PHOTO BY KRISTY LOCKLIN

(Per Your Recommendation is a new, regular column about the eateries you hold dear. From swanky spots and roadside diners to neighborhood gems and gotta-try food trucks, I want to taste everything the Pittsburgh region has to offer. Pub grub, ethnic cuisine, fine dining, takeout — it’s all “fare” game. Please email your suggestions to klocklin@pittsburghmagazine.com.)

Adele Fayad has spent a lifetime surrounded by great chefs.

While growing up in the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon, her mother used the kitchen as a classroom, teaching the family how to make healthy, yet flavorful food. The siblings took those homespun lessons to heart and moved to the United States to open up eateries.

Laziz Lebanese Cuisine is Adele’s labor of love.

“You want freedom,” she says. “You just want to be yourself. I feel that way about my restaurant.”

Located in Mt. Lebanon’s Executive Building at 615 Washington Road, the spot is hidden from street view, but it’s worth the short trip down to terrace level. “Laziz” means “delicious” in Arabic and that’s not a misnomer. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

I got my first taste of the country’s fare years ago at the Pittsburgh Lebanese Food Festival, an annual event hosted by Our Lady of Victory Church in Beechview. A reader tipped me off to a new spot in the nearby Mt. Lebanon Business District. I made a beeline for the Executive Building’s basement. 

Together with her husband, Licha Fayad, a longtime sous chef at LeMont Restaurant, Adele has been dishing out tasty plates from her past since last spring, when the former tenant, Arancini House, closed. The couple, whose adult children help out at the restaurant, have a menu of meals that’ll make you go hog wild without the guilt. 

I started off with the Mezza Platter, a combination of hummus, baba, tabbouli, feta cheese, olives, turnips and pepperoncini and made a mental note to munch on this kind of stuff when I’m binge-watching a new Netflix show — much healthier than inhaling a bag of potato chips. (I’m still pushing for Phil Rosenthal of “Somebody Feed Phil” to visit Pittsburgh and devour its diverse dining scene.

My friends and I shared a falafel wrap bursting with pickled turnips, lettuce, tomatoes, parsley and tahini. Yeah, the falafel part is deep fried, but it’s a mixture of chickpeas, fava beans, sesame seeds and spices. 

We also tried the lamb shank entree. The tender pieces of lamb sit on a bed of rice and are drizzled in tomato sauce. You get a generous pile o’ pita and a side house salad, which includes more addictive feta cheese and Kalamata olives along with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers in a house-made dressing.

I wasn’t born with much of a sweet tooth, but baklava is one of those treats I just can’t pass up, so I ordered it to go. It’s the kind of dessert that makes a great breakfast.

The Fayads, longtime Mt. Lebanon residents who also own an area auto dealership and gas station, have always dreamed of opening their own restaurant in the township. They’ve made several attempts in the past, but 2022 proved to be the right time. 

After a pandemic pause, office workers are back at the Executive Building and more pedestrians are passing by and noticing the sign. Adele says she hopes to offer sidewalk seating this summer. 

Despite its lack of windows, Laziz has a bright future in the township.