Z&Z Manoushe Bakery, owned and operated by the Dubbaneh family, opened in the exact location their grandfather opened a deli in 1982– the store that was home to Slice of Rockville for the last 11 years (1111 Nelson Street). Since September 2021, the restaurant has specialized in manoushe, a flatbread consisting of a simple yeasted dough which can have a variety of different toppings. The Dubbaneh family has told us that they look to “share the extreme generosity and hospitality that exists in Arab food culture with the local community.” and national food website, bon appetit, has noticed– including Z&Z in its “50 Best New Restaurants 2022” list.
Per the article: The Dubbaneh family started selling manoushe, a type of Palestinian flatbread, from a stall at Washington, DC’s Foggy Bottom farmers market back in 2016 and quickly gained a loyal following. Six years later, their products are available in 14 mid-Atlantic Whole Foods locations, and they finally have a permanent home base bakery located, fittingly, in the same Rockville, MD, strip mall restaurant space where their grandfather once ran a fried chicken shop. Here the manoushe emerge puffed and blistered from the saaj, a traditional convex metal griddle, and come with toppings that range from the expected to the inventive. If you have a hard time deciding, go ahead and overorder; you’ll be thankful for leftovers later. What to order: Classic ($8); Toum Raider ($11); Hot Halaby Honey ($15); Lahm Bi Ajeen ($15).
