Taheni Mediterranean Grill Opens at 175 Bay Shore Rd. in Deer Park

Taheni Mediterranean Grill has opened a second Long Island location at 175 Bay Shore Rd. in Deer Park, bringing its halal menu and Palestinian culinary tradition to the Town of Babylon's busy Route 231 corridor.

The family-owned restaurant, rooted in Palestinian cooking and originally established in Brooklyn, already operates at 296 E. Montauk Hwy. in Lindenhurst. The Deer Park opening pushes its Suffolk footprint north into a commercial strip that draws traffic from the Southern State Parkway interchange and the nearby Tanger Outlets complex.

"The food speaks for itself," said a regular from the Lindenhurst location who stopped in during the restaurant's first week in Deer Park. "You feel it in the first bite — it's a family recipe, not a chain formula." She had ordered the smash burger, a house specialty served in a soft, made-in-house potato pita.

The menu centers on chicken and beef shawarma built to order as wraps, bowls or sandwiches. The smash-style burger in soft potato pita and manakish — the Levantine flatbread topped with feta and fresh tomatoes — are among the more distinctive offerings. All proteins are halal-certified.

Taheni's expansion to Deer Park tracks a broader pattern across western Suffolk County, where the halal dining market has grown steadily over the past decade as Palestinian, Lebanese and Jordanian communities have expanded in towns like Deer Park, Lindenhurst and Amityville. The certification opens the restaurant to a wider consumer base beyond the immediate community.

The 175 Bay Shore Rd. address puts Taheni roughly a mile north of Sunrise Highway, inside a plaza that has seen several tenant changes in recent years. The Lindenhurst location, at 296 E. Montauk Hwy., has accumulated more than 75 Yelp reviews since opening, with ratings built around the shawarma bowls and the manakish.

Deer Park's restaurant scene along Bay Shore Road has evolved over the past several years into a more competitive dining market, aided in part by foot traffic from the Tanger Outlets and the residential density along the Route 231 and Route 109 corridors. Taheni's arrival follows several other independent restaurants that have opened or relocated on the stretch since 2023.

The halal food market on Long Island has become a significant segment of the regional restaurant economy. A 2023 New York State Restaurant Association estimate placed halal-certified establishments among the fastest-growing independent restaurant categories in Nassau and Suffolk counties, with demand driven by Muslim, South Asian and health-conscious consumer segments across the region.

Operating hours for the Deer Park location were not immediately confirmed before publication. The Lindenhurst shop runs Sunday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Online ordering is available through taheni.com, with delivery through major third-party apps.

The family told Greater Long Island earlier this year that whether a third Long Island location follows depends on how Deer Park performs.