Ya Hala Lebanese Cuisine

"Montavilla neighbors are all long familiar with Ya Hala from chef Mirna Attar, which has served Lebanese food on Stark Street for more than two decades. When looking to eat halal at Ya Hala, lamb is your safest bet — all of the lamb Ya Hala sources is halal — available as shawarma or kabob. The restaurant’s lemon chicken is also halal, which arrives juicy and tender with hummus, toum, cabbage salad, the garlicky potato dish batata harra, and grilled pita. Plus, all vegan dishes on the menu should be halal as well, which means meals can begin with Ya Hala’s lovely hummus or baba ghanoush. In the Fairuz Room, diners can get a more boutique prix fixe experience for $45 per person with a reservation." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden

"The eclectic brunch menu at Montavilla’s Lebanese spot Ya Hala may have dishes like house-smoked lamb bacon and eggs and a tzatziki-sauced burger, but it also has a steaming hot, tangy shakshuka. Baked eggs swim in stewed tomatoes, fennel, and mild chili peppers, topped with slightly melty feta and chopped fresh mint. A fluffy pillow-like pita bread helps soak up that stewed sauce." - Nick Woo

"Montavilla neighbors are all long familiar with Ya Hala, which has served Lebanese food on Stark Street for more than two decades. When looking to eat halal at Ya Hala, lamb is your safest bet — all of the lamb Ya Hala sources is halal — available as shawarma or kabob. The restaurant’s lemon chicken is also halal, which arrives juicy and tender with hummus, toum, cabbage salad, the garlicky potato dish batata harra, and grilled pita. Plus, all vegan dishes on the menu should be halal as well, which means meals can begin with Ya Hala’s lovely hummus or baba ghanoush." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden

"In a certain respect, chef Mirna Attar’s recollection of the Lebanese Civil War is an atypical one — the traumatic time actually holds some happy memories of gathering, cooking, and eating. Amid the conflict, she and her family retreated to a small village in the mountains to hide out with their extended family, which she recalls feeling like a big sleepover. Ultimately, Attar and her immediate family fled Lebanon for the United States, immigrating to Portland in 1983. She opened Ya Hala in 1999 with her husband John Attar. At the Montavilla restaurant, Attar has spent 24 years cooking Lebanese dishes like baba ganoush, kafta kabobs, and tabbouleh, beginning at a time when Lebanese restaurants were scarce in the city. Forty years after leaving her homeland, she is encapsulating the memories of her youth in a new prix fixe menu served within a dedicated space at Ya Hala. At the Fairuz Room, which is named after the beloved Lebanese singer, Attar has created an experience that represents her journey as an immigrant and the feeling of existing between two countries." - Janey Wong

"A stucco wall painted with faux windows adds an immersive charm to Ya Hala, one of the city’s best Lebanese restaurants. Most nights of the week, families and couples on dates fill its dining room, with tables covered in baba ghanoush, shawarma, lamb sausages, rice-stuffed grape leaves, and much more. Desserts are worth ordering here, in particular the poached pear-almond tart." - Janey Wong, Nathan Williams