The fast-casual SAJJ Mediterranean restaurant group that was launched as a Silicon Valley food truck more than a decade ago is expanding to Stanford with its lineup of California-grown produce and halal-certified proteins.
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The chain’s first nontraditional restaurant will be located inside the university’s Tresidder Memorial Union, founder and CEO Zaid Ayoub announced, but it will offer the chain’s traditional approach, with diners customizing their bowls, wraps and salads with an array of spreads, sauces and toppings.
SAJJ plans to open before fall classes begin Sept. 22.
All of the meats and poultry are halal-certified. Customization options include hot toppings of sumac cauliflower and eggplant ragout and cold toppings of garbanzo beans, diced beets, kalamata olives, pickled turnips, cherry peppers, sumac onions, tomato-cucumber mix.
The sauce and spread array runs from hummus, tzatziki and tahini to a new offering, feta-mint drizzle. A cup of lentil soup is complimentary.
The chain’s vegetables — tomatoes, beans, artichokes, eggplant, peppers, cauliflower, green onions, greens and herbs — are sourced from nine farms listed and mapped on the restaurant’s website. They range from Brentwood, Petaluma and Half Moon Bay south to Oxnard and Carlsbad.
The company currently has 11 brick-and-mortars in the Bay Area: San Jose (two), Sunnyvale, Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Ramon, San Mateo, San Bruno and San Francisco (three, with one recently opened at 71 Stevenson St.).
“The Bay Area is home for SAJJ, and we believe there is still tremendous opportunity to grow here,” Ayoub told QSR magazine. At the same time, he said, the company is embarking on a franchise strategy that will facilitate expansion outside California.
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Details: 459 Lagunita Drive, Stanford; sajjstreeteats.com.
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