After what appeared to be a permanent closure, a local Middle Eastern eatery has reopened under new management.
Sahara Mediterranean Food reopened last week in southern Overland Park.
Sahara operates at 10150 W. 119th St.
- The restaurant occupies a space at the Highland Plaza shopping center, just off West 119th Street and U.S. Highway 69.
- There, it neighbors the Chaitime bubble tea shop and Tanner’s Bar and Grill.
- Sahara is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Monday.
Sahara serves traditional Middle Eastern dishes
The restaurant serves up several popular Mediterranean dishes, like falafel wraps, gyro wraps and chicken shawarma sandwiches.
Sahara’s menu also includes appetizers, including hummus or baba ghanoush with pita or loaded fries.
The restaurant also serves sweet treats, like homemade pistachio baklava and basbousa — a type of cake.
Salah Harzi, the new manager and co-owner of the Overland Park location, said the restaurant added some new weekend specials with North African influences — reflecting his own heritage. But other than that, it’s roughly the same menu that customers knew before.
“It’s the same menu, same flavor, same recipes,” he said. “I like the food, so I kept it the same.”
Sahara closed in Overland Park for roughly six months
Harzi said the closure followed the owners’ decision to focus on operations at Sahara’s flagship location in Lee’s Summit, Missouri.
Harzi operated his own Mediterranean restaurant Holy Land Cafe in Lenexa for roughly 20 years before selling it to new owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. He had been retired for a few years when he found out Sahara had closed.
Harzi was familiar with the restaurant’s Lee’s Summit location, and its owner Jawad Higaz. So when the opportunity came to bring it back to Johnson County, he said he wanted to help.
“I knew (Higaz) before, and he knows that I have very good experience with restaurants,” he said. “So now we’re back in business.”
He’s looking to get the word out about the restaurant’s reopening, he said, but he won’t have to try too hard. Many customers have already been calling and stopping in, eager to return.
“We’re excited about the (new) beginning, and we don’t have to build the clientele again,” he said. “We’re very happy with the start, and people are calling nonstop now.”
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