Cafe Zuppina is moving downtown.
Cafe Zuppina is a Mediterranean restaurant that has been serving healthy food to Lakeland for over a decade. Owner duo, Berna and Erkan Nar founded the restaurant to bring their Turkish culture to the city. Every day they shop locally for fresh ingredients to provide the best quality dishes possible to their customers.
In 2019, they opened a market next door that features fresh to-go items, pastries, coffee, and more. It brings an unexpected cultural blend right to the heart of Lakeland.
The couple believes now is the perfect time to make another big leap — into the space formerly occupied by Cafe Roti at 116 S. Tennessee Ave. The location has been vacant since the former Indian restaurant closed in the fall of 2022.
The sidewalk was cordoned off and work was underway at the site Wednesday. Berna Nar said she hopes to open in February.
“We plan to be open until 9 on weekdays and until 10 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,” Nar said.
With the new space, she’s quadrupling her capacity from 25 people to about 100.