"Ballard will soon be home to about half of the city's Egyptian restaurants." That line comes from Seattle Met's October restaurant news roundup. It counts two kitchens. Cairo is open on Leary Avenue. Koshari is getting a corner on 17th Avenue ready.
The timing has a small irony. Koshari has been cooking in Ballard for nearly two years, and it's the one that isn't serving yet. The newcomer on Leary got its doors open first.
Cairo arrived with a catering menu behind it
Cairo is the first restaurant from Om Eldonia, an Egyptian catering business based in Tacoma. It opened Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, at 5465 Leary Ave NW. My Ballard reported that signs first went up there this summer.
Om Eldonia's catering menu covers a lot of Egyptian home cooking: koshari, macaroni béchamel, grilled kofta, Egyptian sausage and stuffed grape leaves.
According to My Ballard, the restaurant serves these Egyptian dishes:
- Hawawshi: flatbread or pita stuffed with spiced minced meat
- Feteer: a layered pastry close to a croissant, baked in the restaurant's baladi oven
- Molokhia: a green stew made from molokhia leaves, garlic and coriander
The baladi oven is the detail to remember. Feteer depends on it, so it's the dish most tied to this kitchen in particular.
Cairo's website lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and the restaurant is closed Mondays. Opening day started at 5 p.m., so anyone who went that first evening may not know Cairo also serves lunch now. The site also describes an after-dinner shift with "signature drinks, light Egyptian plates and good music." That makes Cairo an option for a slower weeknight table as well as a quick plate.
Koshari built its following one evening at a time
Koshari took a different path to the same neighborhood. It's a family business owned by Ayman Almasri and Amani Abouammo, a husband-and-wife team. They wrote the menu together from Egyptian and Lebanese food traditions. My Ballard's September profile says they started out at local markets. In September 2024 they began serving from inside Salt & Sugar.
Koshari's own site calls that stretch "nearly two years as an evening pop-up in Ballard." The food is vegetarian, while hawawshi, one of the dishes reported for Cairo, is a flatbread stuffed with spiced meat. Both kitchens cook Egyptian food, but they serve different meals.
The pop-up ended this summer. The owners' GoFundMe page says they served their last meals at Salt & Sugar on Aug. 15 and moved out before looking for a permanent Ballard location.
They didn't look far. In early September they announced a space a few blocks from their former home. In a post quoted by My Ballard, they described it this way:
"We weren't looking for just any space. We had our eyes—and our hearts—set on one very particular spot."
The spot is 5604 17th Ave NW. My Ballard reported that it gives Koshari its first kitchen, dining room and storefront of its own, along with room for longer hours than the evening-only pop-up had.
What the gap between the two kitchens looks like
The two kitchens are at very different stages this month.
| Cairo | Koshari | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 5465 Leary Ave NW | 5604 17th Ave NW |
| Status | Open since Oct. 3, 2026 | Under buildout, opening date to be announced |
| Hours | Tue–Sun, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; closed Mondays | Not yet posted |
| Background | First restaurant from Tacoma caterer Om Eldonia | Former evening pop-up inside Salt & Sugar |
| Reported dishes | Hawawshi, feteer, molokhia | Egyptian and Lebanese vegetarian |
Koshari's website currently says the owners are "painting, building, decorating, permitting." Its answer to the opening-date question is "not yet!"
The fundraiser gives a sense of what's left. The GoFundMe has a $30,000 goal. The owners said the most urgent need was closing an $8,000 funding gap. Anything beyond that would go toward permits, kitchen equipment, plumbing and electrical work, furniture, signage and opening inventory. My Ballard reported $5,490 raised as of Sept. 21.
For Ballard residents, that means the neighborhood now has two Egyptian kitchens, but only one is serving. Koshari's Instagram and website are the places to watch for an opening date.
The corner Koshari is moving into
Ballard residents who walk 17th Avenue know 5604 as a corner that has changed hands several times. My Ballard traced its recent history:
- Crooked Nail Pub, which closed in 2018
- The Corner Spot, which ran for three years
- Little Prague Bakery, a Czech-style bakery and deli that ran for about two years
- Kahlo & Loyal, which closed in 2025 after five months
- Koshari, now in buildout
Koshari comes to 17th Avenue after close to two years of evening service in Ballard from a borrowed kitchen. It didn't have to leave the neighborhood to get a room of its own, either. The new space is a few blocks from where it used to serve dinner.
Salt & Sugar is still on the circuit
Koshari's departure didn't close Salt & Sugar. Its website describes a Lebanese-American fusion café and bakery serving coffee, baked goods and Lebanese food, with online pickup ordering. Koshari's Lebanese side came from the same tradition, so Salt & Sugar is a natural stop for Lebanese food while Koshari's new space is being built.
Questions people are asking
Is Cairo open on Mondays? No. Cairo's site lists Mondays as closed and Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
When does Koshari open on 17th Ave NW? The owners haven't announced a date. Their site says "Opening date to be announced" and points to their mailing list and Instagram for updates.
Is Koshari's food vegetarian? Yes. The restaurant describes its menu as Egyptian and Lebanese vegetarian food.
What should I order at Cairo on a first visit? Feteer, because it's baked in the restaurant's baladi oven. For a fuller meal, try hawawshi or the molokhia stew.
A new dining room on a corner of 17th Avenue changes how a block feels, and for homeowners nearby it's one of the small things that can shape what their home is worth. If you live close to Leary or 17th and want to know where your home stands this fall, Donita Dickinson Real Estate is happy to talk it through. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll put together a clear, no-pressure picture of where your home sits today.
