Customers at the restaurant often order the falafel ($9.25) and a six-item plate ($14.50).[/caption]Growing up near Istanbul, Turkey, brothers Memo and Gino Turkmenoglu—whose surname directly translates from Turkish as “son of the Turk”—dreamed of fostering a unique Turkish community in the Greater Houston area.
“When we were kids, every Sunday it was one channel, one TV and black and white,” Memo Turkmenoglu said. “Always we watched [a] Western movie. When we finished, we’d go out and we’d play like a horse, riding horse and [cattle], and we [said]. ‘We wish that we [could] go [to] Texas.’”
The pair cooked alongside their mother, Ayse, during their childhood and Turkmenoglu said opening Ephesus Mediterranean Grill with their father, Hasan, seemed like a natural progression in their efforts to bring their unique recipes and brand of Mediterranean cuisine to the U.S.
Finding the proper identity for the establishment was a bit of a process, Turkmenoglu said.
Prior to the restaurant opening in 2009, the Turkmenoglus chose the name Ephesus—an ancient city believed to be the site of the Virgin Mary’s house—from a list of possible choices that included Golden Horn, a reference to a bridge-covered waterway in Istanbul. The Golden Horn was meant to refer to a Texas longhorn steer, but Turkmenoglu said he worried the name might lead diners to believe it was a steakhouse—but Ephesus, however, is unmistakably Turkish, Turkmenoglu said.
“We [said], then how [can] our customers know that this is [a] Turkish restaurant,” he said. “So, then we [said], ‘Ephesus is a good place, then who[ever] knows the Bible, they are going to think, Ephesus [is] in Turkey, this is Turkish food.’”
Turkmenoglu said the restaurant’s name and ideology have led to a unique business model.
“Whenever our customer comes here, they are part of [the] Ephesus family,” he said. “They know us. We know them. Most of them, they come [to] my house. I go [to] their house. We are so blessed.”
Turkmenoglu said much of the food that is made at the restaurant is homemade. They serve halal and kosher meats and produce, he said.
“We like to eat and cook, and we serve it. If we don’t like it, we don’t serve it. So this is [the key to] our success,” he said.
Turkmenoglu said his mentality of food preparation—in conjunction with the restaurant’s welcoming atmosphere—has allowed the customer base to be expanded far beyond the Turkish community, noting diners from other nations frequent the eatery.
From made-from-scratch bread with dipping oil to seasoned lamb and filet mignon over rice, and his signature baklava, Turkmenoglu said Ephesus has something for everyone.
“When you try Ephesus, you are on the hook,” he said.
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