CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Blanca and Rodrigo Torres at Taziki’s Mediterranean in Madison. “We prep over 100 items every single day,” declared founder Keith Richards. “Everything we make, we make to order. It’s fresh. No fryers, no freezers, no microwaves.” Beyond its cool décor, Tazikis aims for a warm ambience. Even the Taziki’s beef feast which features... well... beef, goes for a splash of color.
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Shoppes of Madison on Highway 72. It marks the 12th restaurant in the Taziki’s family to operate in Alabama but only the second in Madison County. The first, located on Whitesburg Drive in Huntsville, opened in 2008 and the new addition received close scrutiny by Taziki’s founder Keith Richards. “Now we’re in Madison, finally,” Richards exclaimed. “We’ve been concentrating on this area for four or five years and I think we should have been here four of five years ago!” Richards launched four or five Taziki’s as Taziki’s Greek Fare in Birmingham in 1998. As the business grew, some Greeks took exception to the application of the label “Greek” to some of the restaurants’ flourishes so the name was changed to
“Mediterranean” … just as the world was discovering the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. “It’s healthy,” Richards said. “Everybody’s looking out for the healthy aspect of it. And we can offer that every day.” Richards also emphasized fresh, from-scratch cooking. “We prep over 100 items every single day,” he said. “Everything we make, we make to order. It’s fresh. No fryers, no freezers, no microwaves.” “We prep in the morning,” said Torres as a new batch of onions hissed on the grill. “We prep in the night, just to get through our shift. Next day, all over again, prep in the morning and prep in the night.” In addition to fresh ingredients, Torres declared a