A fast-casual restaurant built around Jordanian street food is preparing to open its first Ohio location on Bethel Road in Columbus. Nashmi is coming to 2503 Bethel Road, a site across from Carriage Place and next to Meadow Park Church, though no opening date or hours have been announced yet.
The menu centers on shawarma, kebabs, grilled chicken and arayes, a meat-filled charcoal-toasted bread, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV. The restaurant puts an emphasis on fresh meat, bread and made-to-order sandwiches, which are priced around $8, while combo meals with two sandwiches, fries and a drink run $17.99. Rice plates topped with shawarma, chicken or kebab are also planned, along with a mixed-protein option for diners who cannot decide.
Nashmi first opened in 2025 with its flagship location in Chicago, Illinois, and is now focused on expanding across the country, per 614NOW. The chain's current U.S. operation is based in Palos Hills, Illinois, near Chicago, where its existing location at 11056 Southwest Highway is listed as Middle Eastern comfort food on Uber Eats. That menu includes kebab with tomatoes, onions and tahini sauce, beef shawarma, grilled chicken topped with nashmi sauce, and a traditional yogurt drink called shaneena.
A Property With a Well-Traveled Past
The Bethel Road site has cycled through several uses before Nashmi's arrival. It most recently housed a Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio ReStore, and before that, the location had been home to a Graeter's Ice Cream shop, the same NBC4 WCMH-TV report notes.
Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio bought the parcel, which spans addresses from 2495 to 2503 Bethel Road, for roughly $2.2 million in June 2019, per property records. The nonprofit's ReStore later closed, and the building landed a new owner, according to the Columbus Business First report on the sale.
The Sale Followed Nashmi's Own Announcement
Keiser Management Group Inc. purchased the Bethel Road property for $3.2 million in October 2025, the station's report states, just days after Nashmi had announced its expansion to Columbus on social media. The timing suggests the restaurant's plans and the property transaction were closely linked, though the exact opening timeline remains unclear.
For now, Columbus diners eager for shawarma, arayes and rice plates topped with kebab will have to wait for further word from Nashmi on when its doors will open on Bethel Road.
