A resurrected restaurant concept is reopening in Tuscaloosa this week and will begin serving customers fresh Mediterranean cuisine again tomorrow, October 14th.
As the Thread first reported last week, renovations and branding updates are underway at the former home of Local Roots in the Galleria of Tuscaloosa at 1665 McFarland Boulevard North.
Though the community mourned the loss of Local Roots, excitement has been palpable for its successor – the return of Zoë’s Kitchen to Tuscaloosa after a three-year hiatus.
(Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
(Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
In a Monday morning press release, a spokesperson for the restaurant said John Cassimus, the son of Zoë and Marcus Cassimus, is working to revive the restaurant brand they founded in 1995.
After Zoë’s Kitchen grew to more than 250 locations, the Cassimus family sold the brand to CAVA in an acquisition valued at about $300 million in 2018. By 2023, CAVA had closed or converted all Zoë’s locations, including a pair in Tuscaloosa, but John Cassimus announced that year that CAVA would allow his family to revive the brand.
They took over a closing Local Roots location in Mountain Brook and are now poised to do the same here in Tuscaloosa.
“We’re not just serving addictive, fresh food — we’re serving heritage,” John Cassimussaid in a press release. “We’re thrilled to be back in the restaurant industry. Food has always been our family’s love language, and we can’t wait to share that passion with every guest who walks through our doors.”
The updated concept, Zoë’s & Marky’s Kitchen, honors both of John Cassimus’ parents while preserving the brand identity that customers still pine for today, as evidenced by the explosion of support for news of the Tuscaloosa location on social media.
The McFarland Boulevard location will officially open tomorrow, Tuesday, October 14th. Although an updated menu is not yet available on their just-launched website, Cassimus said in the press release that Zoë’s & Marky’s Kitchen will remain focused on fresh, fast casual food hand-crafted from family recipes.
“The best recipes aren’t just ingredients — they’re traditions perfected over generations and shared with love,” Cassimus said. That’s what makes our food addictive in the best way possible.”
For more coverage of restaurant and retail development in west Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.
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