Ayat, 2112 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

When Ayat Masoud and her husband Abdul Elenani opened the original Ayat in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in 2020, they wanted to “spread the message about what’s happening in Palestine through food and culture” in the neighborhood where they had both grown up.

Their “Palestinian soul food” restaurant, with a prominent mural of a woman weeping and Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem guarded by Israeli soldiers, became a local favorite in a neighborhood where many restaurants fly a Palestinian flag. Since then, Ayat has expanded to eight locations across four boroughs and New Jersey— and gained a wider following. The restaurant gave free meals to Zohran Mamdani’s campaign volunteers, and the mayor-elect visited the restaurant’s Manhattan outpost this week.

Early next year,

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