Wonderful Moroccan Food

When I lived in NYC decades ago, I enjoyed going to Brooklyn to have dinner at the Moroccan Star Restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. It's now permanently closed.

In Houston, I have found a Moroccan restaurant that I now enjoy: ZOA Moroccan Kitchen. It's not the same kind of restaurant, but it's tasty and affordable. I eat there now about once a week - yesterday was my most recent meal there.

Here is one of my favorite dishes, the Marrakesh Bowl (beef tagine):

There are three ZOAs in Houston. I walk to the original one on Lillian near Washington and Shepherd. It's about a 35-minute walk that I really enjoy. I like the food part more! There is one on Richmond that is about the same distance. The one in Bellaire is near where I used to live.

The way ZOA works is that the food is set out behind a counter with workers serving the meals. There are tables inside and outside. Things have changed on the outside recently. This is what it looked like until March (I took this picture in late January):

The steel is gone - more parking now! ZOA has set up outside tables too.

The food is very good, but what I think makes this place work so well is the staff. Most of the folks that I ask have been working there for many years. I have met the owner, Youssef Nafaa, and he is a very kind person. Writing this article, I have learned more about him. He is more than the owner of ZOA: Nafaa is CEO of Bella Restaurants Group since 1998. Bella includes ZOA as well as Mia Bella Trattoria (Greenway Plaza and Vintage Plaza) and Coco Crepes & Coffee (9 locations). Nafaa opened Coco in 2005.

I have enjoyed every meal at ZOA, and I really appreciate what Nafaa is doing.