Rooh's BBQ Smoked Meat and Steakhouse opens in West Hempstead
West Hempstead's dining scene is ablaze — a new restaurant is turning up the heat with theatrical, hibachi-like "fire shows" alongside savory grilled meat platters and Middle Eastern specialties.
Rooh’s BBQ Smoked Meat and Steakhouse has opened on Hempstead Turnpike with an eye-catching bright red-and-black exterior. But what goes on inside is even more entertaining.
Owner Abdul Rahim Gul says the staff takes meats like short ribs and will "just literally throw fire at it" to cook while music plays in the background during "fire shows" that take place at 8 nightly. While these sessions are the only time the staff cooks food in front of customers, the menu is a spectacle in itself.
Rooh’s hot mezze platter ($34.99) comes with two Middle Eastern sambousek (meat-filled pastries similar to empanadas) with Turkish sausages and fried kebabs. Other dishes include smoked Wagyu brisket ($44.99), whole chickens with smoked rice ($28.99) and a range of steaks, including a Wagyu tomahawk encrusted with edible gold leaf ($199).
Rooh's BBQ Smoked Meat and Steakhouse owner Abdul Rahim Gul sourced much of the wooden furniture for his West Hempstead restaurant from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Credit: Newsday/Melissa Azofeifa
The rustic dining room is a throwback, filled with refurbished or reclaimed wooden furniture, including vintage captain's chairs that Gul traveled to Pennsylvania and Virginia to procure and later carefully restored.
"I have a thing for wood," he said. That includes 300-to-600-year-old black walnut logs he had cut to size for wall pieces and tables. The space is lit by about 20 Tiffany-style lamps dating as far back as the 1920s. Gul said it took nearly two years to open the eatery, which is named after his late mother.
"She was a great cook, and me and her always used to talk about opening up a place together," he said.
Rooh’s BBQ Smoked Meat and Steakhouse, 495 Hempstead Tpke., West Hempstead, 516-280-2896, roohsbbqsmokedmeatsteakhouse.com. Open 1 p.m. to midnight daily.
Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday's FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.
