by David Ball
Staff Writer
Nader Zarou said he’d love to have his wife’s name, Sylvia, above the door of his new business.
“You don’t see too many female names for restaurants, and I love that name,” he said.
His wife, however, may still need convincing.
“No, it’s not going to be Sylvia’s,” she said smiling.
For now, “John’s Delicatessen and Grille” still reads on the front of the popular Downtown restaurant on Adams Street, sandwiched between several other eateries like Mudville Grille and Chew that stay crowded during the weekday lunch rush.
The Zarous, originally from Ramallah, Palestine, have been in Jacksonville for 20 years and recently purchased the restaurant from previous owners John Han and Hyo Kim, who spent a few weeks showing the new owners the ropes before moving onto other restaurant ventures in town.
The Zarous said regulars should expect to eventually see a new, revamped interior decor. But beyond that, the food will remain faithful to what has made the restaurant a success — fresh salads, sandwiches and wraps. However, the sushi has left along with Han and Kim.
“It’s still going to be the same menu, but we’ll add some things like new salads, pita bread sandwiches, eggplant sandwiches and humus,” said Nader Zarou, hinting at a slight Middle Eastern flavor he thinks customers would like.
And he should know. Zarou has 20 years of culinary experience that dates back to a falafel stand he operated near the campus of University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the 1970s. He said it was likely one of the first falafel stands in the country and definitely in Ann Arbor.
“A guy came in and saw some of my Michigan magazines, and he said ‘I used to eat at a great falafel place in Ann Arbor.” I said that was me,” said Zarou.
When Zarou moved to Jacksonville, he stopped working in the food business and instead became an investigator with the law offices of Farah & Farah. But that’s not the only family connection, as Sylvia is Eddie and Chuck Farah’s sister and still works as an office manager at the firm.
“I know we’ll at least have them as regular customers,” she said.
But customers shouldn’t be a problem, as they said they’ve had to adjust to the workload of handling between 150 and 200 hungry people for two hours every weekday lunch. They said they also had to learn the work it takes just to prepare the food.
“I didn’t know everything was freshly made,” said Sylvia. “I mean, we wash every piece of Romaine lettuce by hand, and I think that makes the difference.”
But the couple said they are now getting the hang of it, and the restaurant will soon be offering delivery services and catering. If fact, they got good practice a few weeks ago when they delivered 70 sandwiches to a meeting with Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland and his staff.
“The business here is great, that’s why we picked this place,” said Nader. “I love the downtown here. The people here are great, and it’s going to get better and better.”
John’s Delicatessen and Grille is located at 126 W. Adams St. and is open for lunch Monday to Friday. For more information, call 475-1400.