Dec. 27, 2018

Tawooki Mediterranean Chop Chop has closed its restaurant to make way for an Asian eatery but will continue to do catering.

The business opened almost one year ago in the same retail center on West 41st Street as Fuddruckers.

The restaurant was a collaboration between Ted Hamze, who operates Zaroty Pizza Kitchen, and Sarah Naoom, an Iraqi immigrant. Naoom will operate Tawooki’s catering business from the Zaroty kitchen at 41st Street and Marion Road, Hamze said. They plan to incorporate some of the Mediterranean dishes that Tawooki served into the Zaroty menu.

Hamze said he was approached by restaurant owners from the Twin Cities area to sublease the Tawooki space.

“We finalized the deal the day before Christmas, and the restaurant closed,” he said.