Mati, a spacious new modern Greek restaurant on Douglas Boulevard in Roseville, opened Feb. 10 and is betting big on bright, citrusy, herb-focused cooking. The partners have turned roughly 6,300 square feet that once housed Pete’s Restaurant & Brewhouse into a blue-and-white showpiece, complete with two patios and a dedicated takeout entrance. In the kitchen, chef Cuneyt Karacam, who has cooked in luxury hotels overseas, is steering the menu.
According to OpenTable, Mati is located at 3003 Douglas Blvd. and lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available through OpenTable.
Inside the Space and the Team
Opening on Feb. 10, the restaurant’s partners, Bulent Ozel, Sio Ozdoga, and Gizem Aka reimagined the former Pete’s into a room dominated by white, blue, and gold accents, and the name Mati translates to “eye” in Greek, according to Abridged. The remodel brings in marble tabletops, decorative tile work, and illuminated Greek busts that are intended to evoke the Aegean coastline.
Menu and Bar Lean Greek, Not Gyro
Owner Bulent Ozel is not shy about what he is trying to do with the menu. “No. Now my job is introducing the real Greek food … which is all about lemony, citrusy, oregano, more herbs,” he told Abridged, and the offerings follow that philosophy. Dinner standouts include arnisia plevrakia, lamb riblets braised for six hours and finished with a lemon-oregano sauce, beef tenderloin skewers marinated for 24 hours, garides tou fournou (shrimp baked under melted cheese), and whole lavraki.
The cocktail program, led by Teresa Loughner, features housemade syrups and barrel-aged bitters, and about half of the wine list comes from Greece, reinforcing the restaurant’s modern Greek focus at the bar as well as on the plate.
What This Means for Roseville
Mati’s debut fills a prominent corner of Douglas Boulevard with a large, full-service concept after Pete’s closed, and it brings an ambitious sit-down Greek option to a local scene that has leaned more toward quick gyros and shawarma. According to WhatNow, the restaurant was expected to employ roughly 60 people when it opened, a notable boost for the area’s dining landscape.
The two patios and separate takeout entrance give Mati flexibility, from office lunches to date-night dinners. Reservations are available via OpenTable. For now, the expansive dining room, focused Greek menu and ambitious cocktail program suggest Roseville’s restaurant scene is starting to stretch beyond its familiar mall and strip-center comfort zone.
