Lebanese Restaurant Salt Lake City: How a Brazilian Family Brought Mediterranean Healing to Utah at Aubergine Kitchen

When Elcio and Mirian Zanatta moved their family from Brazil to the United States, they arrived with hope and ambition—but quickly hit a wall they didn't expect. There was nowhere to eat that felt right. The food was different: heavily processed, loaded with sugar, lacking the vital nutrients their bodies craved. "We searched for a place that prioritized real, whole ingredients," Mirian recalls. "When we couldn't find one, we created it ourselves."

That search for nourishment—for food that makes you feel good after you eat it—led the Zanattas to open Aubergine Kitchen in Orem in 2014. Today, their Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City's Sugar House neighborhood serves as proof that healthy Mediterranean food doesn't have to taste like punishment. One customer puts it plainly: "The food it's always fresh, it taste delicious every single time and I've been getting it for a year. The people there are amazing, super friendly and speak fluid Spanish too. The healthiest option for a great price."

From Encyclopedia Dreams to Utah's Mediterranean Kitchen

Elcio's journey started long before Utah, in a small Brazilian town called Uberlândia. When he was 13, his mother made what he calls a "fateful decision"—she bought him an expensive encyclopedia, even though their family was "very rich in love, very poor in material things." Reading about Thomas Edison, Mozart, and Beethoven, young Elcio noticed a pattern: most great people left small towns for big cities seeking opportunity. So at 17, he moved to São Paulo.

The concept for Aubergine Kitchen crystallized years later during a business seminar in California. A session on how nutrition affects energy levels and brain function struck something deep. "I asked my wife to make food in a different way," Elcio said. "The way you eat is the way you have power, you have energy, you have health." His wife Mirian, who is of Lebanese ancestry, began modifying her family's traditional recipes—keeping the authentic Mediterranean flavors but removing the refined sugars, seed oils, and processed ingredients that make American food feel heavy.

"She has a talent for food," Elcio says. "And we loved it. They were still very delicious, but very healthy." Friends and neighbors loved it too. The Zanattas spent two years testing recipes before opening their first location. Now, with 12 locations across Utah and Arizona—including their flagship Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City's Sugar House at 2122 S Highland Drive—they've created something unique: a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant that actually changes how people feel.

The Mediterranean Bowl Experience: Baked Falafel That Converts Skeptics

If you've never been to Aubergine Kitchen, here's what you need to understand: this isn't health food that tastes like cardboard. The Mediterranean Bowl—one of their most popular dishes—features baked falafel (not fried), seasoned kale, quinoa, and a variety of fresh Middle Eastern salads, all drizzled with house-made dressings. One plant-based customer raves: "We are whole food plant based and a few of our favorites were the acai bowls, tofu peanut bowl, and the mediterranean bowl with baked falafel. We went several times while visiting SLC!"

Elcio's personal favorite? Also the Mediterranean Bowl. "It's got a variety of vegetables, and I love falafel. Our falafel is baked, not fried," he explains. That detail matters—it's crispy on the outside, tender inside, but without the heavy oil that usually comes with traditional fried falafel.

Then there's the Spicy Coconut Curry Bowl, which combines chicken, seasoned kale, turmeric rice, and a mild spicy coconut curry simmered with carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and chickpeas. "GF, DF | chicken, seasoned kale, green peas, turmeric rice, mild spicy coconut curry simmered with carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, sesame seeds, chickpeas, broccoli, microgreens," reads the menu description—and customers confirm it delivers. The DoorDash reviews are filled with praise: "The Chicken Caprese Melt and the Spicy Coconut Curry Bowl (GF, DF) were delicious."

The Chicken Harvest Bowl might be the most-ordered item. It combines roasted chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, yams, sweet potatoes, almond wild rice, shredded kale, and chopped tomato with a cashew cilantro jalapeño dressing. One UberEats reviewer captures why it works: "Aubergine Kitchen has an excellent menu with a diverse array of healthy and flavorful options, as well as the opportunity to customize bowls and salads with ingredients of your choosing."

And if you're feeling adventurous, don't sleep on the Exotic Dip Plate—hummus, baba ganoush (made with eggplant), and muhammara (roasted red peppers and walnuts), served with baked falafel and fresh pita for dipping. It's Lebanese mezze done right, the kind of spread that makes you slow down and actually taste your food.

But here's the real secret weapon: Pão de Queijo, Brazilian cheese bread that Mirian brought from her heritage. "Light and airy, you won't even realize you ate 4 in a row," one customer confesses on Instagram. The restaurant calls them "cheese rolls," and they're basically impossible to resist—especially when they're still warm.

Lebanese Heritage Meets Utah's Health Culture

What makes this Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City different from other Mediterranean spots? It's Mirian's Lebanese ancestry combined with the Zanattas' commitment to what they call "food that heals." Every dish is made without seed oils or added sugars—just real, whole ingredients prepared fresh daily. No sodas on the menu. No shortcuts.

