Cedar Mediterranean Restaurant

Cedar Mediterranean Restaurant is a Lebanese eatery at 746 Monroe Avenue in Rochester, NY, situated in the heart of the Monroe Avenue dining corridor. Opened in 2016 by Eli and Ghada Ghanatios — a husband-and-wife team of Lebanese descent who have called Rochester home since 1991 — the restaurant operates as a counter-service spot where guests order at the register and choose a seat. Cedar is open Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and is closed on weekends.

The menu centers on traditional Lebanese dishes, all prepared from scratch in-house. Staples include:

• Chicken and beef shawarma, slow-roasted on a rotisserie and carved to order
• Falafel pita pockets with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and house sauce
• Hummus and baba ghanoush, both served with fresh-baked pita
• Taboule salad made with chopped parsley, tomato, scallions, mint, and bulgur wheat
• Manakeesh, a Lebanese flatbread topped with shawarma or gyro meat and a cheese blend
• Lentil soup finished with fresh-squeezed lemon

Pita bread is baked on-site in a dedicated oven, and both dine-in and takeout orders are available. Online ordering is offered through the restaurant's website and several delivery platforms.

Cedar is built around an open-kitchen format — guests can watch Ghada Ghanatios, the head chef with roughly 30 years of cooking experience, and her team prepare every dish from scratch. The visible pita oven, rotating shawarma spits, and frying falafel give the small restaurant a transparent, made-to-order feel. The family-run operation extends to the front counter, where the Ghanatios' daughter has helped run service since the early days.

Cedar sits at 746 Monroe Avenue, within Rochester's Park Avenue neighborhood — a walkable stretch known for its independent restaurants, cafés, and shops. The restaurant is a short walk east of the Monroe Avenue and Oxford Street intersection and a few blocks from the Park Avenue commercial strip. Street parking is available along Monroe Avenue. The area draws a mix of University of Rochester students, neighborhood residents, and visitors exploring one of Rochester's more eclectic dining corridors.