Our Story
50 years ago,
the Hedary family introduced Fort Worth to hummus, and the warm, welcoming reception of their Mediterranean cuisine exceeded all expectations. What started as a humble introduction to new flavors quickly grew into an iconic institution, with the Hedary family’s restaurant becoming a beloved staple in the community. The Hedary family would like to express our heartfelt thanks to Dallas-Fort Worth for embracing us from the very beginning and for your continued support over the past five decades.
From Beirut to Fort Worth
As a little boy in Beirut, Lebanon, Antoine Hedary would come to watch his grandmother cook. It fascinated him to see her knead bread, chop vegetables, and take a pinch of this and a little of that from mysterious little jars. As often happens when children hang around adults too long, he was put to work. But not by his grandmother. She had long since taught Antoine’s father to cook. It was he who passed on the family recipes and Lebanese cookery to the boy.
Antoine was an accomplished chef by the time he joined the Lebanese Army in 1947. Though he wasn’t an army cook, he couldn’t stay out of the kitchen. The special little meals he fixed while off-duty quickly caught the attention of the officers. They immediately appropriated Antoine the cook for them.
Antoine soon married Leila, a lovely Armenian girl, and together they produced nine healthy children. The children come in later in the story. After leaving the Army, Antoine and his family opened their first restaurant on a hillside in Beirut. In a short time, the Hedary family owned and operated two restaurants. Both flourished.
But Lebanon’s civil war forced Antoine and Leila to leave their country for a home where their children’s education, interrupted for two years by the war, would not include how to use an M-16 rifle.
Ironically then, it was the strife of a war that brought Fort Worth the good fortune of having an authentic Lebanese restaurant.
Hedary’s “Pizza”
In 1975, Antoine and Leila opened their first restaurant in the United States on White Settlement Road in Fort Worth, Texas and called it Hedary’s Lebanese Pizza, “Pizza” because they thought the word meant restaurant. Soon the “Pizza” made the newspapers and magazine Dining Out columns, and the customers flocked. Loving Fort Worth, but homesick nonetheless, the Hedarys reluctantly sold the restaurant and flew back to Lebanon. They found, however, the schools still disrupted and the people still shooting.
They began to think about Fort Worth. They thought about the American education. After just 28 days, the family decided to come back and this time they would stay in Fort Worth for good. Upon returning, the Hedary family promptly opened another restaurant. It was located on Camp Bowie Blvd and they called it Hedary’s Lebanese Restaurant. It was there that Antoine passed on his knowledge of Lebanese cuisine to his children, just as his grandfather had done so to him.
Hedary’s became an institution in Fort Worth and in 1988, a second location was opened in Richardson by Antoine’s son, George Hedary. He would later move Hedary’s to a beautiful historic house in Allen. Here, George transformed the quaint front yard into a thriving garden, where he cultivates a variety of organic vegetables and herbs, harvesting them at their peak to incorporate into his menu.
The Hedary family’s food continued to grow in popularity and in 1992, another son, Marios Hedary, opened Byblos Mediterranean Restaurant in the Fort Worth Stockyards. The concept, he explains, is “the original Hedary’s recipes plus all the Lebanese comfort food Mama makes at home”.
In 2024, the Hedary family experienced the heartbreaking loss of both Leila and Antoine Hedary, leaving a profound void that will be deeply felt for years to come. They leave behind an extraordinary legacy that continues to grow at Hedary's in Allen and Byblos in Fort Worth. Today, their children honor their culinary traditions, sharing their beloved recipes with customers for generations to come.
And still to this day, just like Antoine and Leila would do…. every sausage, sauce and pickle is made in the kitchen of the restaurant.
