This Massive California Mediterranean Grill Took Over An Old Sizzler And Turned It Into A Flame-Fired Feast

The old Sizzler sign is gone. The appetite required to enter this building is not.

What replaced it feels far more ambitious than a simple remodel. Smoke and generous plates now define the space, giving a familiar roadside footprint a completely different personality.

This California restaurant proves an old dining room can come back with an entirely new identity.

Do not decide too quickly. Let the grill aromas interfere. Watch what arrives at nearby tables.

If the meal starts expanding beyond what you originally planned, accept that the building may be encouraging bad portion control.

There is something satisfying about seeing a recognizable restaurant shell reinvented this thoroughly.

The past is still faintly visible if you know what stood here before. Everything coming off the fire, however, points in a very different direction.

A Former Steakhouse With A Whole New Identity

Buildings rarely change this much without being torn down.

The space at 1011 Veterans Blvd, Redwood City, California 94063 spent years as a Sizzler before reopening in 2026 as Reef Zaman, a Mediterranean grill with a completely different look and menu.

Longtime locals who remember the old layout often comment on how little of it feels familiar now.

The renovation reshaped the interior into something brighter and more open, with high ceilings that make the room feel taller than expected from the parking lot.

A soft opening happened in late June 2026, followed by a grand opening a few weeks later in July. That staggered start gave the kitchen and floor team time to settle in before the busier crowds arrived.

Because the building sits on a commercial stretch rather than in the middle of downtown, parking is plentiful and easy to find.

Anyone who has circled downtown Redwood City looking for a spot will appreciate that difference.

The restaurant keeps consistent hours, opening at 11 AM and closing at 9 PM every day of the week. Steady daily hours make it simple to plan a weekday lunch or an early weekend dinner without checking a calendar first.

Being a newer restaurant, small operational details are still being smoothed out, which is worth keeping in mind.

Room Enough For Nearly 280 Guests

Large dining rooms often feel cold, but the layout here leans warm instead. Seating for roughly 280 people spreads across the floor, which means big families and group celebrations fit without much trouble.

High ceilings and generous windows bring in plenty of natural light during daytime hours. The clean, bright design keeps the space feeling airy rather than crowded, even when tables fill up.

Several seating styles exist within the same room.

There are low cushioned benches around a large low table in a majlis style setup, standard dining tables with padded chairs, and a long natural wood table meant for communal seating.

Groups that want a relaxed, sit-back experience often gravitate toward the cushioned seating, while pairs and small parties usually find the regular tables more practical.

Having options in one room is genuinely useful when a party includes older relatives and small children.

The open layout does mean sound carries, and privacy is limited since most of the room stays visible from any given seat.

Anyone hoping for a quiet, tucked-away corner may want to visit during slower midweek hours instead of a Saturday evening.

Weekend dinner service can bring a wait, so arriving earlier in the evening tends to make the experience smoother and calmer overall.

Charcoal And Open Flame Drive The Menu

Smoke does a lot of the seasoning work in this kitchen.

Flame-grilled meats cooked over open fire and charcoal form the backbone of the menu, and the difference shows up in the char on the edges of each skewer.

Kebab choices cover lamb, beef, filet mignon, chicken and shrimp, which gives a table plenty of directions to go.

Mixed plates and combination packs make it easier for a group to sample several proteins in one order.

Grilled meats arrive alongside seasoned rice that carries a gentle saffron color and a hint of sumac. Fresh pita comes to the table warm, and the restaurant bakes its own bread in house.

Ordering etiquette here is simple. Plates come as full meals with rice and bread, so ordering multiple appetizers plus multiple plates for a small party can easily lead to leftovers.

Portion expectations vary by dish and by group size, and the larger sharing packs are best discussed with staff before ordering so the amount matches the number of people at the table.

Charcoal grilling takes time, which means grilled orders may not all reach the table at the same moment. Patience helps, especially during busier stretches of the evening.

Lamb Chops Hold Signature Status

Certain dishes end up defining a restaurant, and the lamb chops fill that role here. Prepared by the head chef, they are treated as a signature item and appear both as a full plate and as individual orders.

Grilled over charcoal, the chops pick up a smoky exterior while staying tender inside. Diners frequently mention them among the standout items on the menu.

Because lamb chops sit at the higher end of the price range, ordering a smaller number alongside shared sides can be a smart way to try them without stretching a budget.

