Fast-casual eatery Olive Mediterranean Grill will return to downtown Evanston this summer after closing during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Khat Ghani, the restaurant’s head of marketing, said the restaurant aims to open by June 1 and is awaiting its final license from the city.
In 2013, Khat Ghani’s husband, Faisal Ghani, opened Olive Mediterranean Grill just across the street from its new location on Sherman Avenue.
“We had the Olive there for so many years,” Khat Ghani said. “We were sad to close it. We love the community. It just feels like the world is becoming right again.”
Rather than a full sit down-service restaurant, Olive Mediterranean Grill allows customers to order at the counter, similar to the style of Mexican fast-casual chain Chipotle, Ghani said.
The brand emphasizes healthy eating by serving Mediterranean-themed dishes such as shawarma plates and falafel sandwiches.
“We want people to feel energy after they eat our meals and not sluggish or tired,” Khat Ghani said.
Miami resident George Matthew was in Evanston to visit friends when he walked past the Olive Mediterranean Grill storefront.
Matthew said he often frequented fast-casual restaurants in the area when he was a student at Loyola University Chicago.
“I prefer those when I’m not trying to have a sit-down dinner,” Matthew said. “I’m all for those kinds of grab-and-gos.”
Despite the Evanston location’s five-year closure, Olive Mediterranean Grill never left the city entirely. The restaurant hosted pop-ups at Northwestern football home games from 2021 to 2023, Khat Ghani said. She plans to return as a vendor once the new Ryan Field opens.
The chain operates two locations in Chicago, but the proximity to a college makes the Evanston location feel different, Khat Ghani said.
“You’re in an environment where people are purposeful, and they’re there with intention,” Khat Ghani said. “It’s not being in the downtown area, where it’s a lot of rush and chaos. If you’re in Evanston, especially in the Northwestern campus, it’s an elevated feeling.”
Neither of the Ghanis are Evanston natives — Faisal Ghani hails from Skokie and Khat Ghani grew up in Troy, Michigan. Yet the city has been a part of their lives for more than a decade.
The first restaurant Faisal Ghani ever managed was the original Evanston Jimmy John’s on Clark Street. He said he worked there as a manager from 1991 to 1994. From there, he became one of the sandwich chain’s largest franchisees.
“That’s where he learned the business,” Khat Ghani said. “It really started in Evanston for him, so he’s just very passionate about being there in that community.”
Downtown Evanston Executive Director Andy Vick said several Evanston restaurants have recently reopened in their “old stomping grounds” after brief closures or relocations.
Cozy Thai Kitchen, formerly Cozy Noodles & Rice, reopened in March at a new location on Maple Avenue after closing in 2024, following 24 years of operations.
A sign just went up on Clark Street for the Chinese restaurant Lao Sze Chuan, which closed last summer after more than a decade in Evanston.
Vick said this occurrence is common as pandemic recovery wraps up. He said he hopes residents respond by visiting them in person.
“The more we do that, the more successful they’ll be, and the more other businesses will want to move to Evanston,” Vick said. “It becomes this virtuous cycle.”
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