After 13 years of serving customers in the Greater Houston area, Yilmaz “Jim” Dokuyucu said he wanted to consolidate his restaurant business. The owner of Turquoise Grill and Bar closed his original Houston location Oct. 1 in order to focus his time on his restaurant in Sugar Land Town Square.
Turquoise Grill and Bar’s Sugar Land spot opened at 16019 City Walk in February 2011 serving Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine. Dokuyucu said Mediterranean hospitality means acknowledging and offering something to every guest, so he talks with every customer.
“When guests come, automatically you set up the table,” he said.
The restaurant offers traditional Turkish dishes, such as gyros and kebabs, as well as flatbread pizzas, salads and seafood entrees. But Dokuyucu said he is looking to add more tapas, a hummus bar and more Italian dishes to the menu.
As executive chef, Dokuyucu works in the kitchen, among other things, grilling lamb burgers, dressing plates with vegetables and even baking flatbread in the brick oven he had built.
“In every cuisine, you can only do so wrong if you use fresh ingredients,” he said. “Try to give people a real Mediterranean experience.”
With the weather cooling, he said people will once again fill Turquoise’s outdoor patio. Musicians often play outside during evenings and weekends, he said.
Originally from southern Turkey, Dokuyucu had an engineering background when he moved to the U.S. in 1987 to get his MBA in marketing management. Dokuyucu said he finally realized his long-term dream of opening a restaurant in 2003 on Kirby Drive in Houston.
“I’ve been [in Sugar Land] six years, and I’m doing the best I can to connect with the people,” he said.
Dokuyucu said he has catered for corporate events around the area, although the downturn in oil and gas means less in the way of big company bookings. He also said weekend nights are still busy for the restaurant.
“We’re trying to just give 110 percent to make sure this is a location where people come,” he said. “I want this to be a destination place.”
