Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe is opening its first New Orleans location this summer at 701 Metairie Road in the Old Metairie Village Shopping Center. It is the first of five planned Louisiana locations of the Birmingham, Alabama-based brand for local franchisees Barre and Cecile Tanguis.
“We love the community feel of Taziki’s, in addition to the delicious food that makes you feel great,” Cecile Tanguis said in a press release. “We understand how valuable the Mediterranean diet is to the public’s overall health, so we’re excited to be able to introduce this wonderful, fresh concept to the New Orleans area.”
Barre, a Louisiana native, has gained a national reputation for his transformation of the restaurant operations model with culinary projects like St. Roch Market, Politan Row and MIA Market, which he re-developed with Cecile. The food hall concepts have outposts in Miami and New Orleans, receiving accolades from Travel+Leisure, The New York Times, Food & Wine and Forbes. MIA Market’s sushi concept was also featured in the Michelin Guide to Miami in 2022.
Cecile Tanguis, a fashion entrepreneur, led the rollouts of several campaigns for the Gap and Williams Sonoma before launching her New Orleans-inspired clothing and accessories label, NOLA Couture, in 2006. Along with her fashion label, she and her brother, Joe Reiss, launched Louisiana’s first Poke restaurant, Poke Loa, in New Orleans in 2017 and have added five locations.
“We are thrilled to bring our fast-casual Mediterranean food to the Metairie community and with partners as well-established as Barre and Cecile Tanguis,” Taziki’s CEO Dan Simpson said in the release. “We know Taziki’s will become a favorite for great, fresh food at a reasonable price. Our fans are loyal, so there’s no doubt in my mind all the planned cafes will flourish under their watch.”
Founded by Keith and Amy Richards in 1998, Taziki’s has 80 locations in 16 states.
