Tripoli Restaurant • 1972

The Salem family brought their mother's recipes from Tripoli, Lebanon to Brooklyn in 1972, opening one of the city's first truly authentic Lebanese restaurants at a time when good Middle Eastern food was nearly impossible to find. Over five decades later, their sprawling menu still centers on traditional homemade dishes like kibbeh and shish barak, served from the same Atlantic Avenue block where they've fed everyone from Mayor Ed Koch to Muhammad Ali. The meza platter alone is worth the pilgrimage.