Shami Kitchen, a fast-casual restaurant featuring fresh, homemade Mediterranean fare served quickly, will open in Sandy Springs, Georgia, next month. Visitors will order from the build-your-own menu at the counter. Located just outside Atlanta, the restaurant will be at 8363 Roswell Road.
From pita bread to pickles, all items on Shami Kitchen’s menu will be made in-house, from scratch. When ordering from the menu, guests will choose a base (pita, rice, or salad bowl), protein (chicken or beef shawarma or falafel), and two sides. Each wrap or bowl will be served with pita, tahini sauce, pickles, or hot sauce mix. Other highlights from the menu include traditional Mediterranean items like hummus and baba ghanoush, tabouli salad, purple cabbage, and more.
The word “Shami” translates to “native of Damascus”—true of both Shami Kitchen’s founder, Abe Malla, and executive chef Abud Halabi. Abe Malla also serves as founder and CEO of popular Atlanta home furnishings store Westside Market. He plans to open additional locations of Shami Kitchen in coming years. Chef Abud brings decades of kitchen experience and recently moved to Atlanta. He formerly ran his own restaurant in Syria and worked for major restaurants in China.
Shami Kitchen’s design will be clean, minimal, and inviting, with hardwood floors, white chairs, green accents, and an olive tree planted in the center of the open and airy dining room. The 45-seat restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner, six days a week, and Shami Kitchen will offer catering for small and large parties.