Neighbor to Neighbor Visit to Lailaty Cafe

On Sunday, August 2^nd, several members from Holy Trinity enjoyed a visit to Lailaty Café, owned by Ramy and Eman Badawy who are immigrants from Egypt. Like many, their story is complex and illustrates both the challenges and opportunities immigrants encounter when coming to the United States. Ramy came on a student visa to study Electrical Engineering and received his master’s degree from Iowa State. He was fortunate to be offered a job here in Columbus, so he moved here with Eman. She had a background in Education so she decided to complete a master’s degree in education at Ohio State. But there were few opportunities for her to work in her field, so she and Ramy decided to reach back to their life in Egypt where they owned a restaurant.

As you can imagine, starting a restaurant is a steep hill to climb, and it took more than a year to find a location they could afford, get the necessary permits, design the menu, and open the restaurant. It’s been open for just over a year now.

So what is unique about Egyptian food and Lailaty Café? As Eman explained, Egypt sits at the crossroads of many cultures and food traditions, so the food they prepare pulls from all these resources. Some food will look familiar, but other dishes are unique. The second thing that is special about Lailaty Café is its emphasis on building connections over food. In fact, the word “Lailaty” in Arabic means “home” or “homelike.” There is an extensive game room with both board and electronic games, and patrons are encouraged to extend their time together to learn more about their companions.

The members of the Neighbor-to-Neighbor team highly recommend a visit. Dishes are plentiful and very tasty. If you have a sweet tooth, sample the many treats prepared by Eman. We did not try the coffee but if you are a coffee lover, it’s worth exploring.

Lailaty Café is located at 3869 South High Street in the Great Southern Shopping Center. They are open Tuesday – Sunday from 9 AM – 9 PM. Why not try something different and support our immigrant community? It will definitely be worth your time.