Williamsburg’s Bis Bas Mediterranean Grill is opening a second outpost at 121 E. 23rd Street in Gramercy Park, owner Norman Alsaidi confirms.
Alsaidi emigrated from Yemen to Queens when he was just four-years-old. While on the pre-dental path he was forced to leave and find work elsewhere to make ends meet, eventually leading him to open the Lebanese sit-down Semkeh in Williamsburg in 2021 with Mustang Jabakhanji. Semkeh is best known for its specialty Tripoli sandwich made with spicy baked fish. However Alsaidi parted ways with Semkeh due to management disputes and opened his first solo fast-casual spot at the top of 2022.
“It’s my taste and my vision,” Alsaidi tells What Now New York. “I always had a passion for cooking food at home, and my goal was always to bring [Bis Bas] to the main workforce in Manhattan.”
Bis Bas Mediterranean Grill is a fast-casual halal spot that aims to offer healthy food for city slickers that are often on-the-go. He offers a variety of Levantine mezzes, almost all of which are derived from his own personal recipes, that can be used to build your own bowl. A unique mezze on the menu is bis bas itself, which is a spicy herbed Yemenite sauce. The menu also includes various pita sandwiches, vegan lentil soup, spiced fries, desserts like baklava and beverages like mint lemonade. He also hopes to add a Turkish shepherd’s salad in the future.
After being approached by investors to expand, Alsaidi searched high and low for the perfect Manhattan shop. He eventually settled on the 3,856-square-foot space in the Baruch College neighborhood of Midtown just down the block from the 23rd Street station. He plans on offering student discounts at his new location to give his business a competitive edge.
“I fell in love with this specific location because it’s right in the center of Manhattan,” he says.
However he hopes this is just the beginning. He aspires open up in every borough and eventually all over the country.
“The passion is there, the food quality is there, the customer feedback is amazing,” he touts. “Each review gives me more motivation.”
