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A new family-owned restaurant plans to bring Yemeni cuisine and an elevated but accessible dining experience to downtown Vienna before mid-summer.

Sheeba Restaurant is preparing to open at 111 Church Street NW, marking the franchise’s first location in the Washington, D.C., region. Its menu will combine Yemeni and Mediterranean dishes, including shawarma platters, sandwiches, salads, hummus, baba ghanouj and all-day shakshuka.

Among the featured Yemeni specialties will be fahsah, a stew of shredded lamb and potatoes served bubbling hot in a clay bowl with bread baked in a clay oven. Diners can also expect samboosa, fried dough filled with cheese, vegetables or meat.

The restaurant will occupy a 2,200-square-foot space previously home to the now-closed French restaurant Le Bistro.

Vienna franchisee Nadir Naimi, 26, is launching his first business with his uncle, Mohamad “Izzy” Alkibsi. Alkibsi comes from a family of local restaurateurs who previously owned Alf Laylah in Chantilly and Babalu in Tysons.

Naimi initially spent months pursuing plans for an original restaurant. He changed course after connecting with Sheeba founder Ismael Aljahmi through relatives in Dearborn, Michigan, and meeting him there.

Founded in Dearborn in the early 2000s, Sheeba now has four Michigan locations and another in New York City. Naimi describes the concept planned for Vienna as “casual fine dining,” blending select elements of formal service with the warmth and hospitality central to Arabian culture.

A first-generation immigrant who grew up in Vienna, Naimi worked hospitality jobs throughout his teenage years and was surrounded by his family’s restaurant businesses. Their last establishment closed in 2019 following the death of a relative.

Naimi said Sheeba offers an opportunity to restore that family connection to food and hospitality while sharing Arabian culinary traditions with his hometown. He wants the restaurant to provide high-quality food in a comfortable, elegant setting without pricing out customers.

An exact opening date has not been announced, but Sheeba is expected to welcome diners sometime before mid-summer.