Photography courtesy of Luna Grill
A couple’s passions for food and family have led to the opening of 60 Mediterranean-inspired Luna Grill restaurants across Texas and California, including right here in Lake Highlands.
Maria and Sean Pourteymour opened the first Luna Grill in San Diego in 2004.
“Maria is Greek and she has a huge love for food growing up in the kitchen and cooking with her mother and grandmother,” says Luna Grill marketing director Morgan Rogers. “And then Sean is a businessman and owns a few different companies, so it’s kind of the perfect match to open up a restaurant.”
The couple had young children at the time and were looking for a restaurant that was quick, affordable and healthy for the family.
“There weren’t a lot of fast-casual yet healthy options at the time,” Rogers says. “And from there, Luna Grill was born.”
Its most recent Texas location opened on Walnut Hill Lane in 2018. The company made the move to Lake Highlands after noticing how up and coming the neighborhood was.
“Really, there were no Mediterranean restaurants that we saw in that area,” Rogers says. “It’s our only location (close to) downtown Dallas. It’s a great place for foodies as well.”
Families and healthcare workers tend to frequent Luna Grill’s location the most at The Hill Shopping Center. Many families look forward to Tuesday nights when kids eat free.
The two best sellers at the Lake Highlands restaurant align with customer favorites company-wide. The Chicken Kabob is popular for dinner time. The chicken is cage-free and non-GMO, and is marinated for 12 hours in a secret recipe marinade.
The Santorini Chicken Bowl is a lunch and dinner favorite. It comes with grilled chicken kabob, Luna Grill’s signature couscous medley, chopped kale, Greek cabbage, hummus, schug sauce, tzatziki and rice.
“It kind of blends together all of the different flavors of Mediterranean,” Rogers says.
Every Luna Grill dish is made to order. Fresh mint and parsley are cut up daily for made-from-scratch couscous and tzatziki.
The restaurant’s ingredients are all sourced non-GMO. It has responded to recent customer requests for more gluten-free options. The Ground Sirloin Kabob is a new gluten-free option for guests after making a switch to garbanzo flour.
“Maria has a huge passion for food and cooking, so she’s very adamant about having high-quality ingredients to go into our dishes,” Rogers says.
Luna Grill’s Middle Eastern-inspired grilling method helps cook meat all the way through without losing juiciness.
The restaurant is now open for dine-in, offers curbside pickup and is enhancing its current menu options.
“We’ve taken a step back from new menu items because we found that people are craving tried-and-true classics,” Morgan says.
As spring and summer weather rolls in, Luna Grill is putting extra emphasis on being outside; the Walnut Hill Lane patio is the biggest of its 60 restaurants.
“Whether it’s with having happy hour programs or adding lights,” Rogers says, “outdoor dining will be big for us.”
Luna Grill, 8165 Walnut Hill Lane, Ste. 1300, 469-480-8480, lunagrill.com
