Zoë’s Kitchen is a fast casual restaurant chain that sells homespun, authentic Mediterranean cuisine. This Greek-influenced menu encapsulates the concept of healthy fast-food. The focus at the chain is their ‘made-from-scratch’ attitude; each and every meal is prepared fresh daily, with only high quality, wholesome ingredients.

Their food philosophy is “If it wasn’t food 100 years ago, it’s not food today”. All their menu items are made from the freshest ingredients, prepared in the healthiest possible way, meaning you’ll find absolutely nothing fried on their menu. Zoë’s Kitchen is revolutionizing healthy fast-food.

History

Zoës Kitchen is still fairly new; the first ever store was opened in Homewood, Alabama in 1995. The restaurant was started by Zoë Cassimus, who had spent her life cooking for family and friends before finally branching into the restaurant trade. The inspiration for the business had come from years of watching her mother cook traditional, Mediterranean influenced family style food.

Zoë soon established a popular, thriving business and a reputation for scrumptious, healthy Greek-style dishes. It was with the involvement of her son, John Cassimus that the business really began to flourish. It was John who suggested the idea, and was subsequently in charge of, franchising the business. By 1999 the company opened their second restaurant in Hoover, with their third being opened shortly after, in 2001, in Birmingham. The first location outside of Alabama was also opened in 2001, in Nashville Tennessee.

It was in 2007 that there was a big shift in ownership. By this point the company had grown to 20 locations when Brentwood Associates purchased a majority ownership stake in the company. With John still holding the reins as the chief executive, in 2008 the company obtained a $10million loan to expand the business with another 50 stores.

The chain now has over 130 stores across 17 states, with plans for more locations in the not too distant future. The original Zoë’s Kitchen is still open today, and is still owned and operated by the infamous Zoë herself. The company has solidified their reputation for: quality, healthy, flavorsome cuisine and are well on their way to conquering the Greek-style fast-food industry. 

Review

If you’re looking for homespun, fresh, delicious food then this is the place to go. Their locations are clean, modern and brightly colored; with a variety of seating options such as one of their 50’s style booths, or a breakfast bar by the window. Or if you’ve not got the time to stay there and eat you can always just pick up something on-the-go. The staff are friendly and extremely attentive and aim to make your visit as enjoyable as possible.

Their Mediterranean style menu has plenty of options to choose from: soup, hummus and salad, classic sandwiches, grilled sandwiches, pita sandwiches, entrées, desserts, sides and drinks. They provide a kid’s menu for children under the age of 12. Another good thing is their ‘Family Meals’ options, which includes: two sides, one entrée, Greek salad plus hummus and pita or cucumber. In addition to this they also have various vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.

Some of their most popular items are, first and foremost, their hummus and pita. The hummus comes in a variety of flavors: basil pesto, red pepper or classic. It’s creamy and full of flavor and the pita bread is delightfully fresh. The Greek salad is a combination of the freshest salad leaves, tossed to perfection, or how about one of their homemade steak kabobs, flawlessly grilled to retain its wonderful flavor.

While they are slightly more expensive than some other fast-food chains, their prices are still competitive. For one of their sandwiches you’ll be looking at paying from $6 to $8, for hummus, pita and salad expect to pay from $4 to $8. The focus at Zoë’s Kitchen is on providing wholesome, nutritional, delicious Mediterranean style cuisine designed to enrich the body and the soul and this is certainly something they deliver.