Pictured:Janie's Amman serves up Middle Eastern delicacies. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.

“Any area you go to in my country, any place you get in, you’re going to try the best food of your life,” says Anas Aqel, co-owner and chef of Janie’s Amman. “Very tasty, that’s it.” One bite into his falafel and you believe him.

A fast-casual restaurant in a modest strip center near the Ringling School of Art, Janie’s bills itself as Middle Eastern-Mediterranean. But Aqel calls his menu—mezze and street fare—authentic Jordanian.

Start with the mezze. Fire-roasted eggplant mashed with garlic and lemon gives baba ganoush a smoky depth. Hummus comes smooth, scattered with sumac and chili, sharpening the whole affair. The highlight: ground chickpeas fried into a crispy shell, fluffy inside, punched with garlic. It’s—uncharacteristically—red. “I’m the only person who does it red on the inside,” says Aqel. The secret? He smiles. “All the stuff.”

Aqel and his partner, co-owner and chef Abood Hasan, came up through professional kitchens. They met in 2022, when Hasan walked into UTC’s Al Forno as a diner and started asking the manager some questions. Turned out, they were both Jordanian. The two began plotting their own venture, and Janie’s opened in January 2025. Working side by side, they feed office workers, students and a faithful Middle Eastern crowd.

The dish that Aqel promotes most proudly is chicken shawarma: layers of meat stacked on a vertical spit, shaved to order, then draped over savory rice or wrapped in saj bread. The rice, folded with peas and carrots, earns its bright yellow honestly. “Saffron, turmeric, curry, seven spice, black pepper… I put all this in my rice,” Aqel says without reticence.

Recent menu additions include fried catfish, Turkish coffee, mint tea and pistachio cake. The standout burger, beef mixed with lamb, comes with spice-dusted fries.

A second location is already in the works.“Everything we make is good,” Aqel explains. Whatever is in that falafel, it's very tasty.

Janie’s Amman, Wed-Mon 11am-10pm, Tuesday noon-6 pm, 1400 Dr Martin Luther King Way, Sarasota, 941-366-1111, janiesammanfl.com

Pictured:Janie's Amman serves up Middle Eastern delicacies. Photo by Wyatt Kostygan.