For years, shoppers at Houston-area farmers’ markets knew Sabrina and Ziad Taha for the foods they brought to their market table, especially their creamy garlic spread, toum, and other Middle Eastern specialties. What started as a small food business built around traditional recipes has now taken a much bigger step: Taha Market has opened a permanent location in Houston’s Upper Kirby neighborhood.
The new Taha Market combines a grocery store, prepared foods and a café under one roof, giving longtime customers a place to do more than pick up a jar or container before heading home. They can now sit down for Arabic coffee, sandwiches, desserts, and other Mediterranean-inspired offerings while shopping for pantry staples and ready-to-heat meals.
The move is a significant change in scale for the husband-and-wife team, but it also keeps the heart of their original business intact. The recipes and flavors that helped them build a following at local markets remain central to what they are offering at their new neighborhood location.
It Started With a Farmers Market Table and a Family Recipe
Long before Taha Market had a storefront, the Tahas were introducing Houston shoppers to foods rooted in their family backgrounds. Their business became particularly known for toum, a traditional Middle Eastern garlic spread that Ziad and Sabrina sold at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market.
The couple’s market presence caught the attention of Houston food writers and regular shoppers. In 2023, Houston Chronicle correspondent Anita Jaisinghani wrote about discovering their toum at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market and described the couple’s version as light, creamy, and balanced. She also reported that Ziad had been born and raised in Palestine and later came to Houston after spending more than a decade in Jordan.
For Ziad, the food carried a personal connection. Jaisinghani reported that after his mother died, he wanted to preserve her memory by continuing to cook traditional Palestinian foods. That family connection became part of the story behind the products the Tahas brought to Houston customers.
The business gradually grew beyond one signature spread. The couple expanded into soups, stews, prepared foods, and other dishes inspired by Ziad’s family recipes. Their products eventually reached Central Market, giving customers another way to find their food outside the farmers market.
That progression, from a market table to additional retail shelves and eventually a permanent storefront, gave the Tahas a chance to build on an audience already familiar with their food.
Taha Market Now Has a Place to Stay
The new location is at 2621 S. Shepherd Drive in Houston’s Upper Kirby neighborhood. State records show that the project involved renovating a space into a market, with a listed size of 2,566 square feet. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records the project under Taha Market and lists Ziad and Sabrina Taha as the tenants.
Taha Market’s website announced the opening for June 2026, and the Houston Chronicle reported last week that the permanent location is now operating as both a market and café.
The new setup gives customers several reasons to visit. The market carries Mediterranean pantry items and ready-to-heat meals, while the café offers food to enjoy on site.
The menu includes Arabic coffee, chicken shawarma sandwiches, grilled cheese with n’Za’atar, baklava and Dubai chocolate, according to the Houston Chronicle. The shop also continues the kind of prepared-food business that helped the Tahas establish their name in the first place.
That combination makes the new location more than just a restaurant. Someone can stop in for a meal, pick up something for later, or browse the shelves for ingredients and prepared foods.
It also gives the business a physical home in a neighborhood instead of relying primarily on the rhythm of weekend markets.
A Bigger Space Without Losing the Original Idea
The most interesting part of Taha Market’s expansion is that the new storefront doesn’t erase where the business came from. The farmers market was where customers first encountered the Tahas’ food, and those early products helped establish the foundation for the larger operation.
The couple’s growth also reflects a familiar path for small food businesses: start with a focused product, build relationships directly with customers, expand the menu or distribution, and eventually create a permanent place where people can interact with the brand more often.
In Taha Market’s case, the expansion has allowed the business to bring several pieces together. Customers who first knew the Tahas for toum can now find a wider selection of foods, while people discovering the business for the first time can experience the café and market in one visit.
The project also has a clear sense of place. The new store isn’t simply a larger version of a farmers market booth. It is designed around the idea of bringing Mediterranean food and pantry products into an everyday neighborhood setting.
For Houston diners who enjoy discovering small food businesses before they become familiar names, Taha Market offers a particularly satisfying kind of story. The business didn’t appear overnight with a fully built-out café. Its roots were planted at farmers’ markets, where the Tahas spent years introducing customers to their food one jar, dish, and conversation at a time.
Now, those customers have a permanent address to visit.
For Sabrina and Ziad Taha, the move from a farmers’ market table to a brick-and-mortar market and café marks a new chapter for a business that has grown steadily while keeping family recipes at its center.
