“I love to hear the sounds in a restaurant—the silverware, the plates, staff rushing around—it’s a sound that makes me feel at home.” Bassel Osmani waves his arms to illustrate his point in the lunch crowd-packed Pita Jungle at Scottsdale Road and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale. That passion is probably one of the reasons why Osmani and his two partners have one of the Valley’s most successful restaurant chains.
The three students met at Arizona State University in the 1980s. Osmani, Fouad Khodr and Nelly Kohsok were engineering and broadcasting students with French and Mediterranean backgrounds. On a campus surrounded by fast food joints, there were few healthy food options. The three students saw a growing demand for good, healthy, low-cost food. They brainstormed ideas and came up with the concept for Pita Jungle.
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