The city of Bridgeton will soon be home to Ya Hala, a restaurant and hookah bar to be located at 12434 St. Charles Rock Road in the space formerly occupied by Culpepper’s. Owner Ahmad Abuelawi told The Scoop that his restaurant will serve Middle Eastern cuisine, with 35 percent of the menu devoted to Lebanese eats; the remainder will be a selection of Jordanian, Turkish, Israeli, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi specialties.
Ya Hala will serve lunch and dinner daily, and Abuelawi expects to open doors on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Abuelawi also hopes to secure a downtown location on Washington Avenue next month for a second Ya Hala. He declined to provide the exact address. A website and Facebook page for Ya Hala are currently being developed.
This article appears in Sep 1-30, 2011.