The Dough Show, a Florida-based restaurant, is preparing to renovate the former Moe’s Southwest Grill in Bartram Park as part of its vision to become a nationwide chain to stake a claim in the Middle Eastern segment of the quick-service restaurant market.
The Jacksonville site is at 12681 Bartram Park Blvd., south of Old St. Augustine Road and west of Interstate 295, with an expected opening this fall.
Orlando-based partners Omar Shawky, Ihab Mahmoud and Mohamed Momen want to roll out the concept throughout Florida and then nationwide.
The Dough Show opened its first location in Orlando two years ago and then one in Tampa.
Jacksonville is next, followed by another two this year and more beyond.
“Our vision is to build an American brand that is in the Middle Eastern food segment of the U.S.,” Shawky said July 21.
He said there is no one brand that captures the Middle Eastern food segment that The Dough Show plans.
“The Dough Show is an American restaurant brand strategically positioned to become the leader in Middle Eastern cuisine across the USA,” Shawky said.
“We are trying to build it coast-to-coast in the next 10 years and have a clear path to an IPO in 10 years.”
First, though, “We have to be the dominant leader in Florida.”
The menu
The menu features Middle Eastern cuisine from three regions, such as feteer, which is Egyptian pie, either savory or sweet; Levant shawarma; and Turkish mixed grill, Shawky said.
The Dough Show trains chefs to prepare foods for those three stations.
TheDoughShowFl.com site shows the menu for the Orlando restaurant.
Shawky provided a new menu with savory and sweet feteer; bowls and platters; wraps; appetizers; salads, desserts; and refreshers. The food is 100% halal, which conforms to Islamic dietary laws.
Feteer, an Egyptian specialty, is a flaky layered pastry with a savory or sweet filling.
The savory pies come with mozzarella, Parmesan and cheddar cheese; green peppers, green olives and tomatoes; along with fillings.
The Dough Show pie is filled with ground beef, beef sausage and pastrami.
There also are beef, chicken or mixed shawarma (slow roasted meats); cheese; veggies; seafood; or meshaltet, a traditional Egyptian plain feteer.
Regular feteer start at $16.99 with large sizes beginning at $24.99.
Sweet feteer comes in seven choices from custard or boghasha (with sugar and coconut) at $13.99 to The Dough Show (Nutella and fruits) or Dubai (custard - kunafa with pistachio) at $19.99.
Bowls, platters and wraps offer choices of shawarma, lamb or chicken kofta and kebabs, falafel, grilled chicken and a mixed grill.
Bowls start at $9.99, platters at $12.99 and wraps at $7.99.
Sides, salads and appetizers include fries, cole slaw, lentil soup, baba ghanoush (eggplant), fattoush (salad), Greek salad, hummus, tabbouleh, salad and more.
There are mix-and-match options.
The location
The Dough Show expects to open in Jacksonville by the end of September.
The city is reviewing a permit application for Concept Design Build LLC of Orlando to renovate the 2,612-square-foot restaurant, built in 2015 on 0.83 acre, at an estimated cost of $80,000. Costs can change during permitting.
The property sits between Panda Express and Zaxbys.
Plans call for adding a pizza brick oven, modifying the service counter and adding a hood for the prep kitchen.
Investor MH Bartram Park LLC of Orlando paid $2.7 million for the property May 29, 2025, and will be the restaurant’s landlord. MH Bartram Park is led by Mohammad Hassan of Orlando, who bought the property from MSG Bartram Land L.L.C. of Jacksonville.
Sean McGill of Cantrell & Morgan represented the seller.
Real estate agent Ahmed Elkomy with Century 21 Commercial Carioti in Orlando represented the buyer.
The Jacksonville Dough Show will seat 130, with 50 of those on a covered patio. It will be the first location with a limited drive-thru menu.
“We are completing the design and working on remodeling it to match our DNA,” Shawky said.
The design features an open kitchen with the food grilled in front of the customer, creating – along with the dough preparation – the show, hence the name.
Shawky calls the service “smart casual.”
Customers can order in advance on an app; in the restaurant at a kiosk; at the counter; or from a QR code on the table.
Food will be delivered to the table.
Hours at the first two Dough Shows cover lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The Jacksonville restaurant might add breakfast starting at 8 a.m., along with lunch and dinner service.
“We will introduce a breakfast experience from dishes authentic to the Middle East,” Shawky said, such as egg preparations like Lebanese with herbs and seasonings.
The Dough Show does not serve beer or wine. Shawky said the brand maintains a healthy focus. “We don’t mix alcohol with it.”
Elkomy said the Bartram site is a strong lunch market given its location near Baptist Medical Center South, several hotels and the Flagler Center office and commercial park.
The partners found that families and groups visit to order and share a mix of dishes.
Shawky said The Dough Show intends to be a good corporate citizen, hiring and training from the community.
Elkomy said Jacksonville’s economy is promising.
“It is a large community and unique restaurants will be needed there,” he said.
“It will be met with a lot of enthusiasm.”
The competition
The menu shares some dishes found in the Mediterranean restaurant market, and that is a growing one.
Orders.co reported in mid-2024 that in the previous five years, revenue in the Mediterranean food market had steadily grown by 3% annually, reaching $33.4 billion.
“The Mediterranean food market in the US is experiencing a remarkable boom, drawing attention from both consumers and entrepreneurs alike,” it reported, citing factors that included healthy eating, cultural diversity, versatile dining formats and social media, reported the online ordering platform.
CAVA Grill, Taziki’s and The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, all with Northeast Florida locations, are among the national chains that focus on Mediterranean food.
There are several more regional chains that are expanding.
In addition, the Jacksonville market is home to many family-owned and independent Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants and sandwich shops, such as Fast Eddy’s Quick Mideast in Baymeadows.
Shawky said The Dough Show menu delivers “a unique culinary experience” that sets it apart.
“We believe competition ultimately benefits the customer,” he said.
“We offer an appealing and competitively priced lunch menu that caters to a broad base of corporate customers, while our dinner service has become a true destination — drawing families who are willing to travel for the experience.”