by: Holliday Woodard

College Park is now home to three Mediterranean restaurants with the arrival of Taim, a regional chain.

“We are committed to making everything from scratch and using the best ingredients: market-fresh produce and 18 different Mediterranean herbs and spices to take your taste buds on a trip with every meal,” said the Taim website.

The restaurant has a bright and colorful aesthetic, painted with yellow and greens. When customers walk in, three TV screens greet them with the full menu. Customers can order their meal on tablets or at the front counter. As one turns the corner, one sees a few booths and tables for customers to sit and eat but the set-up makes it more of a take-out location. The process is very efficient, just like the customer service. 

“We try to do it as fast as we can and make it easy for the customer. We have it set up as step one, step two, and step three to make it easier for customers. There is no confusion, it is a huge big menu,” said Edgard Morano, the general manager for the College Park location.

The College Park restaurant is the newest location for the chain, which operates 12 restaurants across New New York and Washington, D.C. This location serves fresh produce and meals made entirely from scratch, supervisor Busara Chisholm said. The produce is supplied by Keany Produce and Driscoll, which distribute nationally. Both distributors consistently deliver fresh ingredients to the restaurant ensuring that no ingredient is leftover from the week before. Even the pitas are made fresh every morning, the supervisor said.

The restaurant was founded “knee deep in a huge pile of chickpeas,” its website says. It has been serving Mediterranean food since 2005. Chef Einat Admony and her husband Stéfan Nafziger founded the restaurant in Israel, naming the falafel chain after the word “tasty” in Hebrew. The first restaurant was based in New York City’s West village.

The restaurant in College Park opened on Feb. 10 and is open from 11 a.m.-10 p.m. every day. Taim makes it easy for students to have a healthy meal quickly and has gained much attention since its opening. 

“I definitely see [Taim] as a healthy option for college students as most of the toppings were fresh vegetables and there are options to make the base a salad. Instead of just getting rice, I was able to pick hummus as a base as well,” said Ellie Metz, a freshman biochemistry major.

Customers have three main decisions to make when creating their meal. They must first decide between a pita or a bowl. Next, the main. Taim has options such as falafel, shawarma chicken, roasted meatball, cauliflower shawarma, golden eggplant, and impossible kebab.

To tie everything together, Taim gives the customer an option of 8 free toppings. The toppings range from marinated tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled cabbage, hummus, red pepper baba ganoush, tzatziki, pickles, hot peppers, pickled onions, feta, olives, seasoned chickpeas, toasted almonds, crispy shallots, zaatar croutons. 

“We give you a good portion of any main or meat that you want. Falafel is fresh, everything is fresh,” said Chisholm, the supervisor. 

Taim emphasizes the differences between it and CAVA. Taim uses 18 different Mediterranean herbs and spices in all of their dishes. While CAVA gives you a limited amount of toppings, Taim lets you go crazy with toppings and sauces. Taim uses more efficient methods when ordering, using technology and making the meals behind the counter, not in front of you.  

“The thing that we specifically work on is the presentation as well as the portioning. So we make sure that you get a good taste of everything. It is not thrown on there,” said Chisholm. 

Chicken shawarma has become the most popular dish, general manager Morano said. The restaurant just introduced the side of Old Bay fries served only at its location in College Park — and it’s a hit, said Marcus Williams, an employee at the restaurant.

“The more the people find out the more they are starting to gravitate to it.“

Featured image: The outside of Taim is seen, March 7, 2023. Photo by Holliday Woodward.