Bitar’s, a longtime Middle Eastern deli in South Philadelphia, plans to sell its building, but this is not the end

Amin and Jude Bitar are selling the building that for more than 30 years has been their family’s luncheonette and grocery store, as well as a social hub in South Philadelphia’s Maronite Catholic community.

However, as Amin Bitar points out, “we are not retiring.” Bitar’s is not going out of business, though June 3 will be their last day at 10th and Federal Streets.

“This isn’t one of those stories,” he said Thursday, as delivery orders were being staged for the lunch rush.

The brothers — Amin is 61 and Jude 58 — say they want to reposition Bitar’s. After taking time off, they plan to reprise the Bitar’s name later this summer as a so-called ghost kitchen, sending gyros, hummus, falafel, and other Middle Eastern specialties from a delivery facility in North Philadelphia. A Bitar’s employee is buying the building at 947 Federal St., but not the business itself.

The brothers have run Bitar’s since the 2001 death of their father, Elias, who had run it with his wife, Mariette, who died in 2009. Their older brother, George, owns Norma’s, a popular Lebanese-style restaurant, in Cherry Hill, and his children are taking the business into a new generation.

This is not the case with Amin and Jude, whose children have chosen different careers.

The patriarch, Elias Bitar, grew up in Kfar-Habou, Lebanon, where his family operated a bakery and flour mill. At age 18 in 1949, during a period of unrest in the Middle East, he was shot and his father was killed when they were caught in cross fire.

Elias Bitar underwent 30 surgeries but suffered with chronic infections. In 1969, he traveled to Philadelphia for surgery at Temple University Hospital. After recovering, he found work in Philadelphia as a janitor and auto mechanic before taking a job at a car dealership and securing a work visa. He bought a home in South Philadelphia and sent for his family.

In 1973, he opened his bakery at 10th and Annin Streets and became a U.S. citizen. A few years later, he expanded the bakery a half-block away into the current location at 10th and Federal Streets, which had been a church across from Capitolo Playground.

» READ MORE: From 2016: A quick history of Bitar's

Eventually, the bakery moved to Kensington and eventually closed. The store morphed into a grocery store and deli.

Amin Bitar remembers the day in 1996 when his vision for the business grew. “I’m sitting here, I was working, I was helping my dad out and a guy comes in and buys a pack of pita bread and a container of hummus. He proceeds to walk outside, sit on the curb, and start eating it. And I’m thinking to myself, I only took $5 from this guy. Then I’m thinking — restaurants. I’m like, we’re not doing this right.”

Bitar convinced his father to rip out the office and replace it with a kitchen. A few tables were added to the grocery section, and it became a luncheonette.

“The amazing thing after that was all the chefs and food people who came in here,” Bitar said. “It was one of the few places in town that had all these basic ingredients that you’re not going to find anywhere else,” like harissa, thyme pickles, and whole-milk yogurt.

Accolades, including praise in guide books and even high rankings in the Zagat Survey, followed.

During the pandemic, the Bitars boosted their business by working with a marketing company and turning Bitar’s into a ghost kitchen selling food under eight restaurant brand names — many presenting similar Middle Eastern menus. Now, as the world returns to normal, the Bitars say they want to downsize and work from a smaller kitchen.

For Jude Bitar, the break will mean more rounds of golf. Amin Bitar is looking forward to his first trip back to Lebanon since he left as a 10-year-old. “All I know about Lebanon is what my mom taught me and what I see on YouTube,” he said.