[ALERT] Zoes Kitchen Founders Opening New Restaurant With Familiar Menu

A little more than a year after reopening one of the original Zoes Kitchen restaurants, the Cassimus family - Marcus, Zoe and John - are at it again, this time with Marky's Kitchen.

Situated at 3134 Cahaba Heights Road in Birmingham, Marky's is replacing Local Roots, a Tuscaloosa-based restaurant that opened in late 2022 but never caught on and recently closed.  

Named for Zoe's husband Marcus, the new restaurant will feature most of the classic Zoes Kitchen menu with the addition of a smash burger, something Marcus "Marky" Cassimus has perfected in his "retirement," fries, and a special "Marky's sauce."    

Marcus and Zoe Cassimus opened the first Zoes Kitchen in the Birmingham suburb of Homewood in 1995.  In the years that followed, Zoes was led by their son John who expanded the concept regionally.  John resigned from the company in late November 2008 and the company went public in 2014, Zoes would eventually grow to 261 restaurants in 20 states.  fast-casual Cava, another-fast casual restaurant, acquired Zoes in 2018, and in the years that followed, converted the majority of Zoes locations to Cava.

The few locations Cava did not convert, closed, except for the one Crestline location.  Unable to come to an agreement to open additional Zoes units, the Cassimus' opted to launch Marky's instead.  

In addition to familiar Zoes classics like chicken salad, hummus, pita wraps, and pasta salad, the menu will also include a smash burger with a special sauce inspired by Macrus' time as one of the first employees of Birmingham's Milo's Hamburgers.  

"Helping my father open a restaurant with his name on the sign will be one of the highlights of my life," said John Cassimus.  Marcus Cassimus, now in his 80s, is slated to be in the restaurant daily.  

Marky's will be about 2,600 square feet and feature anpick-up "order ahead" pick-up window rather than a traditional drive-thru lane.  (Chipotle has introduced a similar order ahead "Chipotlane" to many of its newer locations.)  

The building they will occupy was for many years a Dairy Queen before Local Roots spent a reported $750,000 renovating the space to suit its needs.  The new upgrades and existing kitchen made for a quick conversion with Marky's slated to open at 10 AM Wednesday, May 1.  

ToNeTo Atlanta has thus far been unable to reach John Cassimus to confirm any potential expansion plans but given the tremendous brand equity that the Zoes name still commands, it's reasonable to consider the family may look to return to Atlanta and other early Zoes markets if Marky's performs as well as many predict it will.  Georgia was the chain's second expansion market outside of Alabama and had more than twenty Zoes around the state at its peak.     

If Marky's does come to metro Atlanta, where would you like to see it open?  What was your favorite item on the Zoes Kitchen menu?  Have you been to Zoes Kitchen in Crestline? 

Please share your thoughts below.