Of course, it’s about more than food, or abstaining from it.
For Muslims, the month of Ramadan is about spiritual discipline, material generosity, and fostering compassion with those less fortunate, partially through fasting between a pre-dawn meal, sohour, and the breaking of fast at sunset, iftar. Traditionally, the two meals serve as gathering points for family and friends, and are typically held at home during the first week and last few days.
For Philadelphians, fasting or not, the month offers a chance to explore a range of North African and Asian cuisines, with several of the city’s restaurants setting up Ramadan buffets and special menus through April 9 to accommodate diners.
Here’s a list of some of those spots:
Little Morocco
Great for whiling away afternoon hours watching North African soccer, this West Passyunk Ave nook offers halal burgers, kebab platters, and Moroccan sandwiches like kofta and merguez (a spicy lamb-beef sausage) along with hot tea, cold drinks, and house made desserts.
For Ramadan, they’ve set a month-long special: $25 gets you a mini pancake, salad, lentil soup, and a main decided on the day — “we shop daily for whatever’s fresh and halal,” co-owner Rachid Kotbi explained. Past examples include tajines — beef, lamb, and salmon — and selections of grilled meats. The regular menu is available at all hours; the Ramadan menu starting at iftar through closing, itself extended by two hours till 1 a.m. throughout the month.
1431 W Passyunk Ave | 12:30 to 11:30 p.m. (1 a.m.-ish during Ramadan) daily | (267) 639-4504 | No reservations | order online
Casablanca Mediterranean Grill
‘Mediterranean’ is the key word at this South Philly corner spot, formerly Lebanese restaurant and market Bitar’s. It’s now owned by Syrian brothers Walid and Talal Baruki, who offer a mixture of regional cuisines in a refurbished setting with expanded cushioned seating, low round brass tables, and a continuous soundtrack of classic Arabic crooners.
Throughout the month, the Barukis are promoting a hearty set menu ($35 per person), with a first course of marinated carrots, roasted eggplant, and a tomato and cucumber salad, followed with a choice of mild or spicy chicken, and either a lamb tajine or bone-in lamb with honey and almonds for the third course. A vegan route is available, substituting the proteins with mujadara — a lentil, cracked wheat, and fried onion dish — and a platter of grape leaves, hummus, falafel and baba ghanoush. Both options end with vegan pistachio baklava and hot mint tea. Like Little Morocco, this restaurant is also staying open past usual hours during Ramadan for late diners, although calling ahead is strongly encouraged.
Also recommended is Casablanca’s in-store market, carrying everything from house made pastries and spreads to halloumi cheese, different zaatar varieties and spices, and otherwise elusive grains like freekeh.
947 Federal St | 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday, closed Sunday | (267) 324-5165 | Reservations recommended | casablanca-grill.com
Bon Kif Grill
Three Ramadan menus at this Tunisian spot, differentiated by their mains: branzino fish ($40), couscous with lamb ($31), and spaghetti with chicken ($26). The accompanying soups change accordingly — seafood, lamb, and chicken — but the appetizers are consistent across; dates, Tunisian brik (savory stuffed pastry), mishiwa (spicy mixed greens with tomatoes, olives, and onions) and Tunisian salad, with Moroccan green tea or a soda to cap things off.
627 South St | 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 1:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday | (267) 319-1547 | order online.
Cilantro Mediterranean Cuisine
The month-long buffet at this South Philly family restaurant offers a rotation of Egyptian culinary staples, courtesy of chef Dalia Soliman and husband Mohamed Elazzazy, who left a successful acting career back home to settle in Philly.
The lineup runs from the familiar — grape leaves, grilled meats, oven-baked potatoes — to the deeply traditional, like fattet kawareh, or cooked cow’s feet in a mix of rice, tomato sauce, and pita chips. Recurring dishes will include zucchini bechamel casserole, roqaq (flaky meat pies), and molokheya (a jute leaf stew.) It’s all bookended by a starter of salad and vermicelli or chicken soup, and seasonal drinks like tamarind and qamar el-din (thickened apricot juice) for dessert, at $55 per person.
