Halifax’s Mezza Lebanese Kitchen Will Open Location In Moncton
MONCTON – Mezza Lebanese Kitchen, a family-owned fast-casual restaurant chain from Halifax, plans to open a location in Moncton early next year, with other cities in New Brunswick and PEI expected to follow.
“For around 30 years now, we’ve been providing our customers with fast, healthy Lebanese and middle eastern experience. We have dine-in, take out, delivery, catering, and really what we focus on is a fast-casual environment,” said Peter Nahas, vice president of business development and franchising.
“Now we plan to expand in Atlantic Canada, in particular, New Brunswick for early next year,” he said, adding that the company is in talks for a location on University Ave. in Charlottetown, PEI.
The Moncton shop will come first, with a location already signed at the McLaughlin Plaza on the corner of McLaughlin Drive and Morton St.
“We have a 2,000-square-feet location that we’re going to be putting up starting next year, but there’s no franchisees set for that location [yet],” Nahas said. “We’re typically of the mindset of getting the best location first and then following up with finding the right operators for it. So the location is paramount to what we’re looking for.”
Nahas says Mezza plans to follow with locations in Saint John and Fredericton, and possibly other parts of New Brunswick, after Moncton.
“Those are certainly the markets that we want to enter first. Of course, we’ll continue to expand throughout New Brunswick, but the idea is to start with those three cities.”
Nahas has been running the company with his brother for approximately eight years, but it all started when their parents opened a Lebanese food stall at the Halifax Shopping Centre in 1990.
Since then, the company has re-branded and taken up a franchising model, though it still relies on “generations-old family recipes.” Mezza is set to open its twelfth location in Nova Scotia in December. It also opened two locations in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in 2015 and 2018.
But expansion into other Maritime provinces is “a natural fit,” Nahas said.
“We’ve been in Nova Scotia, and [we’ve seen] the shift in not only demographics but also customer taste profile and trends. There’ certainly no doubt that there’s demand for Mediterranean food,” he said.
When the company conducted a survey for a new location, Nahas said Moncton continuously came up as a suggestion.
“We have no doubt that customers will love Mezza there,” he said. “I think it’s something that’s missing in the market to have a fast-casual Lebanese restaurant scene and I think we’re going to certainly fill a void that’s been there for years.”
Mezza offers “fresh and healthy” Lebanese menu items including shawarma, falafel, donair, hummus, grape leaves and others. The price ranges from $4.99 for a kids’ plate to $11.69 for a shawarma plate that includes hummus, salad, pita, and fries or rice.
Nahas said the company uses products from Canadian farmers and producers whenever possible, relying on beef from PEI for its donairs, for example.
“We’re certainly excited to come to the New Brunswick area, and showcase our food, our products, and you know, just looking for the right operators, the right franchisees for this exciting opportunity as we grow throughout the Maritimes,” Nahas said.