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When you would kill for a sandwich

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Thursday, July 3, 2008 | 03:19 PM ET

By Nahlah Ayed

Beirut's new Buns and Guns eating emporium. (Nahlah Ayed/CBC)

Back on the subject of themed establishments …

They have been around, of course, since the 1950s when U.S. entrepreneur David Tallichet, a former Second World War bomber pilot, first invited customers into restaurants built around war relics.

Over the years, I am sure we've all at some point been corralled into going to a Kenny Rogers Roasters, a Hard Rock Café or perhaps even a Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. Why are they so popular?

Branding sells, it would seem. Whether it's hockey or rain forests or Hollywood, or even Facebook themes (see last month's column), restaurants and bars, even those with mediocre fare, can cash in on clever decor.

Most of this is rarely newsworthy. But when some Lebanese youth from Beirut's southern suburbs — a Hezbollah stronghold — created a military-inspired restaurant called Buns and Guns, it made headlines worldwide and became, for some of us, an imperative to check it out. So I did.

That alone was enough of a draw. I just had to check it out.

See Nahlah's video (2:15)

A distinctive ambiance

Some people would immediately assume this place is dedicated in some way to Hezbollah, the heavily armed group that reigns supreme in this part of Beirut. They would see it as being frequented, maybe even run, by hardened Hezbollah fighters.

Server chic at Buns and Guns (Nahlah Ayed/CBC)

They might even think that the earnings would go to helping the cause of what's known in these parts as the "resistance." (One seemingly over-imaginative media outlet reported there was a Hezbollah burger on the menu. There is no such thing.)

What I found was a fast-food joint with a small terrace surrounded by, you guessed it, sandbags. Inside, the energetic culinary foot soldiers — the chef and wait staff — wore camouflage and helmets. The ceiling had olive green netting and there were plastic guns and ammunition on the shelves.

The background "music"? Computer-generated sound of helicopters and bursts of gunfire. Having been around too much of that myself in real life, this is not my idea of a relaxing atmosphere. But the aural environment is certainly on message.

Tuna camouflage, anyone?

Clearly, much thought had been put into planning this locale.

The bullet-shaped menu includes sandwiches like a B52 (beefsteak), a Magnum 357 (grilled chicken), Tuna Camouflage (a salad), and a Canon 155 (hamburger).

You can also opt for supersize serving like the Tactical or, yes, the Terrorist Meal. Potato wedges are Grenades, cheese rolls are Bullets and the delicate crepe loaded with chocolate is incongruously called a Glock, after the Austrian handgun.

Even the sandwich wrapping paper is army green.

The motto of the place is: A sandwich can kill you. But that is a reference to their generous portions.

I tried the food (I had an RPG, a kind of chicken sandwich) and it was pretty good. (And for those of you who have wondered in the past, yes, we CBC employees always pay our own way.

Tasteless?

The visit, needless to say, was certainly an experience. Many people I know, especially those who aren't fans of Hezbollah, have said they find the idea utterly tasteless. (One colleague shook his head and exclaimed: "They've even managed to put weapons even into food!")

But the owners say everything is tongue in cheek, not unlike the New York-based Axis of Evil comedy troupe that makes fun of Arab stereotypes and terrorism. "They accuse us of terrorism, so we're serving terrorist bread, why not?" owner Youssef Ibrahim told Hezbollah's al-Manar TV, which did a story on the restaurant that was widely interpreted as Hezbollah's stamp of approval.

As far as the owners are concerned, the restaurant's style is just a tactical sales gimmick, one that's bound to work in a neighborhood largely supportive of Hezbollah. It is also a neighborhood that saw the worst of the war between Israel and Hezbollah back in 2006.

But the owners also insist they have nothing to do with Hezbollah (or any other group for that matter) despite one almost direct reference on the menu to what they call "Lebanese resistance bread."

They describe themselves simply as entrepreneurs and say that Buns and Guns is an ordinary restaurant business with an idea that sells and may even be expanded to other parts of Lebanon or even other countries.

No teddy bear

The whole concept of Buns and Guns is "just an idea to attract customers," 25-year old general manager Ali Hammoud told me. "We could have used teddy bears and people might have liked that, too."

Had they chosen teddy bears, the dozens of journalists who have come here to dine, including me, wouldn't have bothered with the story, not without the opportunity to use all those endless military puns. And business might not be as brisk as it is now.

Hammoud says he and his partners came up with the idea two years ago and that the restaurant's opening, just as Hezbollah fighters trounced government loyalists in a mini-civil war recently, was just a coincidence.

Though that fight, he admits, did help attract attention to the place among a population supportive of Hezbollah's actions and proud of its weapons.

So what does all this say about the restaurant and its owners? At the very least, that they're both products of their environment.

Hammoud confirmed this when I asked him whether the decor and the sound effects ever brought back bad memories for the staff. "We're used to it," he said with a smile. "It's a part of our life."

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Comments (5)

sam

calgary

Is Nahlah still reporting from Lebanon? I really enjoyed her reports.

Posted August 5, 2008 03:41 PM

mehdi

ottawa

Haha this idea is definately not as weird as the facebook pub certainly seems more in touch with the country than the pub! I find it weird that people would find it distasteful, whoever thought of this idea definately do have marketing skills and whether or not they're linked to hezbollah that is a different story, but the money is flowing, the idea is great and people are obviously eating there and its even created a sort of a buzz here in canada, hats off to them!
thank you nahlah for your continuous updates about the war torn countries in the middle east, and occasionally shedding a bit of light humor in the stories

Posted July 8, 2008 11:31 AM

Jeff Wilson

Winnipeg

I wonder how such a restaurant in a Lebanese neighborhood in Canada would be recieved?

Or a Somali neighborhood, or a Rawandan, or an Afghan?

I predict massive consternation and protest.

It's funny how, according to multiculturalism policy dogam: all cultures are equal, and yet, not all cultures are allowed to take the mickey out of the very same thing. Not all cultures are allowed to have the same kind of humour.

Why is this?

Posted July 8, 2008 04:04 AM

Dan

When's Canada getting one of these! Maybe a more redneck version would be appropriate.

Still not as bizarre as the Facebook establishment though.

Posted July 7, 2008 03:22 PM

Victoria

I am happy to see people within a war torn place not only having a sense of humour about themselves but also the guts to start a business in what I assume is a difficult period to run an existing business (let alone a new one).

Good luck!

Posted July 5, 2008 06:13 PM

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