Ayat offers a cozy, vibrant escape in Manhattan to savor authentic Palestinian cuisine, featuring mouthwatering shawarma, hearty mansaf, and a welcoming atmosphere.
"Ayat has multiple locations throughout New York: Each of the halal restaurants faithfully performs the duties of a Monday night restaurant. The vibe is lively, the portions are large and reasonably priced, and most important, there are tables available tonight. There’s no alcohol on the menu, but there’s lots of tea and the restaurant is BYOB." - Melissa McCart
"Since the first protest began at Columbia on April 17, Abdul Elenani, the co-owner of acclaimed New York City Palestinian restaurant Ayat, has spent much of the last two weeks preparing and delivering thousands of meals to protesting students in the city and beyond." - Amy McCarthy
"Abdul Elenani, the owner of Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant with three locations across New York City, recently posted on Instagram that Google’s business profiles don’t allow restaurants to choose “Palestinian” as a descriptor when setting up a searchable business profile." - Jaya Saxena
"Ayat has opened in Manhattan, marking the fourth location of this Palestinian restaurant in NYC. Their new corner spot in Alphabet City looks like a prime location for eating baba ghanoush and chicken shawarma with a group, perhaps on a Saturday, when it is raining yet again. They don’t have a liquor license currently, but we’ve heard that if you ask, you can BYOB." - Will Hartman, Willa Moore
"Last week, Palestinian restaurant Ayat was flooded with one-star negative reviews in response to the restaurant’s outspoken identity and its 'call to end apartheid.'" - Melissa McCart
