The story
Youssef Al Abdallah, known as Abu Hussein, opened a small restaurant in Zibdine, near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, in 1999. Chicken grilled on charcoal was the speciality, served with a homemade spicy sauce that became one of its signatures, and customers queued for their orders. In 2004 demand pushed the restaurant into a larger space. As the concept drew imitators, some of them using the Al Abdallah name, the family brought more of the business in-house. By 2016 it had built a central kitchen, warehouse and slaughterhouse and gained ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 certification, and in 2017 it bought a chicken farm, giving it control from hatching to the plate. A second branch opened in 2013, and by 2023 there were 11 branches in Lebanon. International expansion began in 2021, which the transcript credits to his sons Hussein and Mohammed, with branches in the UAE and Iraq and further openings in Qatar. The company says it aims to be the most widespread Lebanese restaurant chain in the world by 2035.
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