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Two chefs well known in Madison to those who love Mediterranean food opened a restaurant June 6 in Middleton.
Mohammad Hinnawi, who had the Nile restaurant on Odana Road for nine years, and Sabi Atteyih, who owned the former Casbah Restaurant and Lounge on East Main St., off the Capitol Square, from 1999 until 2007, opened Taza, at 1900 Cayuga St.

Taza opened at 1900 Cayuga St., in what had been Compadres Mexican restaurant.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Taza, which means “fresh” in Arabic, is in what used to be Compadres Mexican restaurant.
It was Atteyih who brought Hinnawi to Madison from Chicago 30 years ago to work for his mother at Lulu’s on Old University Avenue. Hinnawi was a chef and manager there for 20 years until the property got redeveloped.
Hinnawi said that Taza has the same menu as the Nile, which he sold in June 2020 because of COVID-19. New owners ran it as the Nile at first and then changed the name to Petra Bakery & Restaurant.
“No people wanted to work and I couldn’t handle it by myself,” said Hinnawi, who also had knee surgery then which made it so he couldn’t be on his feet for six months.
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Taza is open seven days a week with Atteyih, 58, covering for Hinnawi, 57, on his days off.
Hinnawi said Taza is not much different from the Nile. “Just the location is. There’s nothing really different.”
He said he didn’t use the Nile name because although it’s no longer in use, he sold it with the former restaurant.
Both Hinnawi and Atteyih are Palestinian. Hinnawi, who was born in Jerusalem, came as a refugee from Aman, Jordan, to Chicago in December 1989. He came to Madison in 1992 after Atteyih took out a newspaper ad in Chicago looking for a chef. Hinnawi had been a baker. “We’re partners now,” Hinnawi said.
“Mo and I are brothers from different mothers basically because of the long time that we worked at Lulu’s,” said Atteyih, adding that he was recruiting chefs in Chicago when he found Hinnawi.
Atteyih said he worked with others he found in Chicago with mixed results. “Some lasted a month, some lasted a year, but he lasted a couple of decades… We couldn’t get rid of him. And I know we didn’t want to get rid of him.”
Lulu’s opened in 1984 and Atteyih’s mother, Khayreia Ashkar, took it over upon her business partner’s death, Atteyih said. “In 1992, when I met Mo, we were basically learning as we went. None of us was culinarily educated… We learned some cooking from mom and were able to transform Lulu’s at the time to what became a new genre of food.”
Before Lulu’s, he said, there was no Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food in Madison. “We take pride in being the pioneers, bringing food such as Lulu’s did in 1984.”
After closing the Casbah, Atteyih worked as a distribution manager for the Wisconsin Union and in the Union’s commissary kitchen. He was also the chef for Saffron, a Mediterranean street food restaurant the Union used to run in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
Taza is open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The telephone number is 608-203-8282. Atteyih said they should have a website with online ordering soon.
Atteyih said they’re talking with a recent Iraqi immigrant to do deliveries so they don’t have to contract with a third-party delivery service.
39 Madison-area restaurant, bar and coffee shop openings in 2021, including more on the way
Stadium Takeout

Don Woods opened Stadium Takeout in early October, next to his barber shop, Faded Club, on Monroe Street, where Lorraine’s, and before that, New Orleans Take-Out, were.
The Harvey House

Joe Papach and Shaina Robbins Papach opened this modern-day supper club in July, tucked into the Madison Train Depot, behind Motorless Motion Bicycles on West Washington Avenue.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Delicacies of Asia

Ting Cai Zhou opened this State Street counter-service restaurant where Lotsa Stone Fired Pizza was.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Kettle Black Kitchen

Brian and Alicia Hamilton opened this intimate, full-service 30-seat restaurant on Monroe Street in August across from Trader Joe’s where Joon, Burgrito and Double S BBQ were.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Patricia’s Taqueria & Groceries

Patricia Sánchez and Adrian Serrato opened this restaurant and store in the former Farm Tavern, south of the Beltline. In November, they opened a second one in Lakewood Plaza Shopping Center at Sherman and Commercial avenues.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Forage Kitchen Middleton

Henry Aschauer opened a fourth of his healthy fast-food restaurants in November on Old Sauk Road in a former Cousins Subs shop.
Portillo’s West

Madison’s second Portillo’s hot dog restaurant with a three-lane drive-thru opened at West Towne Mall where a Sears Auto Center was.
Grace Coffee Co.

