BEIRUT, Lebanon: For more than a century, the Tabbara family has been serving falafel to Beirut residents, with its business surviving two world wars and several local conflicts, even predating the founding of Lebanon.

Now, a fourth generation is preparing to take over the modest family shop, where customers can buy a US$3 sandwich filled with small, doughnut-shaped patties made from deep-fried ground fava beans. The patties are wrapped in Lebanese flatbread with pickled cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, thick tahini sauce, and homemade spicy red pepper paste.

"I have clients spread all over the world," 82-year-old Mohammed Tabbara said as a European customer waited for a sandwich at his shop in Beirut's busy Hamra district, an area filled with cafes, clothing stores and two major universities.

He said customers from different countries kept coming back because they were familiar with the shop's distinctive flavor.

Mohammed is now passing his cooking skills to his 40-year-old son, Ziad, a former accountant who has worked full-time with him for the past six years.

Ziad said the shop's taste represented a culinary tradition and family heritage passed down through generations. He had helped his father in the shop during school summer holidays as a child.

However, Ziad has no children of his own to continue the family tradition, which concerns his father, who hopes to see him marry and start a family.

The business began in 1914, when Ziad's great-grandfather, Kamel Tabbara, opened the family's first falafel shop in Beirut's central Bab Idriss district. At that time, Beirut was still part of the Ottoman Empire. The state of Greater Lebanon was established six years later, following World War I.

Kamel passed the business to his son Ahmad, and since 1950 it has been mainly run by his grandson Mohammed. Around that time, the family moved its business away from central Beirut. The current shop, on a narrow street, has operated since 1979.

Mohammed said he had lived through around 40 wars, referring to the two Lebanese civil wars, Israel's 1982 invasion, several wars between Israel and Hezbollah, and conflicts involving Palestinian groups and the Syrian army.

He began working at the shop alongside his father when he was just six years old. Even at 82, he continues to serve customers, take orders, and prepare sandwiches at the counter. He knows many regular customers by name, including some who have been visiting for decades.

The family shop displays two photographs of Mohammed: one in black and white from 1966 and another from two years ago, showing him wearing his trademark skull cap.

Mohammed takes particular pride in keeping the shop clean. The cooking oil is changed daily, while vegetables are washed with vinegar and salt.

Jean Matta, 60, who works in the neighborhood, has been buying falafel from the shop since 1992. He praised its quality and cleanliness.

Ziad has learned his father's special recipe, which uses Australian fava beans soaked overnight and ground before being mixed with salt and spices, including coriander.

Mohammed explained that some falafel recipes use chickpeas, but he believes they are heavier and take longer to digest than fava beans. He also claimed to be the first person in Lebanon to introduce falafel patties coated with sesame seeds and shaped with a hole in the middle, allowing them to cook evenly inside while becoming crunchy outside.

"The sandwich you take from here is light and 100 percent healthy," Mohammed said as he wrapped an order while his son dropped fresh falafel patties into a large frying pot.

Ziad said he hoped to preserve the family's traditional taste and continue serving customers for years to come.

"God willing, I will continue to offer the same flavor," he said.