- Title: LEBANON: Fast food restaurant in Beirut offers meals with a bang
- Date: 6th July 2008
- Summary: INTERIOR OF RESTAURANT
- Embargoed: 21st July 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAC8PHK9LW4G5TUJWEL93C0QZOJ
- Story Text: There are many restaurants in Beirut that offer 12-inch submarines loaded with meat and cheese along with fast food staples such as fries and soft drink. But until a few weeks ago, none served them with a health warning reading: "a sandwich can kill you".
"Buns and Guns" is the name of the new fast food restaurant in Beirut's infamous southern suburb, a stronghold of Hezbollah and scene of the worst devastation of the 2006 war with Israel.
At the entrance of the restaurant, customers are welcomed with a picture of a hamburger and a gun next to it.
Ali Hammoud, the young co-owner of the restaurant, tries to dismiss the notion that the war-themed restaurant conveys popular preoccupation with violence after the war with Israel and the internal clashes that followed.
"It's just an idea I had, nothing more, nothing less. I could have put toys in place of the sandbags and teddy bears instead of guns. But it was just an idea. You could say that the situation in the country made the people pay attention,'' says Hammoud, seated outside his restaurant which has become popular with teenagers in the neighbourhood.
Sandbags cover the entrance and inside, the corners and the walls are dressed with either pictures of weapons or live ammunition, from AK-47s to hand grenades to pistols and automatic rifles.
The chefs wear military fatigues and serve the food with camouflaged paper. And to complete the scene, the sound of guns and explosions make up the background music.
"People passing by will notice it because it's an original idea.
People like new ideas," says Hammoud.
And the new idea seems to have worked.
Fifteen-year-old Hussein says he thought the restaurant was a gun shop at first. And looking at the menu, it would be surprising if one did not.
Dishes and sandwiches on the menu are named after famous weaponry or mines or military tactics.
"First time I came here I thought this was a weapons shop. When I looked at the names of the dishes, I thought so. But I realised it was a restaurant when I came in," says Hussein after placing his order. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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