Eatz Meets West: Middle Eatz Brings Yemeni Food to Nashville

The owners of Middle Eatz are as mindful of hospitality as they are of the quality of their food. Nestled in a strip mall on the corner of Harding Place and Nolensville Road, Middle Eatz showcases a cuisine not strongly represented in Nashville’s food scene: Yemeni food.

Open since November, the restaurant has already generated a strong menu and a loyal customer base, both of which are bound to grow in the years ahead. Its menu is both focused and expansive, featuring assorted offerings including shawarmas, kebabs, samboosas, soups and more. All the meat served in Middle Eatz is halal. 

A great place to start would be the chicken or lamb mendi. Served after hours of preparation, this classic Yemeni dish includes slow-roasted, smoked and delicately spiced meat. While the lamb mendi’s availability varies, the chicken mendi is always available and always delicious. The supple, fall-off-the bone leg meat pairs beautifully with rice, lemon, sumac onion and a spicy sahowka sauce (think salsa but with Yemeni spices). The rice is a triumph, cooked underneath the chicken in a tiered system so it can catch all the flavorful drippings, which imparts a beautiful orange-and-yellow tint to some of the grains. The selta (often spelled “saltah” elsewhere), the national dish of Yemen, is a rich stew featuring beef simmered in a broth, or maraq, made from pulverized charred onions; this adds complex flavor and a dark color. The selta also includes chopped potatoes, herbs and a whipped fenugreek topping to lighten up the incredibly savory broth. Mix in the sahowka sauce to add spice.

For optimal menu exploration, consider ordering a platter. The Sayyid Platter, for example, includes lamb kebabs flanked with chicken and steak shawarma, charred vegetables, rice and bread. Bigger groups might want to take on the Royal Feast, featuring four servings apiece of kebabs, chicken mendi and samboosas, plus six pieces of falafel, two servings of hummus and sahowka sauce, all arranged over a bed of rice.

To balance the savory flavors of the menu offerings, you could order a homemade “refresher” beverage: crisp mint lime, sour peach or the frothy, sweet mango drink with Vimto. The restaurant also offers a variety of teas, and we’re told they’ll soon have Arabic and Yemeni coffee. The stellar dessert lineup includes bak-noli: Flaky, buttery filo is wrapped around sweet, earthy pistachio cream and topped with crushed pistachios for even more of a nutty crunch — the result is a master class in marrying flavors and textures.

A family-run restaurant, Middle Eatz is owned and operated by 10 siblings and their orbit of close friends and extended family. While the Mohsin siblings are new to the restaurant business, they’re very accustomed to serving food. They grew up in California helping their parents host countless houseguests looking for Middle Eastern and Yemeni cuisine. 

“At the time it was annoying,” says sibling Gabriel, who tells the Scene they often had to stop playing to help prepare food for a hungry passerby. “Now somehow it’s turned into something that we enjoy doing.”

Their family history lives in the food they serve. The selta and samboosa recipes come from their mother, while other menu items have changed over time, evolving with tastes they picked up from California, including Western and Hispanic food influences.  

As is custom in Yemeni culture and the home they grew up in, the Mohsin siblings are extremely dedicated to the art of hospitality. They frequently check on and converse with guests, happily and thoroughly answering any questions diners present. They also donate leftover food to local mosques or people who need it.

The dining room is designed to accommodate guests seeking a quick casual bite or a place to settle in for a lavish feast with friends and family. It’s adorned with massive photos depicting lush Middle Eastern landscapes, and shimmering gold tiles stand out among archways that line the walls. While one side of the restaurant features standard booths, the other side features shorter booths covered in a beautiful blue textile imported from Yemen meant to emulate sitting on the floor, as is custom in Middle Eastern dining.

Every detail of the restaurant, from the dining room to the desserts, has been painstakingly worked out among the siblings. The falafel, for example, took a whole summer to develop. The shawarma spits are intentionally stacked small so they can maintain quality and freshness while avoiding food waste and health hazards. The bread is baked fresh daily by a local baker, and the Mohsin family says they opt for higher-quality meat even if that means it costs a bit more. 

Sibling Mohamed tells the Scene they started this restaurant to build a legacy for the family. Gabriel adds that it also helps them break down stereotypes that exist around people from Middle Eastern and Muslim cultures, providing an opportunity to look past differences to share a common bond around good food. 

“When [people] come in here, we want them to really taste the flavors of the food, and we want them to feel the hospitality,” says Gabriel. “That, I think, sums up who we are as people.”