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Tanios and Marie Abi-Najm arrived in Arlington in 1976 with five young children, a few pieces of luggage and $600. Fleeing Lebanon’s civil war aboard a cargo ship, the family settled temporarily with relatives in Rosslyn and began working toward a shared ambition: opening a restaurant.

Their children—Dory, Dany, David, Gladys and Grace—started bussing tables on their second night in the United States. Their parents painted houses and worked in local restaurants. The family pooled its earnings and saved for three years.

In 1979, the Abi-Najms bought Athenian Taverna, a sub and pizza shop in Arlington’s Westover neighborhood. To avoid the cost of replacing the entire sign, they retained its “Taverna” portion and paired it with “Lebanese.” The economical decision gave Lebanese Taverna its name.

That first neighborhood restaurant eventually grew into a regional group serving the Washington, Baltimore and Northern Virginia areas. Its operations have included six full-service restaurants, seven fast-casual LebTav cafés, an Arlington market, catering, cooking classes and private dining.

Customers helped the family find its footing

The restaurant became both a workplace and a second home for the Abi-Najm children. Grace Abi-Najm Shea recalled that customers sometimes helped her complete homework at night because her parents, who each had only a third-grade education, could not assist her.

A favorable article in The Washington Post helped introduce the restaurant to a larger audience. Business increased as more diners discovered the family’s Lebanese cooking and hospitality.

Expansion accelerated after the family partnered in 1995 with Cornell School of Hospitality graduate Henrik Suhr, who became friends with Dany Abi-Najm through fishing. The partnership led to eight additional locations while the family worked to preserve the original restaurant’s character.

The company later responded to changing dining habits by developing its fast-casual LebTav brand. Three Maryland locations were converted into smaller café concepts as the group adjusted its footprint.

All five siblings remained involved in the family-owned company nearly five decades after its founding. Dany, who studied economics at George Mason University, helped steer expansion. Gladys became closely associated with its charitable work, particularly its support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Grace oversaw operations and community relationships, while David worked with Dany on the second location and Dory helped maintain the restaurants’ Lebanese identity.

Tanios and Marie eventually retired, but the approach they established continued: treat the dining room as an extension of the family home and make newcomers feel like regular customers.

A menu that influenced another Washington restaurant

The Abi-Najm family also helped José Andrés develop recipes for Zaytinya before that restaurant opened in 2002. According to Grace, its Lebanese recipes came from Lebanese Taverna, and the menu once identified the hummus as being prepared “Lebanese Taverna style.”

Across its own restaurants, Lebanese Taverna became known for dishes including kibbeh, chicken and lamb kabobs, baba ghanoush, shawarma, lentil soup, tabbouleh and warm puffy bread. Other frequently praised offerings have included pumpkin kibbeh, falafel, mujaddara, fatteh lamb and Lebanese wines.

Online reviews have generally highlighted the food, welcoming dining rooms and personable service. Diners have also reported occasional slow service, dry grilled dishes and limited parking at some locations.

The customer base has grown across generations, with grandparents, parents and children returning over decades. Grace said those relationships have made the restaurants about more than meals: patrons became part of the community surrounding the family business.

Community work became part of the operation

The Abi-Najms supported St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital even during the company’s difficult early years, donating catering for galas and other fundraisers around the Washington region.

Gladys met St. Jude founder Danny Thomas when she was 13 and later named her oldest son Jude after the hospital. One campaign raised more than $10,500, while her younger son, Luc, independently raised about $10,000.

The company also mobilized during the arrival of Afghan refugees at Dulles International Airport in August 2021. When World Central Kitchen asked whether the restaurants could prepare 1,000 meals within a few hours, multiple locations contributed several hundred meals apiece.

Grace then spent two weeks beginning work at 6 a.m. to prepare lamb, rice and spinach. She contacted Homayon Karimy, a former Afghan employee who had joined the company at 16 and worked there for 12 years. He helped translate signs welcoming the refugees to the United States and explaining that the food was halal.

After the Beirut port explosion, Lebanese Taverna partnered with World Central Kitchen on another relief effort. The restaurants donated $1 from every hummus sale, and customers contributed additional money.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the business to rely on takeout and delivery, the family encouraged hundreds of hourly employees to bring food home. The company has also assisted local immigrants working toward legal citizenship.

From its improvised Westover sign to locations across the capital region, Lebanese Taverna grew without leaving family leadership behind. Its evolution into full-service restaurants, cafés, a market and a catering operation traces back to the same goal the Abi-Najms carried from Beirut: build a gathering place around Lebanese food, shared work and hospitality.