Syrian Restaurants & Cafés

One thing you can expect to find in Syria is a lot of restaurants and cafés.  The most elaborate being in the larger town usually attached to the hotels of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, Hama, Tartus and the different Resort towns of Syria.  There are many fine restaurants offering a wide selection of authentic Arabic and international cuisine at reasonable prices.   The Ministry of Tourism ranks restaurants and cafés on a scale from « to ««««« with «««««being the most luxurious.

The food is excellent The service is always friendly and many restaurants have menu's in both Arabic and foreign languages, including French and English. 

Your restaurant experience will begin with some hors d'oeuvres and drinks and then be followed with your main meal and then followed by a dessert and hot drink, usually Arabic coffee or shai (tea).

Many restaurants have entertainment in the form of musicians and in the more elaborate restaurants piano players are prevalent. 

Cafés are very popular in Syria.  Here you can meet friends over a hot drink, usually Arabic coffee or shai and a small bite to eat.  Here you can expect to find people smoking fruit flavored tobacco from the erghilly (water pipe), playing cards, and table games (backgammon).  Some cafés even have story tellers, acting out stories of tradition and customs.