Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill Now Open

By Gary Nager

If you like authentic Middle Eastern food, Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill is getting ready to open soon, perhaps by the end of this month or the first week in July, in a new strip plaza located adjacent to the Publix shopping center on Cross Creek Blvd. near Morris Bridge Rd. In fact, the new plaza, which already features The Clinicians Primary Care, even has an entrance on Morris Bridge Rd., just north of Cross Creek Blvd. 

Owner Bilal Saleh (photo above) promises that Zaytoun (which means “olive tree” in Arabic) will be a casual, cozy, sit-down restaurant with fresh pita bread and other specialties baked in a 900-plus-degree (F) brick oven imported from Italy and custom-built to fit in Zaytoun Grill’s kitchen.

As for the food, Bilal says Zaytoun will feature all of your Middle Eastern favorites, with a Syrian and Lebanese emphasis. From appetizers like hummus, falafel and grape leaves, plus chicken, beef, shrimp and kufta (ground beef and lamb) kabobs and even lamb chops cooked on an open flame grill, beef shawarma and plenty of vegetarian dishes and home-baked desserts (baklava, cheese rolls with cream and more), Zaytoun should be a hit here in New Tampa. 

For more info, visit Zaytoun-Grill.com and our own NTNeighborhoodNews.com for more info and the announcement of Zaytoun’s opening date.