‘Dad never took his customers for granted’: remembering Abdul’s in Sydney’s ‘Little Lebanon’

Shifting demographics, rising rents and lowered patronage post-Covid have contributed to the decline of a thriving restaurant scene in Surry Hills, including local fixture Abdul’s Lebanese Restaurant. Photograph: Bec Lorrimer/The Guardian

When Abdul’s Lebanese Restaurant closed earlier this month, it was a shock. A beloved fixture of inner Sydney’s landscape since 1968, the restaurant fed celebrities, broke students and anyone in need of a hearty kebab at the end of a night out.

For Hiba Damaa, whose parents Dib and Nizam Ghazal opened the restaurant and named it after her eldest brother Abdul – who eventually ran it with his two brothers – it represented the pioneering spirit of early Lebanese migration.