Carlos Falcon opened his fifth and sixth coffee shops, one on Park Street in the Peloton Residences apartments, the other in Verona, next to the new high school.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Sunroom Cafe

Juan Montiel and his father, Euler Montiel, bought this second-floor, State Street favorite last summer and added some of their native Venezuelan specialties.
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

This Louisiana-based chain, focused on chicken strips, opened in June next to Colectivo Coffee on State Street.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Ancora Cafe + Bakery

The cafe opened in February in Maple Bluff where Manna Café was. It joins Tori Gerding’s King Street Ancora and her Ancora on University Avenue.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Mercies Coffee

Mallory Orr, who briefly worked at the 20-year-old Cool Beans, near East Towne Mall, opened her new shop in its place in December.
Poke Bar

Evelyn Jian opened her small Middleton counter-service restaurant in early May.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Peanut Butter & Jelly Deli

Mike Hottinger opened this counter-service shop in mid-September on State Street in what had been Frutta Bowls.
Blind Shot Golf & Social Club

Brent Mann and Michelle Duvall opened their indoor golf club, bar and restaurant in June on Fair Oaks Avenue on the ground level of the mixed-use Garver Point Apartments.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Mount Vernon Tap

Walter Heinrich and Jennie Corey-Heinrich took over the popular bar Marcine’s in Mount Vernon and renamed it. They promised to keep almost everything the same.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Granny’s Kitchen

Tyrone Austin and Ondray Sellers, with help from Mary Bridges, opened the takeout restaurant in February in the back of a Citgo gas station on Northport Drive.
Takarajima Sushi

Jeannie Ni opened this sushi spot in April on Cottage Grove Road where Good Food Low Carb Café was.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Takara Sushi Station

Jeannie Ni opened her conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in August on Whitney Way where, for 14 years, she co-owned Takara Japanese Restaurant.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Marquette Hotel Café

James Montgomery opened the cafe mid-May in his three-year-old hotel on South Baldwin Street off Williamson Street.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Bombay Fast Café

Madhuri Ranade opened her food cart in June on Library Mall, and sells four items.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Good News Ice Cream

Andy Haker, who owns Madison’s on King Street, turned the restaurant-bar’s party room into an artisan ice cream and coffee shop.
Oz by Oz

Sam Parker, Ryan Huber and Brian Bartels, who also own neighboring Settle Down Tavern, opened the bar in October on King Street.
Leopold’s Books Bar Caffe

Sam Brown opened a combination bookstore, bar and café in July next to the Regent Street Rocky’s, where Greenbush Bakery was.
Taco Local

David Rodriguez opened Taco Local in April on Williamson Street where Underground Butcher was.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Dive Inn

Ryan Ramig and Josh Wacker opened a bar on Cottage Grove Road where JoBeck’s Bar was.
Hone

Michael Parks opened this eclectic restaurant in the former Forequarter space on East Johnson Street.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
City Barbeque

This Ohio-based chain opened its first Wisconsin location in March at the corner of Gammon and Mineral Point roads.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Rising Sons Verona

Sinarack “Be” Macvilay opened a third Rising Sons Laotian-Thai restaurant on West Verona Avenue, where Jordandal Cookhouse was.
Camp Beef Butter BBQ

Patrick Riha, who owns Beef Butter BBQ restaurant on the North Side, opened this seasonal outdoor spot in the town of Westport.
Buck & Honey’s Waunakee

The restaurant, in the former Boston’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar, had a soft opening in December 2020, but is being counted as a 2021 opening.
Forma

Nathan Mergen, who owns the restaurant/bar 107 State at that address, expanded next door last spring into the former Shoo store, for a private dining room and “urban art gallery.”
Dark Horse ArtBar

Patrick DePula of Salvatore’s Tomato Pies on East Washington Avenue took over the space next door that used to be Star Bar for an art gallery, bar, and performance art and music venue.
Coming soon: Jacknife

Jacknife will be a fast-casual restaurant on East Washington Avenue from the owners of the sushi favorite RED.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Coming soon: Chasers 2.0

Chasers Bar & Grille was chased out of its West Gorham Street home because of redevelopment, but Chasers 2.0 is opening in the old Nomad spot a block away.
Coming Soon: East Johnson Family Restaurant

East Johnson Family Restaurant, an upscale diner from the couple behind Johnson Public House.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Coming Soon: Driftless Social

Driftless Social in Mount Horeb, a supper club in the old Schubert’s diner and bakery from Matt and Tim Schmock, two grandsons of the founders of Smoky’s Club in Madison.
Samara Kalk Derby | Wisconsin State Journal
Coming Soon: Mio Fratello

Mio Fratello, a pizza place on the North Side from Alessandro Monachello and Chris Guglielmo. The partners have tweaked their business model to do catering and pop-up events. They’ve been selling their wood-fired pizza at the North Side Farmers’ Market and at festivals and private events.
Coming soon: Red Rooster

Red Rooster in the former Knuckle Down Saloon from Jesse Steinberg, Paul Schwoerer, Tim Payne and Dan Resnick, members of Madtown Mannish Boys, a local blues band.
Read more restaurant news at: go.madison.com/restaurants
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