The Best Mediterranean Food in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County
Falafel, shawarma, tapas, and French technique: the Mediterranean runs deep here.
The Mediterranean is not a cuisine. It is a coastline that touches twenty-two countries, and people from at least half of them have opened restaurants in Washtenaw County. What connects a falafel counter on East Liberty to a French brasserie inside a Marriott property on Glen Avenue is less about shared recipes and more about shared principles: olive oil as a foundation, bread as a given, vegetables treated as a main course rather than an afterthought, and the understanding that a long meal with small plates is not an inconvenience but a format.
Ann Arbor's version of Mediterranean dining skips the resort-town cliches. There is no waterfront here, no imported tile work pretending we are somewhere warmer. What we have instead is a set of restaurants that take the food seriously, price it honestly, and let the cooking do the work. The range runs from an $8 falafel plate to a $100 prix fixe, and the best meals live at both ends.
Update, March 3, 2026: Zamaan Grill has closed after fifteen years on Eisenhower Parkway. This guide was published while it was still operating. The entry below has been updated to reflect the closure.
1. Jerusalem Garden (314 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor)
Start here. If you have not eaten at Jerusalem Garden, you have not completed the basic coursework in Ann Arbor dining.
The falafel plate is the anchor: fried to order, green and herb-dense on the inside, served with hummus, tahini, pickled turnip, and enough pita to build four or five wraps. The whole plate runs about $10. I have been eating this plate for years, and I have never found a reason to stop. The shawarma, chicken or lamb shaved from a vertical spit, is the other pillar. Both are available as plates with rice, salad, and pita, or as wraps for a quicker meal. Most items fall between $8 and $14. Dinner for two rarely touches $30.
The room is narrow, functional, and makes no pretense about atmosphere. You order at the counter, sit down, and the food comes. The money goes into the kitchen, not the decor. That trade-off is why a falafel plate can cost what it does in a downtown with escalating rents.
Jerusalem Garden has lasted decades in a part of town where restaurants cycle through every few years. The lunch line at 12:15 on weekdays is not a marketing strategy. It is a verdict.
2. Aventura (216 E Washington St, Ann Arbor)
Aventura is the date-night entry on this list, and after thirteen years on East Washington, it has earned the spot. Sava Farah opened it in 2013 after a weeks-long research trip through Spain, and the tapas format she brought back changed how people eat dinner in downtown Ann Arbor.1Aventura's founding story, including Farah's research trip to Spain and the Pulpo Group, is drawn from Plate & Press profiles and has been reported by the Ann Arbor Observer.
The bravas are the essential order: double-fried potato cubes, salsa brava with actual heat, garlic aioli underneath. I order them every time. Gambas al ajillo arrive sizzling in garlic and olive oil. Croquetas de jamon, crisp béchamel and ham with romesco, are the kind of thing you order before looking at the rest of the menu. Paella for two (mid-thirties to mid-forties for the marisco version) comes with socarrat, the caramelized rice crust on the bottom that tells you the kitchen knows what it is doing.
The sherry list separates Aventura from restaurants that happen to serve Spanish food. If you have never spent time with sherry, this is a good place to start. Tapas run roughly $10 to $20 each, and dinner for two with drinks lands north of $100 if you order the way you should.
The building dates to 1872. La Mesa, an antique table Farah found in the stone-carved basement, still sits in the dining room. Thirteen years later, so does the restaurant.
3. Pita Kabob Grill (529 E Liberty St, Ann Arbor)
A few blocks east of Jerusalem Garden on the same street, Pita Kabob Grill runs a similar operation at a similar price point. Falafel wraps, shawarma plates, kebabs, and a selection of salads and dips that cover the Levantine basics. The chicken shawarma wrap is a strong $9 lunch. Beef kebab plates with rice, salad, and hummus come in under $14.
Where Jerusalem Garden is a line-out-the-door institution, Pita Kabob is the steadier option when you want the same category of food without the wait. The kitchen is consistent. The portions are generous. The falafel is not quite Jerusalem Garden's, which is a high bar, but it holds its own. Hummus is smooth and well-seasoned. The baba ghanoush has proper smokiness.
This stretch of East Liberty, between the two of them, is the best sub-$15 corridor for lunch downtown. If you work in the area, you already know.
4. La Serre at The Vanguard (213 Glen Ave, Ann Arbor)
La Serre is the outlier on this list, and it belongs here for a reason. Chef Michael Polsinelli opened this French brasserie inside The Vanguard Hotel in May 2025, and the Mediterranean influence shows up in the technique, the sourcing, and the menu's bones.2La Serre opened May 6, 2025, inside The Vanguard Hotel. Chef Michael Polsinelli's background per the restaurant's opening and Plate & Press coverage. French cooking is Mediterranean cooking. The olive oil, the raw bar, the seafood plateaux, the moules-frites, the Provencal flavors running through the kitchen. La Serre does not market itself as a Mediterranean restaurant, but the coastline is in every dish.
