Florida News

Kurdish Mediterranean Counter Service Coming to Saint Augustine

Zaria Simply Mediterranean is bringing homemade Kurdish-Mediterranean dishes, counter service, and a family-driven vision to Saint Augustine.

Photo ZARIA courtesy of Simply Mediterranean.

SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL – Zaria Simply Mediterranean, a Kurdish-Middle Eastern counter-service restaurant from sisters Nina Taha, Bella Kestey and Bemal Taha, is targeting a March opening at 415 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd., Saint Augustine, FL 32084.

Nina Taha told Business Debut the team is working through city approvals and contractor timelines and hopes to open “in the next few months or so.”

What to Expect

Zaria’s concept centers on traditional, homemade Mediterranean dishes prepared with fresh ingredients, including house-made sauces, homemade yogurt, fresh-baked bread, and marinated kebabs.

Taha said the restaurant is designed to be “warm and inviting,” with a focus on making guests feel “a sense of comfort and belonging.”

The restaurant will operate as counter service due to its small footprint. Guests will order at the counter, take a seat, and the team will run food to tables. The space is expected to have about 36 seats, with additional patio seating planned out front.

Photo courtesy of Zaria Simply Mediterranean.Cco

Taha said Zaria reflects how she and her sisters grew up eating “simple honest homemade meals,” in a home where cooking together was “an essential part of everyday life.” She shared that she comes from “a very big family of 12 sisters,” and said preparing food was taught as “an act of care, connection, responsibility.”

Two menu items Taha highlighted as personal favorites are lentil soup served with homemade flatbread, and lahmacun, which she described as a crispy flatbread topped with minced meat, fresh vegetables and herbs, baked, then finished with olive oil, mint and lemon. She also described topping it with thinly sliced red onions mixed with sumac, olive oil and salt, and rolling it “into a sandwich,” often eaten alongside the lentil soup.

Beverages are expected to include fountain drinks, homemade Kurdish chai, mint tea, a yogurt drink (ayran) made with homemade yogurt (with or without mint), and pomegranate sweet tea. Taha said the team plans to add beer and wine later, once licensing is in place.

Opening Timeline

Zaria is targeting March, though Taha said an exact date is still to be announced while the team works through permits and remaining pre-opening steps.