Before Ali El-Haggar at Alexandria Opera: Where to Eat Nearby
Alexandria already knows how to dress up for a music night, and this one comes with extra weight. Egyptian singer Ali El-Haggar (official Instagram: @ali.elhaggar) is scheduled to perform at Alexandria Opera House’s Sayed Darwish Theatre on Thursday, 29 October 2026 at 8 pm, closing the Alexandria programme of the 34th Arab Music Festival and Conference. The date and venue appear on the Cairo Opera House calendar, while Egyptian coverage of the festival’s final schedule also places El-Haggar as the closing act on the Alexandria stage that night.
That matters because Sayed Darwish Theatre is not just another concert hall. Cairo Opera House states that the building was founded in 1918, inaugurated in 1921, and renamed in 1962 in honour of Sayed Darwish, the Alexandrian composer whose name is inseparable from Egypt’s modern musical memory. The theatre sits in the heart of the old city fabric around Mahattet El Raml and Fouad Street, which makes this concert ideal for a full pre-show outing rather than a straight in-and-out plan.
Why this is one of Alexandria’s best pre-show neighborhoods
If you are coming for Ali El-Haggar’s closing-night concert, the real advantage is location. The opera is surrounded by some of central Alexandria’s most recognizable old-school food and café addresses, plus walkable cultural stops. You are not in a mall district or a detached entertainment compound; you are in one of the city’s historic cores, where dessert counters, coffee stops, old façades and museum buildings all fit into a short circuit before the performance.
For many locals, the sweet spot is simple: arrive early, eat within Mahattet El Raml, take coffee on or near Saad Zaghloul or Fouad Street, then walk back toward the opera with enough time to settle before the music starts.
Where to eat before the show
1) Délices for classic downtown Alexandria atmosphere
For the most iconic nearby option, Délices (@delicesgroup on Instagram) is the safest recommendation if you want something central, established and very Alexandria. The company says it has operated since 1922, and its flagship sits at 46 Saad Zaghloul Street, Raml Station. That puts it right in the right zone for a pre-opera meal or dessert stop.
Délices works especially well if your plan is not a heavy seafood lunch but a polished city-centre outing: coffee, pâtisserie, a light savoury dish, then a walk. It also suits mixed groups where some want a proper sit-down and others mainly want sweets. If you are building the evening around nostalgia and Egyptian music, the old Alexandrian setting helps the mood.
2) Trianon for another heritage café-restaurant pick
Trianon is another long-running Alexandria name worth considering before the concert. Its official site positions the brand as a historic Alexandria café and restaurant dating to 1905, and directory listings place the Raml Station branch at 54 Saad Zaghloul Street. That makes it another practical stop close to the opera zone.
Trianon is a good option if you want the classic Alexandria café feeling rather than a trend-led specialty concept. Think of it as the sort of place that fits a theatre night naturally: old-school dessert, coffee, conversation, and a central address that keeps you close to the venue instead of committing to a taxi-heavy detour.
3) Keep dinner light if curtain time matters
Because the concert is listed for 8 pm, the smartest plan is to avoid a long, late meal. In this part of Alexandria, a light dinner, pastry stop or coffee-and-dessert pairing usually works better than an elaborate multi-course booking. You want enough time to navigate central traffic, walk comfortably, and get inside before the hall fills.
Where to grab coffee before Ali El-Haggar goes on
Start with the classics
If your group is split between “we need food” and “we just want coffee,” both Délices and Trianon solve that problem well. They are reliable for a pre-show pause and they suit the tone of an Arab Music Festival night much better than rushing through a generic chain stop.
Use Mahattet El Raml as your coffee-hop base
The wider Mahattet El Raml area remains one of Alexandria’s easiest places to improvise an outing. Even if you do not commit to one long sit-down, the district lets you move between a pastry stop, a quick espresso and a short walk without drifting far from the opera. That flexibility is exactly what makes the neighborhood useful on event nights.
Best walks before the concert
1) Fouad Street for architecture and old Alexandria mood
Fouad Street is the obvious pre-show walk. It is one of central Alexandria’s historic spines and gives you the right atmosphere before an opera-house concert: older façades, civic buildings, and a sense of the city’s layered cosmopolitan past. Even a short 20- to 30-minute stroll here can turn the concert into a fuller outing.
2) Graeco-Roman Museum if you are starting the day early
If you are making a day trip of it, the Graeco-Roman Museum is one of the strongest nearby add-ons. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities describes it as the country’s only museum fully dedicated to the civilization of Egypt in the Greek and Roman periods. Official visitor information lists hours of 9 am to 5 pm from Sunday to Thursday and 9 am to 8 pm on Friday and Saturday, with Egyptian adult tickets at EGP 40 and student tickets at EGP 20.
That makes it a realistic stop if you arrive in Alexandria well before dinner. The museum’s placement on or near the wider Fouad Street cultural axis means it can fit naturally into a concert itinerary without turning the day into a logistical headache.
3) Alexandria National Museum for a longer culture-first outing
If you want another museum-based version of the day, the official ticketing platform for monuments and museums lists the Alexandria National Museum as open daily with last entry at 4 pm. Egyptian adult admission is listed at EGP 20 and student admission at EGP 5. This works better for visitors arriving earlier in the afternoon, then heading toward Raml Station for coffee and an early meal before the concert.
A practical pre-show plan that works
- 5:00-5:30 pm: Arrive in Mahattet El Raml and start with a short walk around Fouad Street.
- 6:00 pm: Sit down at Délices or Trianon for a light meal, pastry, or coffee.
- 7:15 pm: Head toward Sayed Darwish Theatre and leave time for traffic and entry.
- 8:00 pm: Concert time for Ali El-Haggar’s Arab Music Festival closing-night performance in Alexandria.
The bottom line
Ali El-Haggar’s return to Sayed Darwish Theatre on 29 October 2026 is exactly the kind of event that suits an Alexandria mini-itinerary. The concert itself carries real weight as the closing night of the Arab Music Festival in the city, but the surrounding neighborhood is what makes the outing special. In Mahattet El Raml, you can still build a classic Alexandria evening: heritage café, good coffee, a walk down Fouad Street, and then a performance in one of Egypt’s most storied theatres.
If you only want one easy formula, make it this: Délices or Trianon, a short walk, then the opera. For a late-October night in Alexandria, that is a very hard plan to beat.