My spouse and I
visited Gazala’s Restaurant for dinner on a Wednesday evening in late November
2018. The restaurant is open daily from 11:00 am until 10:30 pm (with extended
hours until 11:00 pm on weekends). You can book a spot using the online Open
Table reservation system.
Gazala’s Restaurant
opened on Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side in 2018, amidst many other
restaurants and bars. (It occupies the space of the former Meatball Shop.) The
original smaller and more casual venue called Gazala’s Place opened in Hell’s
Kitchen in 2007. The spacious restaurant has two separate dining rooms, both of
which have large windows at the front. The first dining area includes a
semi-open kitchen and a small bar as well as long rows of tables and chairs.
The second/rear dining room is perched one step above the main dining room and
offers seating at smaller tables in various sizes and configurations arranged
closely together. Brick and wood with tile accents provide the decor. Al fresco
sidewalk seating is available in warmer months.
Gazala’s serves
Israeli Druze cuisine. (The Druze are a religious/ethnic/cultural minority in
Israel to which the owner belongs. Her family owns a restaurant there (near
Haifa), and her grandmother owns a spice shop.) The food at Gazala’s reflects Syrian, Lebanese,
Jordanian, and Israeli accents. Gazala’s is famous for its unique type of
super-thin pita-like crepe (called sagg) that is created by stretching dough
over a hot domed griddle. We shared the Israeli salad (chopped tomato and cucumber) and meat grape leaves to
start, followed by entrees of lamb chunks served atop hummus and the moshakal
(a sampler of grilled meats like lamb, chicken, and kefta, served with rice and
a cabbage/corn salad). For dessert, we shared the osh al-saria (a sort of
pudding/custard/panna cotta with spongecake and topped with pistachios). The
restaurant has a full liquor license, including beer, wine, and cocktails.
We loved our dinner
at Gazala’s. Back in early September 2018, we visited Israel and drove through some
Druze communities there, so our dinner at Gazala’s was a concrete reminder of
our wonderful trip and the amazing food we ate.
