{"id":217231,"date":"2026-03-12T23:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217231\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T23:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T23:57:11","slug":"popular-mediterranean-bistro-opens-second-fresno-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/217231\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Mediterranean bistro opens second Fresno location"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno\u2019s downtown dining hub, The Galleria, has gained a new family-owned lunch spot that brings a twist to Mediterranean cuisine.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a second location of Zaatar Bistro, founded by three brothers who grew up in Lebanon \u2014 Badih \u201cBuddy,\u201d Roy and Rabih \u201cRobby\u201d Nassar. Their new restaurant located at the Civic Center Square on Capitol Street is called Zaatar Downtown.<\/a><\/p>\n

The menu is a blend of authentic Lebanese, Mediterranean, European and American food, inspired by their grandmothers\u2019 recipes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Zaatar, our mission has always been to share the flavors and hospitality of mediterian cuisine while creating a place where everyone is welcome,\u201d Buddy said. \u201cA place where cultures meet at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bistro\u2019s first location is at Shepherd Avenue and Champlain Drive in the Via Montana shopping center. It was voted the best new local restaurant of 2024 by Fresno Bee readers,<\/a> winning by a landslide with 47% of the vote.<\/p>\n

\"Brothers Brothers Roy Nassar, left, Rabih \u201cRobby\u201d Nassar in center, and Badih Nassar, right, have opened Zaatar Bistro in north Fresno\u2019s Via Montana Shopping Center at Shepherd Avenue and Champlain Drive. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s grand opening of Zaatar Downtown included a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Mayor Jerry Dyer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting whenever we open up a business any part of Fresno,\u201d Dyer said. \u201cI love it when people invest in our downtown area, because we know it comes with some risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buddy said that opening the new location was not only a milestone for his families business, but also their way of contributing to downtown Fresno.<\/p>\n

Zaatar Downtown opened in the former home of George\u2019s Shish Kebab inside The Galleria, which had been in downtown since the 1980s. It closed last year.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFresno is a remarkable city because of its diversity,\u201d Buddy said. \u201cPeople from all over the world have grown their cultures, traditions and stories here. One of the most beautiful ways those cultures connect is through food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The The Chef\u2019s Favas dish at Zaatar Bistro in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Chef\u2019s Chef\u2019s Favas, a mixture of black fava beans and chickpeas in lemon olive oil sauce is seen to the left and pita bread to the right, one of many offerings at Zaatar Bistro, photographed Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Zaatar Zaatar Bistro\u2019s Lebanese Spirit is topped with the spice blend za\u2019atar, arugula and fresh vegetables. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Hummus Hummus with diced steak and almonds from Zaatar Bistro. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Roy Roy Nassar chats to customers on their first visit to Zaatar Bistro, Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno\u2019s downtown dining hub, The Galleria, has gained a new family-owned lunch spot that brings a twist to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[17774,112,114,113,99646,10332,99647,99644,99645],"class_list":{"0":"post-217231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-downtown-fresno","9":"tag-fresno","10":"tag-fresno-headlines","11":"tag-fresno-news","12":"tag-georges-shish-kebab","13":"tag-jerry-dyer","14":"tag-the-galleria-fresno","15":"tag-zaatar-bistro","16":"tag-zaatar-downtown"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}