Restaurants

Miznon opens in the Seaport, bringing casual Israeli cuisine to Boston

The restaurant redefines what goes inside a pita.

A spread at Miznon. Miznon

April 7, 2022

Miznon, which opened April 6 in the Seaport near the new The Rocks at Harbor Way and Sea Green Park, turns the great American sandwich — the cheeseburger — on its head.

Miznon is the fast-casual brand of Israeli chef Eyal Shani’s growing international restaurant empire. The Seaport is home to the fourth Miznon location in the U.S., following three New York City branches.

The restaurant’s open-concept space is modern, with huge chalkboards and recipes scrawled out street-style. Inside and out, there are around 57 seats, though some are benches — in Hebrew “miznon” means a canteen, a casual drop-in or take-out.

“It’s a welcoming, fun environment with vibrant music,” Mika Ziv, Miznon’s general manager, told Boston.com after a busy lunch service on opening day.

Divided into pitas and plates, and with a trio of desserts and only soft drinks, the short menu sings with intriguing dishes, such as that cheeseburger, called the Folded Cheese Burger, which is both bun-less and presented vertically. So, is it a cheeseburger or isn’t it a cheeseburger?

The cheeseburger pita at Miznon. – Miznon

“It is a cheeseburger,” Ziv said. “Just with a patty folded over the cheese, and it’s in a pita instead of a bun. This is not a burger you eat with ketchup and mayo.”

One regional specialty created for Miznon Boston is the Fish ‘N’ Chips pita, a nod to Great Britain’s retro take-out dish that includes potato aioli and vinegar. The menu also includes local, more sustainable hake pita with tomato, tahini, and peppers.

What really stands out are luscious veggies, like batata — tender baked sweet potato — and a whole roasted baby cauliflower flavored with tahini, tomato salsa, green peppers, and scallions, which is served as a plate or as the lavan pita. Chef Shani first found culinary inspiration from his grandfather, an agronomist and a dedicated vegan, who exposed a young Shani to local markets, farms, and vineyards.

“Our cauliflower is our signature dish,” Ziv said. “It’s an example of our philosophy that we give the same respect to vegetables as other restaurants give to meat or fish. Being from Israel, which is a hot place, we eat a lot of vegetables and fruit.”

One thing at Miznon that is not traditional in Israeli cooking is the lack of dried spices.

“We don’t use spices at Miznon. We use salt, pepper, tahini, and olive oil,” Ziv said. “We have some dried za’atar leaves,” she noted — za’atar is a once wild thyme common in Israel. “But that ties in with our vegetables and is not used like a spice. This is not typical to Israeli cooking. The idea is to not mask the flavor of the fresh vegetables.”

Miznon, 107 Seaport Blvd., Boston. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Mon.-Sun. miznonnyc.com