613 S 4th St | 12 to 11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. Friday-Saturday | (267) 761-9609 | cilantromediterraneancuisine.com
Manakeesh Café Bakery & Grill
Qatayef are making a comeback at West Philly’s Manakeesh, with the bakery at this Lebanese establishment frying mini-pancakes — filled with minced walnut or sweet cheese or cream and served with rose water syrup — to order throughout the month. “They’re a nice sugar rush at the end of the day of fasting,” said general manager Adam Chatila, “to keep you going through the night.”
Over on the restaurant side, weekday specials like sambousik (fried cheese pastries) and vegetarian moussaka are available in addition to the restaurant’s regular menu. A variety of dishes will be offered exclusively across weekends, starting Friday with maqlouba (“flipped over”), a Palestinian concoction of rice, fried eggplant, fried cauliflower, tomatoes, and lamb cooked together, turned upside down, and sprinkled with nuts. It was added to the otherwise Lebanese menu, Chatila explained, “to put a highlight on Palestine right now.” Served with soup and salad, the weekday specials will cost $25.
A buffet will be set up on Fridays and Saturdays ($35 per person, $20 for kids under 10). Iftar delivery is an option, but orders must be placed before 6 p.m. day of.
4420 Walnut St | 6 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; closed Monday-Tuesday | (215) 921-2135 | No reservations | manakeeshcafe.com
Makkah Market
Another West Philly staple and standing directly across from Manakeesh, this 24-hour market with a kitchen and 25-seat dining area offers the rare option for a sit-down sohour, or the last meal before dawn’s cutoff.
The focus is on North African cuisine, but the menu is geared to “cater to everyone. We’re not a typical restaurant where we just do a certain thing,” said owner Jafar Fares. He promises at least five different types of chicken daily alongside a variety of vegan dishes, rice, fish, and grilled vegetables. The most popular items, he said, are the lamb stew and spicy rice biryani.
Past the kitchen, the market boasts a deep selection of Middle Eastern goods — from teas, spices, and regional candies, to an array of canned fuul varieties, pitas, and camel milk, with a halal butchery running across the back space.
4249 Walnut St | open 24 hours | (215) 382-1821 | No reservations | makkahmarketpa.com
Kabobeesh
“This is a month of generosity,” Kabobeesh owner Asad Ghumman reminded Billy Penn. Subsequently, he’s set up free mini-buffets at his two restaurant locations, offering anywhere between four to six dishes like fried samosas, fruit salads, dates, as well as beverages, at zero cost to customers. It’s meant mainly as a service to the international demographic of his University City locations, but “everyone is welcome,” Ghumman assured.
Beyond that, the regular all-halal menu of Pakistani plates, curries, and barbequed meats is available, including over a dozen pizzas with topping options of paneer, tandoori chicken, and seekh kabob alongside the more traditional likes of pepperoni, veggies, and buffalo chicken.
5206 Chestnut St and 4201 Chestnut St | 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday; 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Tuesday-Sunday | (215) 222-8081 | kabobeesh.com
Alamodak Restaurant and Hookah Bar
Friday to Sunday brings an iftar buffet throughout the month to this Jordanian restaurant in Fishtown ($26 per person, $15 for children under 10), with dishes like kabob, beef okra, mandi (chicken over yellow rice), and mansaf (lamb cooked in fermented yogurt over rice) on rotation. Weekday specials also see a similar rotation, with $20 combos of yellow lentil soup and a choice of Greek or Fattoush salad to accompany the day’s main.
A 10% total discount is offered to diners who patronize the second floor’s hookah lounge (+21), where Ramadan programming — game shows and serials — will be screened throughout the month.
The restaurant’s Cherry Hill location, Alamodak Express at 1400 Haddonfield-Berlin Road, also has a special offer for the month, a $45 family-sized chicken shawarma box with pita and sides of hummus and baba ganoush, available for pickup.
With Ramadan ending on April 9, Alamodak in Fishtown will be hosting a party to mark Eid al-Fitr (literally the ‘holiday of breaking the fast’) on April 13.
161 Cecil B. Moore Ave | 4 to 12 p.m. Sunday-Tuesday and Thursday; 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday-Saturday; closed Wednesday | (267) 239-0088 | alamodakrestauranthookahbar.com
