On Tuesday, November 11, Bardstown Road saw the addition of another Mediterranean-style eatery – this time in the Douglass Loop area. Coming just a week after the grand opening of nearby Cafe Lou Lou, Zaytún Mediterranean Grill is where Andrew’s Home Cooking used to be, just a couple of doors down from Left Field Lounge.

The owner, Shahram Pouranfar, is also the owner of Sharom’s Restaurant at 5627 Outer Loop, a popular south Louisville seafood spot that opened in 1997. To symbolize the Mediterranean cuisine on offer, Pouranfar – a native of Iran – chose the word for ‘olive’ (zaytún) as the name for the restaurant. Hardly surprising, Zaytún will offer a selection of specialty gourmet olives that will change frequently.

Fans of hummus will be happy to find two different varieties on the Zaytún menu: the Phoenecian ($4), which I tried, is spicy (but not overwhelmingly so) with its incorporation of roasted garlic and zippy red pepper sauce; the Egyptian ($4) is more like the traditional variety most Americans enjoy and uses lots of onion, garlic, and seasonings in the blend. All in all, the menu has close to 20 items to choose from, and many of them – baba ghanouj ($4), falafel ($6), kabobs (“coming soon!”), gyros ($7),  baklava ($1.50),  and Greek salad ($4.75) – are what you’d expect to find at a place such as this. However, some dishes don’t fit the mold of your typical Mediterranean kitchen. (By the way, the classic gyro was delicious.)

Read the rest after the jump…

Friday nights, for example, there is a fried fish special (“A mild white fish fillet, hand breaded by our sister restaurant Sharom’s Seafood and Gyros, and fried golden, served with rye bread and our own Homemade Tartar sauce”) for $8 with fries.

In addition to the “Euro-style chicken caesar wrap” ($7), “pita crunchers” (fried pita strips served with tzatziki for $3) and “cheesy flat bread” with pepper jack ($3), snackers out to further the corruption of decent Mediterranean cuisine can try something called “Zaytún’s Tribal Fries” for $4. Described as “Crispy fries topped with sautéed onions, tribal dressing, Pepper Jack cheese and Cajun seasoning,” it is definitely not your typical Mediterranean concoction. Not to be outdone, the “Taj Mahal Rings” ($4), a stack of home-style onion rings, comes with tzatziki and tribal dipping sauces. (The ‘secret recipe’ for the tribal sauce hasn’t been divined yet, however, it could best be described as a jacked-up version of Thousand Island dressing.)

Apart from a selection of beers and soft drinks, patrons at Zaytún can wash down their meals with a kettle of Persian hot tea ($3) or a yogurt-based beverage known as ‘doogh’ ($2). The interior of Zaytún is clean and casual – a wait person will take your order, though – and the rehabbed space borders on warm and cozy with its shades of ocher, rust and lavender on the walls. Charcoal tiles line the floor, and there are ten or so tables of assorted sizes with sleek, black chairs with shiny wooden seats that can accommodate around 40 people. Zaytún was offering free hummus as a grand-opening special, but they might be discontinuing that soon, so head over to Douglass Loop soon and see if there’s any left for you.

Zaytun Mediterranean Grill
2286 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY 40205
502-365-1788

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant