Iconic Late-Night Lebanese Beirut Express on Edgware Road Is No More

Lebanese restaurant Beirut Express on Edgware Road — a member of the Maroush Group — has closed permanently.

Although the location is still listed on the company’s website, Eater London learnt yesterday that the site is now closed. The Google listing also confirms the restaurant’s permanent closure.

The site at 112–114 Edgware Road, London W2 2DZ was listed in a past iteration of Eater London’s 38 essential restaurants and was one of Edgware Road’s standout Lebanese restaurants, an institution famous for its shawarma wraps, mezze and grilled kebabs. Beirut Express was one of four Maroush sites between Marble Arch and Maida Vale. A second Beirut Express, also owned by the Maroush Group, is situated on Old Brompton Road near South Kensington.

The Maroush Group, which claims to be London’s “original Lebanese dining experience” own and operate 13 sites in London — a portfolio which includes restaurants, juice bars and Lebanese bakeries. The first site — a Maroush — opened on Edgware Road in 1981.

In a city that has only relatively recently started coming round to the idea of being genuinely late-night, Beirut Express (like many restaurants on Edgware Road) — open until 2am — was an affordable, reliable, often exciting place in which to start, or more often end, an evening. Those multi-coloured neon lights will be missed.