This couple met on 39th Street. Now they’ve opened a Mediterranean restaurant there

Kari Cottrell was leaving her bartender job on 39th Street when she stopped to talk to a man sitting on a bench.

She thought she knew him but didn’t. Still, the conversation with Fuad Abu Zarifeh went so well, she invited him to karaoke. A year later they married.

In September they opened Kari’s on 39th, at 1715 W. 39th St., less than two blocks from where they met.

His family had a restaurant in his native Jordan. So the couple’s new Turkish barbecue and Mediterranean restaurant uses family recipes for their shawarma, gyro, kebabs, lamb chops, soups and salads. They also have baklava and kenafe, a spun pastry soaked in sweet syrup and layered with cheese, served with honey and topped with pistachios.

Kefta, a recent Kari’s special, has ground beef and lamb cooked with tomatoes and tahini sauce on rice.

He’s worked as a chef at restaurants in Wichita, as well as in Alabama and New Jersey.

“It’s been his dream to open a restaurant,” Cottrell said. “It’s a lot of work but it doesn’t really seem like it because I’ve worked hard for other people all my life. It is easier to do it for yourself. It feels good.”

They hope to have their liquor license in about a month and then will have a grand opening.

Hours are currently 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Pam Linwood has lived in the neighborhood since 1975 and this past week dined at Kari’s with a friend, trying the hot chicken wings, lentil soup and the mixed appetizer (grape leaves, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouli and falafel).

“The baba ghanoush was silky and creamy. I don’t think I’ve ever had baba ghanoush that was so good,” she said. “When I bit into the pita bread I was sold. That bread was really good and set the stage for the rest of the food.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 2:16 PM.