Wichita will add two new Mediterranean restaurants over the next two weeks
Over the next couple of weeks, two new fast-casual Mediterranean restaurants will open in Wichita.
One is a build-your-own shawarma place on Wichita’s west side that will be run by a longtime Wichita chef who’s worked everywhere from Chester’s Chophouse to Applebee’s.
The other, which will be opened by a restaurateur who’s built a following at two previous eateries, will offer a menu that includes gyros and other Mediterranean specialties plus sandwiches and burgers.
Here’s a closer look at both:
Build-your-own shawarma
Deved Mekaeil has been in Wichita since 1994, when he moved from Egypt with his family. And during that time, he said, he’s never seen anything in Wichita quite like the restaurant he’s about to open.
It’ll be called Shawarma UR’s (the “UR’s” means “yours”) and it’ll offer customers a chance to build-their-own shawarma sandwiches, bowls and salads using a variety of fresh ingredients. The restaurant is taking over the space at Tyler Pointe, 13th and Tyler, that was most recently home to one of Abel Rodriguez’s Uno Mas restaurants.
Mekaeil said it should be open soon — possibly sometime next week.
Mekaeil, who most recently was the executive chef at Wichita’s Catholic Care Center, worked off and on over the years as a sous chef at Chester’s Chophouse, which is where he met Rodriguez — also a longtime sous chef there. The two decided to partner up on Shawarma UR’s and operate it out of the space at 8641 W. 13th St. where Rodriguez closed the Uno Mas in January.
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Customers who visit Shawarma UR’s will approach the counter and choose a “base” for their meal. Choices include a fresh-grilled pita, a rice bowl, a fattoush salad, a bowl of fries or a bowl of hummus. Next, they’ll choose a protein: beef, chicken or falafel. Then, they can go crazy choosing toppings like pickled turnips, shredded lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad, tabouli, feta cheese, sumac onions, spicy red cabbage and more.
The restaurant’s playful slogan: “Come in today and shawarma-ize your shawarma-urs.”
Mekaeil, who also teaches classes for the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts at Butler Community College, said he’s been thinking about opening his concept for decades.
“I’ve had this dream before any of these Mediterranean restaurants in Wichita opened,” he said. “N&J (at 5600 E. Lincoln) was the only thing around back then, but one thing or another kept me from doing it.”
The restaurant will have about 32 seats inside for dine-in customers, and it will also utilize the building’s drive-through. It won’t serve alcohol.
Once it’s up and running, its hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays. Shawarma UR’s also already has a Facebook page set up: www.facebook.com/shawarma.urs
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Gyros and more
Bader Rahali has a more than respectable Wichita restaurant resume: He ran Marrakech Cafe at 6257 E. 21st St. North from 2014 until he sold it in 2019. That same year, he opened a food kiosk he called Athens on the lower level of Towne East Square’s food court. It offered build-your-own wraps and bowls.
But the mall raised his rent, Rahali said, and he decided he needed to find a more affordable spot.
He’s done that, he said, and he’s about to open a new restaurant called Athens Gyros Express in the space at 2800 E. Central that’s been home to a number of restaurants over the years, most recently SmokeHouse ICT. (In September, friends Tracy Allen and Toji Jones announced plans for a daiquiri lounge in the space, but those plans fell apart, said landlord Navid Haeri.)
Rahali said he plans to open the restaurant sometime between April 25 and May 1. It will offer Greek food like gyros and rice platters, he said, but it will also serve crowd pleasers like Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, cheeseburgers and spicy fried chicken sandwiches.
The restaurant will be set up for both dine-in and carryout customers, Rahali said. Its hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, closed Sundays.
Rahali said he liked the proximity of the space to Wesley Medical Center, and he also liked that the kitchen was clean and fully equipped. The kitchen will give him the ability to start catering again, something he couldn’t do when he was operating out of the mall.
He said his old customers from both Marrakech Cafe and Athens have told him they’re eager for him to reopen.
“I’ve been receiving a lot of calls saying, ‘When are you guys going to open? When are you guys going to open?’” he said.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 2:17 PM.
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