By Michelle Williams
Restaurant owner Charles Saad was looking for the “best place in Indiana” to open the first of many planned Mediterranean restaurants, and he landed in Fishers. Mezza Mediterranean Grille opened its doors to hungry patrons on Dec. 1, filling the vacancy at 9773 E. 116th St. near Cumberland Rd.
“When people ask where the food is from, I tell them it’s Turkish and Greek, with a great influence upon Lebanese cuisine,” Saad said.
The menu features customary Mediterranean fare including hummus, grape leaves stuffed with beef, tabbouli, kafta and a variety of grilled meat kabobs. Visitors can finish a meal with a pot of Arabic tea, traditional Turkish coffee or a light and crispy Lebanese baklava.
To accentuate the importance of bread in the Mediterranean culture, the wall prominently displays the inscription, “Bread is the staple of life.” At Mezza, pita bread is made fresh from scratch and baked in the restaurant’s pita bread oven that is positioned among guests in the dining room.
“As far as I know, I don’t think anyone else in Indiana is doing fresh pita bread straight out of the dining room,” Saad said. “I think that bread is a beautiful connection — a beautiful bridge across all cultures, all nationalities, all religions.
“I want my guests to take home food,” he added, noting that portion sizes are intentionally large. Saad especially recommends the party platters, designed for six to 15 people to share. “It’s all included — appetizers, grilled meats, salads. They come out on gigantic platters that are flame lit,” he said.
“Every customer walks in as an honored guest. They’re sitting at our table and eating our food as though they were sitting in our house. That’s the way we treat them,” Saad said. “We believe in 100 percent guest satisfaction.”
