Lebanon's Zaatar W Zeit opens in Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, 23 October, 2007 @ 4:43 PM

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2007/10/23/zaatar%20w%20zeit%20abu%20dhabi%201.jpg

Beirut & Abu Dhabi - Lebanon's lovechild Zaatar W Zeit, a young and hip chain of restaurants that serves authentic Lebanese cuisine 'with a twist', has followed up on the success of its four Dubai restaurants with a new outlet in Abu Dhabi.

The restaurant, on Al Salam Street, will maintain the mix of traditional Lebanese food and hip, colourful décor that has made it such a hit in Dubai, Beirut, Kuwait and elsewhere. The concept of 'Mankousheh with a twist' (in Arabic 'aa tari'tak') has proven to be particularly popular among young people, while quality food and service are attractive to a more mature clientèle.

'Zaatar W Zeit has grown to become one of the most popular Arabic restaurants in the region,' said Walid Hajj, Managing Director, United Restaurant Development. 'We are delighted to be opening our first outlet in Abu Dhabi. Our success in Dubai has been phenomenal, so it's only natural that we would want to bring the unique ZwZ experience to the nation's capital.'

The opening saw the traditional red carpet being replaced with a vibrant orange, the outlet's signature colour. Delivery bikes could be seen on either side of the walkway before cyclists took to the capital's streets to announce the opening of the restaurant.

The official opening of Zaatar W Zeit Abu Dhabi took place on October 17th, 2007.

United Restaurant Development (URD) was created in 2001 by Walid Hajj and is based in the UAE. The company specialises in restaurant and franchise development, currently holding the franchise for some of the world's most reputed brands including Cinnabon, Seattle's Best Coffee and Zaatar W Zeit.

The first Zaatar W Zeit opened on Sheikh Zayed Road in 2005 and there are currently 11 outlets in the Middle East with four in the UAE.

Source: AME

there's minimum one in ksa. And there's also 3abd el ra7men el 7alleb, bliss, ref3at el 7alleb, kabab-ji, and a sa7a will open in Qatar. Lebanon is opening restaurants in all the arab world!

Simply because Lebanese food is the best and most famous! :PPPP Im sooooooooo hungry now :P

great news !

somehow i doubt the true meaning of zaatar w zeit will be exported to any other country ...
dinner--> bar/clubbing--> zaatar w zeit --> clubbing
that cycle is pretty unique to us

btw, does anyone know if roadster's is planning on opening a branch in florida by any chance? i miss them :(

^^i always wondered if roadster's is a lebanese chain? i love it

Simply because Lebanese food is the best and most famous! :PPPP Im sooooooooo hungry now :P

:yes:

What about B2B? The same cycle can be said for that restaurant as well...

Is Crepaway lebanese?

^^ yes it is :)

A lot of people are chocked when they know it's Lebanese. It looks american...there are a lot of branches in the gulf! I love his food :)

now in abu dhabi their is two branches.

What about B2B? The same cycle can be said for that restaurant as well...

Actually, the B2B chain was started and belongs to my cousin's husband, they have opened a number of restaurants in the gulf, I believe in Kuwait City and Saudi Arabia, it's funny, I think the Zaater & Zeit owner and the B2B owner are either brothers in law or cousins aswell.

There's a Zaatar w Zeit here in Qatar and though the waiters who take the order are Filipino but they teach them to ask questions and answer back in Lebanese :nuts:

wahad Jebne w habash?
Zaatar a'a Saj?
sho techrab?
Mai, Shay, ..
Sahtein
Shukran
Even "Kell shi a'a Zawa'kon?"

^^ HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :lol: hilarious

There's a Zaatar w Zeit here in Qatar and though the waiters who take the order are Filipino but they teach them to ask questions and answer back in Lebanese :nuts:

wahad Jebne w habash?
Zaatar a'a Saj?
sho techrab?
Mai, Shay, ..
Sahtein
Shukran
Even "Kell shi a'a Zawa'kon?"

Same thing in Dubai :lol:

good food but overpriced, I hate it !

^^overpriced? seriously? It's really cheap in Lebanon, dunno about Abu Dhabi!

well I mean comparatively, when you can get a man2oushe from a normal bakery for 500L.L to 2 000L.L max and the least expensive man2oushe on ZWZ menu starts at 2500 its pricey.

The way I weighed it though is that I couldn't get something like a zoushe or a bulgari mtabal at a normal furun, nor would they be whole wheat, or multigrain dough, so most of the times you are getting a product that you couldn't get somewhere else. So it is justified.... but its fast food, ZWZ costs the same if not less than a Mcdonalds burger or combo so.... there are arguments to both sides

Crepaway is pricey and all the tourists who came to Leb this summer complain about the repetitive food menus in almost all the restaurants Crepaway, Roadster,Bobs,The lord of the wings(seriously I don't even know why they opened this one because they have nothing special and overpriced for nothing,people who go there are those PRESTIGE type just to show that they can spend 15$$$ on a burger )

In Abu Dhabi the maunouche is 13 dhs. Which is equal to 5500 L.L

Which is really expanisve noting that if 5 people want to buy manouches it will equal 28000 L.L Compared to 2500 for 5 people at a bakery.

They closed one or two branches in Dubai after the crisis too .....

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs004.snc1/2792_84601751404_647511404_2980819_1619768_n.jpg

zwz in qatar when i was there i took a pic of it
it is situated in souk wakef

ZwZ is the best food ever!
can't be in Abu Dhabi or Dubai without visiting at least once a week

Especially love the view in Abu Dhabi mall's ZwZ