[2] By 1970, after spending years managing a restaurant, his father raised enough funds to open his own supper club called Les Trois Tonneaux[9] that went bankrupt after only six months.
[2] In 1975, the outbreak of Lebanese Civil War made living conditions in Beirut unbearable as the family began sleeping in the parking garage beneath their building to stay safe during nightly bombings.
[10] In August 1976, over a year into the conflict, teenage Khabouth got taken out of Lebanon by his stepfather and mother who altogether fled the country by paying to be smuggled to Cyprus in order to escape the war zone.
The sound system was rented from Long & McQuade, and to create an industrial aesthetic, the walls were covered with metal sheeting used for heating ducts.
Despite initial financial difficulties that led to falling behind on rent payments,[2] the club gained significant attention following an incident involving a tiger from a local exotic animal service, which broke a window and resulted in the arrival of police, the Toronto Humane Society, and media.
This occurrence, which featured on the front page of the Toronto Star,[2] brought Club Z considerable media attention, thus enhancing its popularity and securing its financial viability.
In the mid-1990s, Khabouth, now well-established as a key figure in Toronto's club scene, sold Stilife due to space limitations and acquired the expansive RPM venue by Lake Ontario.
[12] However, the venue quickly became a hotspot for the burgeoning rave culture in Toronto due to its vast space, rather than attracting its initially intended high-end crowd.
[12] The Guvernment and its adjoining venue, Kool Haus, offered a platform for local and international DJs and regularly hosted live band performances.
[1][9] Also, the fact that his late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s eateries, some of them launched to major fanfare, only lasted a few years before either him pulling out of the venture or the venue altogether folding only further fueled the criticism.
Despite significant investment and high profile launches, it wouldn't be until his partnership with Hanif Harji, a collaboration that began in early 2010s yielding 9 active restaurants as of late 2015, that Khabouth's dining venues such as Patria and Byblos have gotten very enthusiastic reviews for their food primarily.