Neptune Beach has a new place to grab a gyro. Pita Mediterranean Street Food opened its first Duval County location on Tuesday at 630 Atlantic Blvd., Suite 14, inside the Publix shopping center less than a mile west of Third Street, bringing the Atlanta-based chain's street-food menu of gyros, pitas and hummus to the beaches for the first time.
The 1,100-square-foot restaurant, confirmed by Jacksonville Daily Record, has 18 interior seats and four patio chairs, and it moved into a space that previously housed a Cousins Maine Lobster location. Founder and CEO Nour Rabai said former restaurant spaces are easier to convert than starting from scratch, according to the same report. The company signed two brothers from San Francisco to run the new franchise.
The Daily Record reports the restaurant is now open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. A grand-opening celebration is planned for Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., with each customer offered one free gyro, chicken gyro or falafel served with fries or rice. No purchase is necessary, per the report.
Why Neptune Beach, and Why Now
Rabai said he was happy to be part of the Neptune Beach community, the Daily Record reports. Proximity to Publix was described as a key factor in choosing the site, and the location marks a shift in the company's search for Florida real estate after it had been looking primarily around Orlando.
The menu at the new shop includes gyros, street pitas, pita platters, salads, bowls, hummus and Greek fries, according to the outlet's reporting. The street pitas come stuffed with a choice of gyro meat, chicken, steak shawarma, grilled chicken, falafel or seafood, topped with lettuce, tomato and onion and served with one side.
A Growing Southeastern Chain
Pita Mediterranean Street Food got its start in Peachtree, Georgia, in 2012 and began franchising in 2016. The Neptune Beach shop is the company's 60th location spread across Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, and the chain says it expects to add Tennessee to its list of operating states. Rabai and his family are from Lebanon, according to the Daily Record's reporting.
On its own locations page, Pita Mediterranean Street Food describes having more than 50 active locations and growing, with the Neptune Beach address listed among its Florida spots. The company says its next goal is to reach 100 locations.
Eyeing Campuses and Stadiums Next
Beyond standard storefronts, the chain has been pushing franchisees toward concession-style venues. As reported by Restaurant Business, PITA Mediterranean Street Food has encouraged franchisees to expand into colleges and stadiums, with Rabai noting that opening in those nontraditional venues can cost 25% less than a traditional brick-and-mortar buildout. An earlier report cited by the outlet said the company had signed a franchisee for campus locations at six Southeastern schools, with openings once scheduled for mid-2022, and that Rabai described more than 50 units signed in the pipeline for 2022 and 2023, the majority of them brick-and-mortar restaurants.
The chain has also worked to reshape its ownership structure. QSR Magazine reports that Pita Mediterranean Street Food transitioned its six corporate-owned locations to franchise ownership as part of a strategy aimed at improving operations, profitability and growth, a move detailed by QSR Magazine. Similar expansion has played out elsewhere in the Southeast; What Now Atlanta reported the chain planned a 1,200-square-foot location at Crabapple Park in Roswell, targeting a late-June opening, with multi-unit franchisee Ahmad Alsalman already running Pita spots in Halcyon in Alpharetta, Snellville and Lawrenceville, according to What Now Atlanta.
For now, the focus in Jacksonville is squarely on Neptune Beach, where the new shop next to Publix gives beach-area diners a fresh fast-casual option and a free meal to try it out this week.
