After serving the Davidson neighborhood for more than three decades, the owners of Restaurant X have decided to rebrand the restaurant, located at 408 S Main St.
Owner and executive chef Nazira Atmé bought the restaurant in 2014 after she landed in Lake Norman following years of studying and working abroad. Since then, she has learned what customers want and leaned into Mediterranean cuisine and a handful of European and American dishes. Now, she’s preparing to pivot the brand to reflect her family’s Middle Eastern heritage and introduce more flavors that customers are interested in trying.
Atmé and her team, which includes her son and general manager Perry Camacho and sous chef George Sfeir, are getting ready to rename the restaurant Habibi Lebanon, according to the Charlotte Observer. While the name change is expected to take effect in early March, Restaurant X will not close while the ownership team makes these changes. When Habibi Lebanon opens in a few months, customers can expect Lebanese cuisine “with a small window for favorites” from the current menu. Restaurant X already serves a handful of Lebanese dishes, leaving customers wanting more.
“Our team is not going away — it’s still us,” Atmé tells Charlotte Observer. “It’s the same people; it’s just the name is changing. We want people to come and enjoy the new atmosphere. It’s time to kind of give the restaurant a facelift. It’s fresh, it’s healthy, it’s different. So I added Lebanese dishes to the menu, and it became a huge hit — more than we expected. So we sat down and started planning on rebranding. For the last 6-8-9 months, even our regular customers have been saying we need to change the name. Newcomers have said they’d never guess Restaurant X would serve Lebanese cuisine.”
