Ann Arbor may be sixth in line to get a La Marsa Mediterranean Cuisine, but manager Aziz Muflahi says the company’s founders have long had the city in mind. He says its new spot in the heart of U-M’s campus–in Cosi’s former space on South State Street–is attracting not just a college crowd but also plenty of locals since it opened in August.

“I love Ann Arbor–it reminds me of a European city,” says Muflahi, sitting at the restaurant’s raw juice bar as Arabic music plays over the speakers and servers in white button-down shirts and ties deliver baskets of fresh-baked pita to customers from the flaming bread oven in back. “The most beautiful thing about this town is its great mix of ethnicities.” Muflahi, who was born in Yemen, raised in England, and moved to the United States about a decade ago, most recently worked as a manager for the Farmington Hills La Marsa.

The restaurant, named after a coastal town in Tunisia, serves up traditional Mediterranean fare–soups, salads, falafel, and hummous; chicken, lamb, beef, and seafood dishes; and vegetarian offerings–as well as what Muflahi calls its “signature dishes.” Egyptian koshary is made up of layered pasta, rice, lentils, onions, and garlic with tomato sauce. The mousaka also is Egyptian inspired, and “omo ali,” a bread pudding made with sour cream, milk, honey, and mixed nuts, is made by a local Egyptian baker.

“You can’t find these dishes easily in other places, and they sell out every day,” Muflahi says. Lunch specials run in the $5-$10 range and most dinner entrees run $12-$16, including rice or fries and soup or salad.

Founders Adel Ahmed and Mohamed El Naggar, of Egypt, and Fadel Ganunni, of Tunisia, all formerly worked at La Shish, the Detroit-area chain of Middle Eastern restaurants that went under in 2008 because of the owner’s tax troubles. Many former La Shish employees have since launched their own versions of the restaurant, including Palm Palace, on Washtenaw, and Sheesh, which opened last year on North Main Street and closed in August after a kitchen fire.

“I’m saddened about this and wish them the best,” Muflahi says of the fire. “We are all good people trying to make a living.”

There are a couple of Middle Eastern places within sight of La Marsa, and more across the Diag in the South U area. But Muflahi is confident there’s not only room for one La Marsa, but for two–he hopes to add another location here in the future.

La Marsa Mediterranean Cuisine, 301 S. State. 622-0200. Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

lamarsacuisine.com