Olive Mediterranean Grill reopens in Evanston

Olive Mediterranean Grill opened its doors again in August on Sherman Avenue after the restaurant closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Khatija Ghani, the head of OMG’s marketing team, said she’s excited the restaurant has returned to Evanston.

“We love the diverse community and feel the food really resonates with the people of Evanston,” Ghani said.

OMG serves Mediterranean cuisine, including dishes like chicken kebab platters, shawarma sandwiches, labneh and lentil soup. The restaurant is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The fast-casual chain’s location in Evanston is its fourth in the Chicago area.

The original OMG opened in a food court at Clark and Lake streets in downtown Chicago in 2010. Ghani explained that the restaurant’s concept was primarily developed by her husband, Faisal Ghani, and that every aspect, including the name, holds significance.

“It’s all his vision. He named it ‘Olive’ because of the ‘o’ and ‘live,’ because he really wanted to help people live,” she said.

OMG accomplishes that mission by providing food sourced from clean and natural ingredients, part of its overarching commitment to a healthy diet, Khatija Ghani added.

She said she thinks that more students should be aware of OMG’s healthy options and hopes the restaurant becomes a staple of clean eating in the Evanston community.

“We make our own spice mixes, we source the best meats, we’re very, very committed to a very clean and healthy diet, so that when people eat, they feel energy,” she said.

Pekin Bayramli, a co-owner of OMG’s Evanston location, said he enjoys interacting with students and hopes the new location will attract the Northwestern community.

“It was pretty sad when we had to close it down during COVID, but I’m super excited to be back again,” he said.

Echoing Bayramli, Marisol Santos, the Evanston location’s manager and an OMG employee of 10 years, said her favorite part about working at OMG was “interacting with the customers.”

Despite meeting new regulars, the reopening has proved challenging, Bayramli said.

“Finding a contractor, doing everything, getting done in a timely manner, it took longer than I expected, to be honest,” he said.

The biggest hurdle she’s faced since the opening, Khatija Ghani explained, has been finding team members to work expanded hours. OMG is currently only open five days a week, but she said OMG hopes to soon expand hours of operation.

Bayramli added at OMG’s previous location, many of the employees were NU or high school students, and he hopes to rehire students.

One thing Bayramli is doing differently this time around at the downtown location is taking a more active role in the Evanston community — he has already joined the Chamber of Commerce and participates regularly in community events, he said.

As for expanding to more locations in the Chicago area, Khatija Ghani said the business “would love to,” but reopening the Evanston location and getting involved in the community remains OMG’s “main focus.”

“We’re taking a very patient approach to it, to make sure that everywhere we go, we do it the right way,” she said.

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