Pairing them with hummus and warm bread rounds out the plate nicely.

Lamb has a stronger flavor than chicken or beef, so anyone new to it may want to split an order with someone at the table first.

Availability of individual dishes can shift depending on the day and how busy service has been, so asking about the current selection when seated is a reasonable habit.

Rice served alongside the chops absorbs some of the drippings, which makes the last few bites of the plate just as satisfying as the first ones.

Building A Mezze Spread Across The Table

Half the fun of a Mediterranean meal happens before the grilled food arrives.

Hummus, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, Arabic salad, cucumber yogurt and garlic potatoes all appear as sides, and ordering several turns the center of the table into a shared spread.

Hummus here leans creamy and smooth, while baba ghanoush carries the smoky note that comes from properly charred eggplant. Both are frequently mentioned by guests as highlights.

Tabbouleh brings a bright, lemony contrast with chopped herbs and grains, and the Arabic salad adds crunch from fresh vegetables. Cucumber yogurt cools things down between bites of grilled meat.

Garlic potatoes tend to disappear quickly at a shared table, so ordering an extra portion for a larger group is reasonable. Warm house-baked pita makes scooping easy and keeps everyone reaching in.

A practical approach is to order three or four sides for a group of four, then add grilled plates on top. That keeps the spread varied without overwhelming the table with food.

Individual sides may occasionally run out later in the day, so flexibility helps. Asking what is available at the moment saves back-and-forth and often leads to trying something new.

Lemonades And Sweets Round Out The Meal

Ending a smoky, charcoal-heavy meal calls for something bright. Mint lemonade and raspberry lemonade both appear on the drink list, and each leans on fresh fruit rather than heavy sweetening.

The mint version tastes tart with plenty of fresh mint blended through it, while the raspberry option comes across softer and naturally sweet. Either one cuts through the richness of grilled lamb or beef.

No alcohol is served, which keeps the room family friendly and the drink list focused on fresh juices, lemonades and tea. Tea is another option worth considering after a large meal.

Dessert comes down to baklava and warbat. Baklava layers thin pastry with nuts and syrup, while warbat is a lighter, cream-filled pastry that feels less dense after a big plate of grilled food.

Sharing one dessert between two people is often plenty, especially following full plates with rice and bread. Ordering dessert at the same time as the main course is not necessary, since the kitchen prepares it separately.

Arriving earlier in the evening, closer to opening or mid-afternoon, usually means a shorter wait and a calmer pace for lingering over drinks and something sweet.

Kitchen Leadership With Local Roots

Experience in the neighborhood matters more than people expect. The head chef worked at Mazra, another Mediterranean spot nearby on the Peninsula, before taking charge of this kitchen.

Familiarity with local tastes shows up in how the menu is built, balancing grilled plates with a wide range of dips, salads and sides.

Guests who know the area often compare the two restaurants, and both have their own strengths.

The owner has pointed to the chef’s lamb chops as one of the dishes that made the hiring decision clear. Details like that give a sense of how the menu came together rather than being assembled from a template.

House-baked bread is another sign of a kitchen doing more work in house than it strictly has to. Warm pita arriving with plates changes how the dips taste, since fresh bread carries them better than packaged versions.

Garlic toum, a smooth garlic sauce, is made in house as well and pairs naturally with the grilled chicken. Staff have been known to bring extra when asked politely.

New restaurants take time to find a rhythm, and the kitchen here continues adjusting timing and consistency as the team grows more comfortable together.

A Name That Points To The Countryside Of The Past

Names sometimes explain a design choice better than a description could. Reef translates to countryside in Arabic, and Zaman means time or era, which together read as countryside of the past.

Greenery and dark wood run through the dining room, and both were chosen to reflect that idea.

Plants soften the scale of a room built for hundreds of people, while wood surfaces keep the brightness from feeling stark.

The combination lands somewhere between polished and comfortable. Guests regularly describe the atmosphere as welcoming rather than formal, which suits a place meant for long family meals.

Natural light does most of the work during lunch hours, and the mood shifts a bit in the evening as the lighting takes over.

Both times of day have their own feel, so visiting twice offers two slightly different experiences.

Part of the property overlooks a creek, which adds an outward view that most restaurants along a commercial boulevard cannot offer. Seats with a view of the water tend to be popular.

Small design touches like woven kilim fabric on the low seating tie the theme together without turning the room into a theme restaurant, which keeps the focus on the food.