The moules-frites are a clean execution: plump mussels in a properly built broth, frites that are crisp. Braised short ribs have the tenderness that comes only from time. The raw bar fills a gap that Ann Arbor's dining scene has lacked for years. Dinner entrees run $47 to $59, with a $100 prix fixe option. These are not casual prices. They should not be.
The room is beautiful. Bleached oak floors, Parisian blue banquettes, a showcase display kitchen open to the dining room. A 125-seat brasserie with a full bar. Sit with a glass of Burgundy and a plate from the raw bar, and you can eat well without committing to the full dinner.
5. Sava's (216 S State St, Ann Arbor)
Sava's is the broadest kitchen on this list, and that is both its challenge and its strength. The menu spans Mediterranean plates, American brunch standards, grain bowls, and burgers, and the kitchen manages the range without losing focus. Sava Farah, who also owns Aventura, opened Sava's in 2007, and eighteen years later it is still full on Saturday mornings.3Sava's founding story, including Farah's $25,000 initial investment, is drawn from Plate & Press profiles and local press coverage of the Pulpo Group.
The Mediterranean side of the menu is where the kitchen's instincts show. Lamb kofta with tzatziki and warm pita has proper char and seasoning. Hummus is smooth, served warm with olive oil and sumac. Shakshuka, eggs baked in spiced tomato sauce, arrives in the pan with good bread. A fattoush salad has crunch and acid in the right proportions. Entrees run $14 to $24, with brunch mostly under $18.
The room is dramatic: high ceilings, tall windows, exposed brick, two levels of seating. It photographs well. More to the point, it works well. Sava's is accessible enough for a visiting parent and ambitious enough for a regular who knows to skip the burger and order the kofta.
6. Casablanca (2333 Washtenaw Ave, Ypsilanti)
Casablanca is the Ypsilanti entry, and it earns its spot on Washtenaw Avenue in west Ypsi. The menu covers Lebanese and broader Middle Eastern cooking: hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, shawarma, and kebab plates, alongside a spread of grilled meats and vegetarian options. Lamb shawarma over rice with a side of garlic sauce is a $13 plate that feeds like $20. The falafel is house-made and crisp.
The location, a strip mall on Washtenaw Avenue, does not promise much from the outside. Inside, the dining room is clean and functional, and the kitchen puts the budget where it counts. Portions are substantial. If you are driving between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti on Washtenaw, this is the stop to make when you want Middle Eastern food without backtracking downtown.
7. La Marsa (7049 Dexter Ann Arbor Rd, Dexter)
La Marsa is part of a small Michigan chain with locations across metro Detroit, and the Dexter outpost on Dexter-Ann Arbor Road represents a different proposition than the downtown Ann Arbor options. The menu is Lebanese and Mediterranean: fattoush, hummus, tabbouleh, shawarma, kebabs, and a selection of grilled platters. Chicken shawarma wraps run about $10. Combination platters for two, with mixed grills and an array of dips, come in around $30.
For Dexter, where the dining options lean American, La Marsa fills a gap. It is the only dedicated Mediterranean restaurant in town, and it does the basics with consistency. If you are heading out to the Dexter Cider Mill or Jolly Pumpkin and want a meal that is not a burger or barbecue, this is the call.
The One We Lost
Zamaan Grill operated for fifteen years at 865 West Eisenhower Parkway, serving the west side of Ann Arbor kebabs, house-made hummus, and the kind of quiet reliability that builds regulars who eat there every week. It was not downtown. It was not on anyone's trendy restaurant list. It was a neighborhood spot on a commercial corridor, and it served its neighborhood well. Zamaan closed on March 3, 2026. The west side lost its anchor for Middle Eastern food, and the nearest replacement is now a drive.
Fifteen years is a long run for any restaurant. For one on Eisenhower Parkway, it is something closer to an institution. The lamb kebabs were good. The hummus was right. It will be missed.
The Mediterranean is wide, and Washtenaw County covers more of it than you might expect. A $10 falafel plate on East Liberty. A $100 tasting menu on Glen Avenue. Spanish tapas on East Washington. Lebanese platters on Washtenaw Avenue in Ypsilanti and Dexter-Ann Arbor Road. The thread that connects them is simpler than cuisine taxonomy: good ingredients, honest cooking, and bread on the table.