"The great secret of our restaurant is, how do you feel after you eat?" Elcio asks. It's not a rhetorical question. Customers at the Farmington location regularly stop him to say thank you for serving food that fits their nutritional needs. One TripAdvisor reviewer puts it like this: "It was wonderful to have healthy, whole, organic food that tastes amazing. I felt the portion size was great, quality perfect... I felt energized afterwards and didn't have any stuffed or bloated feeling after."

The menu draws from Mirian's Lebanese roots but expands beyond traditional Mediterranean boundaries. "My wife has Lebanese origins, and I am Italian in background," Elcio explains. "You do see in scientific studies that Mediterranean food is good, maybe the best for your body. But we want to offer people the best food from many origins, not just Mediterranean. For instance, we cook with curry."

That global approach shows up in dishes like the Tri-Tip Madeira Bowl (grass-fed steak with turmeric rice and mushroom madeira sauce) and the Rio Bowl (seasoned kale with roasted onions). But the foundation remains Lebanese—baked falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, fresh herbs, olive oil, and the kind of generous hospitality that defines Mediterranean culture.

A Growing Utah Food Movement

When the Zanattas opened their first location in Orem, they were told to cut costs on ingredients to stay profitable. They refused. "High-quality ingredients may be harder to source and cost more, but we never compromise," they wrote on their mission page. "Our customers may not see these ingredients, but we believe they feel them."

Utah noticed. The restaurant now has locations across the Wasatch Front—Sugar House, Park City, Farmington, Draper, Riverton, Lehi, American Fork, and more. In early 2025, they announced plans to open at Salt Lake City International Airport and in Spanish Fork, bringing their Lebanese-inspired Mediterranean food to even more communities.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Aubergine Kitchen visited Utah County schools, teaching kids about healthy eating. "We taught about 2,000 small kids," Elcio remembers. "Some of them said, I never ate cucumber in my life. It was interesting." They plan to restart that program, this time focusing on teacher education rather than individual school visits. For now, they're reaching kids through healthier versions of familiar foods—mac 'n' cheese made with real ingredients, açaí bowls, fresh smoothies.

The restaurant has also partnered with health experts like Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a natural healing expert and bestselling author, for wellness seminars. They even documented a 30-day health journey with a customer eating exclusively at Aubergine, tracking his progress toward better health and disease prevention.

This isn't just a Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City—it's a health movement disguised as lunch.

Planning Your Visit to Aubergine Kitchen

The Sugar House location sits at 2122 S Highland Drive, right in the heart of one of Salt Lake City's most walkable neighborhoods. They're open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM (closed Sundays). Peak times tend to be lunch and early dinner, but the fast-casual setup means you're rarely waiting long even when it's busy.

Here's what to order on your first visit:

• Mediterranean Bowl with baked falafel if you want the classic Lebanese experience
• Spicy Coconut Curry Bowl if you prefer something warming and globally inspired
• Chicken Harvest Bowl if you want their most popular item
• Pão de Queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) as a side—trust everyone who's tried it
• Blue Wave Smoothie or Cucumber Mint Lemonade to drink (no sodas here, remember)

Everything is customizable, so if you have dietary restrictions—gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan—the staff knows how to guide you. "The staff is knowledgeable about the ingredients and can guide customers with dietary restrictions," notes one Restaurantji review. That matters in Utah, where health-conscious eating isn't just a trend—it's woven into the culture.

Parking is easy at the Sugar House location, and they offer delivery through DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Postmates if you'd rather enjoy their Lebanese Mediterranean food at home. You can also order online for pickup through their website at auberginekitchen.com.

Follow them on Instagram @aubergine.kitchen for menu updates, nutrition tips, and behind-the-scenes looks at how they prepare everything fresh daily. With over 114,000 followers, they've built a community around the idea that healthy eating shouldn't be complicated—it should be simple, accessible, and delicious.

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When you walk into Aubergine Kitchen's Lebanese restaurant in Salt Lake City, you're tasting more than Mediterranean food. You're tasting a Brazilian family's dream, Lebanese heritage passed down through Mirian's family, and a decade of refusing to compromise on ingredients. You're tasting food that actually makes you feel good after you eat it—the kind of nourishment the Zanattas couldn't find when they first arrived in America, so they built it themselves.

As one customer wrote on Wanderboat AI: "Aubergine Kitchen has, in its infinite grace, swept away the remnants of that unpleasant situation. With each bite, the discord of my previous circumstances vanished, replaced by a symphony of flavors so tender and sublime that my spirit was restored, and my palate made whole again."

That's not just hyperbole. That's what happens when you combine authentic Lebanese recipes, Brazilian hospitality, and a genuine commitment to healing through food. The Zanattas built something rare in American dining: a fast-casual restaurant where healthy doesn't mean boring, and delicious doesn't mean compromised.