Owner Brenda Hage, who grew up in Cohoes and is thrilled to be part of the community again, says the free buffet the restaurant offered on the day of their grand opening had a line of customers out the door and down both sides of the street. Even now that things have calmed down a little, Teta Marie's is still popular with a steady customer base.

It's not hard to see why. There are several things about Teta Marie's that make it special. Firstly, it's the only Lebanese restaurant in the area, and it focuses on authenticity (more on that in a minute). Secondly, it offers family-style dining, with big portions at affordable prices.

One of their plates is big enough to feed two or three people. Thirdly, Teta Marie's is a healthy dining option. Everything in the restaurant is made fresh, from scratch, in house, and nothing is ever frozen or fried. Which means that fourthly, everything on the menu is delicious.

Teta Marie's offers authentic Lebanese cuisine to diners, and when they say "authentic," they mean it. Ingredients used in the cuisine are either grown in a greenhouse at the Hage's home in Halfmoon or picked up from a supplier in New Jersey where there is a large Lebanese population. The produce they use in their salads and side dishes is native to Lebanon, including special varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint plants.

Nothing is "Americanized," or altered from the original Lebanese recipes, which Hage learned from her mother-in-law Marie.

"The restaurant is named in honor of her," Hage explained. "Teta Marie means 'Grandmother Marie.' She moved back to Lebanon before the restaurant opened, so it's our tribute to her. She's an old-fashioned Lebanese mom who cooks morning, noon, and night, from scratch."

Hage and her husband, Joseph, who came to the U.S. from Lebanon in 2009, do all the cooking at the restaurant. They have a chef who focuses on the seasonings, their daughter helps out when she can, and they are currently fully staffed as Hage starts to get a feel for the restaurant's flow in its first few months.

"It's been excellent," Hage commented. "Sometimes it's overwhelming, but it's amazing. Our customers are coming from all over, and it's a mix of people. It's been a long process with COVID going on, but we're here, we're open, and it's great."

Teta Marie's currently offers delivery, curbside pickup, and limited seating options. They have just become available through DoorDash as well.

For those new to the cuisine, Hage describes Lebanese food as "seasoned, not spicy." Primary protein options are beef and chicken, and Hage says she might add lamb to the menu in the future. Other hallmarks of the food include fresh Lebanese mint in the salads and lots of lemon and garlic.

It's important to Hage and her husband that everything in the restaurant is fresh. They prepare the food in small batches over the course of the day so that nothing is wasted. Growing most of their produce at home also helps to keep the price of their food low, and offsets the cost of having to drive to New Jersey for ingredients when things are out of season.

Hage says she would like to see if she can make a business arrangement with The Local, the city's new farm-to-table store, so that she can source ingredients locally when possible.

Teta Marie's most popular menu items are the shawarma, seasoned beef or chicken with a garlic sauce, and the beef kefta, baked in the shape of small logs with a chickpea sauce and a salad, both served with pita bread. Other menu items are zata pies, which are sort of the Lebanese equivalent of pizza, hummus, baba ganoush, and jivneh, a warm cheese and pita dish.

Hage says the hummus and baba ganoush are the restaurant's most popular side dishes, and she makes about 3-4 gallons of each every day.

On Sundays, when the restaurant is about to close, Hage takes the leftover food and donates it to local first responders. Since the restaurant is closed on Mondays, she can't keep the food - even refrigerated, it has a short shelf life and will spoil after two days. So Hage uses it as an opportunity to give back to the community.

"I've given food to the police department and the fire department, and next week I'm going to give it to the EMS station," Hage said. "I plan to rotate who I donate to every week. It's hard for those guys to get home-cooked means when they're working, especially overnight."

Hage's big future plan for the restaurant involves finalizing the publication of Teta Marie's website. Once it's live, she's going to start having weekend family dinner specials. It's going to be a takeout option every Sunday, featuring a special recipe that's not on the normal menu and only available that day. The special dish will change every week.

Hage is also planning to add soups and chili to the restaurant's main menu for the fall. "We've got some Lebanese soup recipes we're going to use, and everybody likes chili," she said.

Teta Marie's is at 93 Ontario St. and is open six days a week: Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.