafel by hand, alongside charbroiled lamb chops, chicken tawook, and shawarma carved to order. Kobeissi's son Adam now runs the Long Beach location day to day, seating guests between an indoor dining room and a patio out front.