Bliss Street: Beirut’s Students Food Escape

Bliss Street, or Rue Bliss, is one of the principal streets of the Hamra area, which is within the Ras Beirut District of Beirut. The street, which is parallel to Hamra Street, runs east-west, connecting with Rue Clémenceau on the east and ending at Avenue General Charles de Gaulle that runs along the coast of the Mediterranean. The street is named after Dr. Daniel Bliss, an American missionary who founded the American University of Beirut. Prior to the mid-1960s, the tram passed along Bliss Street and stopped in front of AUB’s Main Gate and Faysal’s restaurant.

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Bliss Street is bordered on one side by the historic campus of AUB and on the other side it is lined with many historical and commercial buildings that house cafes, restaurants, pubs as well as bookstores. Bliss Street has one of the largest concentration of restaurants in Beirut, such as Zaatar W Zeit, Mc Donald’s and Bliss House, that cater to the university students who hang out on the street.

Visiting Bliss on a saturday night, I was shocked to find a sleeping street with no action. That can be understood since it’s more of a university street pumping with action during the day, but those places have rents to pay at the end of the month. Wy should it only be a university street? Dozens of restaurants lined one next to the other wait to welcome the youth of Lebanon.

Let’s plan a week-end revival of Bliss street:

Bliss should be the street of all students, not only the AUB ones
Let’s imagine a pedestrian street every weekend where youngsters, teenagers and university students can meet
A street except from cars, revived by a happy generation
Eat in Bliss and continue dancing in Makdessi street
The street can be rented with shops, cupcakes parlors, ice cream dispensers… Just fun