New restaurants find home in Gulfport, looking to bring unique flavors to Coast

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - In Gulfport, new developments are going up, with a couple of new restaurants to check out when you’re out and about.

Zaki’s Cafe along Pass Road opened its doors with a burst of confetti on Friday, marking its grand opening.

The coffee and dessert restaurant sells products that are all made in-house. From sandwiches to salads to desserts – it all can be found here.

The cafe’s spokesperson, Walid Alsous, says it all originated in the family living room.

“It’s nice to see it come to fruition and people walk in and footsteps, that’s really what it is, you just wanna see people coming in and happy,” he said.

“Zaki’s is just something we kinda came up with and what we really wanted to feel like Zaki’s -- it’s something ambitious and we want you to be like when you see our food, you’re gonna be like, ‘Zaki’s? Oh, it’s tasty, like it tastes good,’” Alsous said.

Less than two miles away, El Chilango finds its home along Cowan Road with a mission to provide an authentic taste of Mexico City.

“El Chilango stands for ‘people from Mexico City,’ and we wanted to honor that with our dishes,” El Chilango co-owner Osmar Perez said.

The Mexican restaurant is operated by the Perez family. They came here in 2021 from Mexico with an ambition to open a business.

“We’ve been involved in the restaurant industry for quite a little bit, and something that we noticed was that people were asking for more authentic food,” he said.

The community has been showing up and showing out for what they have to offer, Perez said.

“So far, we’ve had great feedback, we’ve had great support,” he said.

Even during an uncertain economy, these two businesses are staying positive and looking forward to succeeding.

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