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The kebabs are cooked over charcoal at Mazra in San Bruno. The restaurant is expanding to Redwood City.

The garlic rotisserie chicken is a popular item at Mazra in San Bruno.

Mazra, a 2-year-old Mediterranean restaurant in San Bruno known for charcoal-kissed kebabs and crispy falafel, has been so successful that its owners are opening a second restaurant.

Owners and brothers Saif and Jordan Makableh will open the second Mazra at 2021 Broadway St. in downtown Redwood City early next year. They plan to temporarily close the original Mazra on San Bruno Avenue at the same time so they can remodel it to address the wild demand they’ve experienced, particularly since landing on Yelp’s nationwide Top 100 restaurant list last year. (San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic Soleil Ho also named Mazra one of the Bay Area’s top 25 restaurants.) 

The new Redwood City restaurant will serve the same dishes that have a loyal following at the original: juicy meat and seafood kebabs cooked over charcoal, falafel tucked into fresh pita and dips like creamy tzatziki with house-made labneh.

Francisco Chen cuts slices of chicken roasting on the spit at Mazra in San Bruno.

It will also boast an exciting new weekend offering: Turkish breakfast. Massive spreads of more than 20 dishes will include fresh breads, dips, mezzes and eggs cooked in samneh, or ghee. Levantine breads will emerge from a wood-fired oven, including Jerusalem bagels (a thin, oval-shaped bagel dotted with sesame seeds), lavash and fluffy manaeesh. The charcoal grill will leave its imprint on breakfast, too, such as with shakshuka made with charred, smoky tomatoes. Saif Makableh sees charcoal as an essential ingredient: “It’s a defining flavor,” he said. 

He hopes to capitalize on the vitality of Broadway Street, which has been closed to traffic since the pandemic to allow for more outdoor dining. Seating at restaurants and bars now spills out into the street, which are often packed on weekends and evenings.  The restaurant will have ample outdoor seating and stay open until midnight on the weekends.

Mazra draws a big following in San Bruno.

Meanwhile, in San Bruno, the owners will expand the kitchen and outdoor dining areas. They hope to increase the restaurant’s limited parking, Saif Makableh said, as parking issues are a common complaint on Yelp. The refreshed San Bruno restaurant will reopen next summer.

The Makablehs opened Mazra just after the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place orders hit in April 2020. They converted what was their father’s longtime store, Green Valley Market, into a takeout-only restaurant. Saif Makableh cut his teeth working in restaurants in Australia while Jordan, his younger brother, helps with operations and social media. Mazra’s Instagram is full of humorous reels and attention-grabbing food posts, and the restaurant has drawn prominent TikTok posters. The vibrant dining room is filled with neon signs, greenery and artwork.

Mazra co-owners Jordan Makableh (from left), his father Randy Makableh and brother Saif Makableh in their San Bruno restaurant.

Saif Makableh said business poured in after Mazra was named No. 2 on Yelp’s Top 100 list last spring, and the demand never faded.

“When we first opened Mazra, we designed it not really thinking it was going to be luckily as busy as it is,” he said. “We’re hoping that some of the crowds we can offset to Redwood City to ease the pressure here in San Bruno.”

Elena Kadvany (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ekadvany

Elena Kadvany joined The San Francisco Chronicle as a food reporter in 2021. Previously, she was a staff writer at the Palo Alto Weekly and its sister publications, where she covered restaurants and education and also founded the Peninsula Foodist restaurant column and newsletter.