New restaurant opening in Centerville will have Mediterranean grocery store, hookah cafe

A new restaurant featuring Mediterranean food is expected to open in Centerville next month.

Wrap & Kebab, which will also house a hookah cafe and a Mediterranean grocery store, is located at 103 Gunn Road. The building is undergoing some renovation.

“We’re trying to bring the Jordanian flavor food to our community here,” said owner Mohammed Magayreh, a native of Jordan and a Byron resident.

Here are five dishes patrons can expect to find at Wrap & Kebab:

• Shawarma — layers of thin meat stacked and cooked on a revolving spit.
• Hummus — a dip made from a mixture of garbanzo beans, lemon juice, tahini and olive oil.
• Tabbouleh — finley minced parsley, tomatoes, garlic and bulgar wheat.
• Falafel —ground chickpeas mixed with a variety of spices and deep fried into small patties.
• Kebab — grilled steak or/and chicken on a skewer or minced meat grilled on a skewer.

The meats and vegetarian falafel may be served in wraps and sandwiches with dipping sauces of tahini for steak and thomiah garlic sauce for chicken. The restaurant will also offer family-sized dishes.

Turkish coffee, hot teas and hot chocolate will be served in the hookah cafe. A hookah is a water pipe used to smoke tobacco and to which a variety of flavors may be added such as apple, mint and cherry.

The cafe will be on the left side of the 4,700-square-foot building when facing it. Magayreh said he’s considering adding an ice cream machine.

The restaurant, which will be in the middle of the building, will feature an open kitchen where patrons may watch their food being prepared.

Patrons may order takeout or dine in, with seating expected to be casual and modest with the food served in foam containers. They may also take their food into the hookah cafe and dine in there.

Restaurant menu items are expected to range between $8 and $15.

On the right side of the building, a Mediterranean grocery store will feature a variety of spices and canned goods like dolmas, which are rolled grape leaves commonly stuffed with a mixture of rice and meat.

Wrap & Kebab also offers a large outside patio in the back of the restaurant. Magayreh said he’s thinking about adding a charcoal outdoor grill on the patio.

Opening during the global COVID-19 pandemic, Magayreh said he will have temperature screenings at the entrance to the restaurant and require customers to wear face masks when not eating or smoking. Employees will be masked.

Magayreh said he’s been looking at no-contact temperature scanners that cost from $100 to $150.

“It’s not very expensive to protect employees and customers by checking their temperatures,” he said.

This will be the first restaurant of its kind for Magayreh, who’s behind 14 Shark’s Fish & Chicken Chicago Style restaurants in Georgia, including in Macon and Warner Robins.

He first came to Chicago when moving to the U.S. in 2004, then moving to Daytona Beach, Florida, before relocating in Middle Georgia in 2009.

Magayreh said he typically opens the fish and chicken restaurants and makes sure they’re running well and profitable before selling them. He retains the rights to the name.

Magayreh said he’s looking at adding two more Shark’s Fish & Chicken Chicago Style restaurants in the Middle Georgia area but has not found the right locations yet.

He and an unnamed partner expect to hang onto Wrap & Kebab.

Magayreh said he hopes to open Wrap & Kebab by the end of April, if not sooner if possible. Operating hours are expected to be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

“We’re going to bring something new to the area,” Magayreh said. “I’m very excited.”