Rockville’s Z&Z Manoushe Bakery has been named one of the 10 best restaurants in the D.C. area by Washington Post food critic Elazar Sontag. Z&Z, located at 1111 Nelson St. in Rockville, came in at No. 9 on Sontag’s list of “The 40 Best Restaurants in and Around D.C.”
The Palestinian-Jordanian family-owned bakery opened its Rockville storefront in 2021 after developing a following at local farmers markets. Z&Z specializes in manoushe, a traditional Levantine flatbread, with varieties featuring za’atar and olive oil, sujuk, labneh and other toppings.
In his write-up, Sontag praised Z&Z’s distinctive take on manoushe, noting that its chewy, charred crust draws comparisons to both Levantine flatbread and Neapolitan pizza. He also highlighted the restaurant’s hummus, pita, toum and shatta, along with the variety of manakish available.
The restaurant’s roots in Montgomery County go back decades. Issa Dubbaneh immigrated to the United States from Palestine in 1977 to attend the University of Maryland. During his final year of college in 1981, he left school to open his first restaurant, Chicken Basket, in Gaithersburg. Issa and his brothers eventually operated several Chicken Basket locations across Montgomery County.
Muna Dubbaneh was born and raised in Jordan before moving with her family to Wheaton in 1980. She and Issa later married and raised five children, Ronnie, Danny, Ronia, Johnny and Deanna, while working in the restaurant business.
Despite their parents encouraging them to pursue careers outside the restaurant industry, the next generation eventually found its way back to food. Brothers Danny and Johnny Dubbaneh created Z&Z, short for Zayt & Za’atar, meaning “oil and herbs,” initially selling the family’s za’atar blend and Middle Eastern street food at farmers markets. What began as a farmers market operation eventually grew into the family’s brick-and-mortar bakery in Rockville.
The entire family has played a role in the business over the years, making Z&Z’s No. 9 ranking the latest chapter in a Montgomery County restaurant story that now spans two generations and more than four decades.
