What About Kabob?: Luna Grill Expands!

“Most people who open Mediterranean, Greek or Middle Eastern, they go and put in some tables and put up some columns and call it a restaurant,” says Luna Grill CEO Sean Pourteymour. “We wanted to give it a whole new look and branding—you walk in and think this place could be expensive, then look at the menu and are shocked.”

Luna Grill, which has been doing kabobs (including lamb, halal chicken and cornish game hen), salads and sandwiches for the past five years from its Torrey Highlands locale, has just opened a second location in Mission Valley in the Fenton Marketplace.

Pourteymour, who is Persian, and his wife Maria, who is Greek, were inspired to do fast, casual, healthier versions of the foods they ate on visits to Turkey, France, Italy and the Greek Isles. (History buffs NB: The kabob was reportedly invented during the Persian Empire, when soldiers used their swords to grill meat.) So committed are the Pourteymours to the doctrine of kabob, they’ve even trademarked the term “kabobery.”

And speaking of empires, there are plans for Luna Grill to expand exponentially: Pourteymour says a Carlsbad location is in the works (expected to open in August and to be flagship) and they hope to open in UTC by the year’s end. And at least four more openings are planned for next year.

The new look: sleek, mod, scarlet-steeped. Says Pourteymour, “The tiles are from Italy, the counters are quartz. It’s a fast food restaurant, but with a very New York or Vegas look.”

2245 Fenton Pkwy, 619.516.5828, lunagrill.com.