Baba's Pantry

"Open for: Lunch, dinner Price range: $ Velvety hummus and tender falafel studded with sumac onions helped land Baba’s Pantry on Bon Appétit’s 2022 best new restaurants list. But the real draw at this colorful Palestinian cafe is the deli case, which brims with incredible sauces, spreads, and dips. Try the labneh torshi, dirty martini dip, and Baba’s Ganoush. Know before you go: On Saturdays, the team opens up the bakery next door to sell sweets, such as toasted sesame-turmeric sugar cookies or pistachio-rose cinnamon rolls." - Liz Cook

"Kamal Kamal, part-owner of the Palestinian deli Baba’s Pantry in Kansas City, Miss., uses food as a nonviolent protest to overcome stereotypes associated with being Palestinian. Emphasizing the role of Palestinian restaurant owners in sharing their traditions and taking credit for their cultural contributions, Kamal speaks of the importance of hospitality and community in their business." - ByElena Dudum

"Also worth visiting are new local restaurants like Palestinian-American café Baba’s Pantry, which got a shoutout on Bon Appetit’s 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022 list for hummus that editors dubbed 'the best we’ve ever had.'"

"Before the pandemic, Yahia Kamal mostly ran his Palestinian food stall in Kansas City, Missouri, on his own. Stationed within a downtown grocery store called Cosentino’s, he made the falafel wraps and blended garbanzo beans with tahini and lemon juice for his daily batches of hummus. But in 2020, when offices went dormant and downtown became a ghost town, the 62-year-old restaurateur was ready to go bigger. He went to his wife and four children and made the pitch—relocate to a more populous neighborhood and open a brick-and-mortar, with everyone in the family on board. Baba’s Pantry, a year-old Palestinian American café and one of Bon Appétit’s 10 Best New Restaurants of 2022, was born." - ByEmily Wilson

"Baba's Pantry radiates the ideals of family, community, and culture. Serving baklava, Turkish coffee, and velvety hummus, the café is a representation of the Kamal family's Palestinian heritage and their life in the diaspora. The patriarch, Yahia Kamal, has run various food businesses since immigrating to America from Palestine in 1979, but this is his first proudly Palestinian restaurant. His son, Kamal Kamal, an interior designer from New York, has transformed the storefront into a deeply personal space. The signature dishes like hummus, falafel, and bread are authentic to Palestinian cuisine, while innovative dishes like jackfruit shawarma add a unique twist. The café's ambiance is enriched with sun-faded photos and elements from Baba's house, creating an environment that’s both a slice of Palestine and a celebration of the Kamal family's journey." - ByAmiel Stanek