Taziki’s

Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe is a fast-casual restaurant operator that builds its identity around authentic Mediterranean cooking and staff-driven hospitality. The brand traces its origins to a transformative trip to Greece by its founders, who developed a passion for Mediterranean flavors and cooking traditions that became the foundation for the restaurant concept. Today, the company operates 108 locations as of November 2025, with approximately 5,000 employees spread across company-operated, joint venture, and franchised units.

What sets Taziki's apart in the competitive fast-casual landscape is its deliberate rejection of automation in favor of human connection. The brand does not use kiosk-based ordering systems. Instead, staff members handle customer interactions directly, a choice that reflects the company's broader philosophy about hospitality. Every kitchen prepares food from scratch rather than relying on pre-prepared or frozen components, and the company sources hundreds of thousands of pounds of salmon and lamb annually, indicating meaningful supply chain scale and operational complexity.

Over the past five years, Taziki's has evolved from a smaller regional operator into a data-forward business while maintaining its hospitality-first culture. The company has implemented unified intelligence systems through partnerships with Square and Restaurant365, enabling sophisticated analytics around customer loyalty, waste reduction, and operational efficiency. Leadership has acknowledged that the transition from 50 to 100 locations required fundamentally different operational approaches, suggesting the organization has invested in systems and processes to support multi-unit scaling.

The brand's expansion strategy emphasizes local ownership and community integration as core principles rather than optional amenities. This approach has created franchise opportunities while maintaining quality control and brand consistency across markets. The company has demonstrated steady growth across multiple regions, adapting to shifting consumer preferences toward off-premise dining while preserving the in-restaurant experience that differentiates the brand. For landlords and developers, Taziki's represents a growing operator with disciplined site selection capabilities, proven unit economics, and a model designed for sustainable multi-unit expansion.