Cevdet and Mehmet Yanas are a father-and-son duo who run Jimmy's Cafe in Palo Alto. (Photo courtesy Mehmet Yanas)

By Kate Bradshaw

For two years, Cevdet Yanas, a Palo Alto resident, walked past the shuttered Subway along El Camino Real in his neighborhood. He and his son Mehmet eventually decided to breathe new life into it with their own business: Jimmy's Cafe.

The restaurant, which opened in November, offers Turkish-inspired Mediterranean fare.
Both come from backgrounds in the restaurant industry: Mehmet had previously been working at Din Tai Fung in Santa Clara and says that his new workplace is a more relaxed environment.

Meanwhile, his father has been a Mediterranean chef for the past 35 to 40 years and used to own a restaurant in Turkey, he says. He later worked at other restaurants and in catering in New Jersey and then in California over the past decade.


The chicken box is the most popular order at Jimmy's Cafe in Palo Alto. (Photo courtesy Mehmet Yanas)

The menu offers traditional Mediterranean fare, from lamb and beef gyros and dolmas to falafel and pita. The most popular item, Yanas says, is the chicken box, which comes with chicken shawarma, rice, hummus, tzatziki, eggplant salad and green salad.

"We offer nice, healthy food," he says.

Jimmy's Cafe, 4131 El Camino Real Suite 100, Palo Alto, 650-394-5514; Instagram: @jimmyscafepaloalto.