Zoës Kitchen: Another fast-casual venue for the Plaza

When the Country Club Plaza was founded in the 1920s, the district included a mix of retail and restaurants that left room for the occasional bowling-alley grill, Woolworth’s lunch counter or Putsch’s Cafeteria. Those relatively down-market vendors are distant memories, to say the least, but the Plaza’s current owner, North Carolina-based Highwoods Properties, does seem to like the whole fast-casual thing.

A franchise of Noodles & Company, the low-priced pasta emporium, took over the former McDonald’s space in 2010. And next Thursday, the 20-year-old Texas chain Zoës Kitchen opens its first area location at 100 Ward Parkway, in a location occupied over the decades by Annie’s Santa Fe, Frankie’s on the Plaza, and a nightclub called Blonde (among others).

The concept? Fast-casual Mediterranean, with wine and beer.

Most of the restaurants and clubs occupying this space over the past three decades have relied on alcohol to make the rent. But Zoës Kitchen, which offers wine and beer with its grilled kebabs, salads, sandwiches and hummus platters, is a counter-service restaurant. With entrée prices topping out at about $10, you presumably will have enough left over to buy liquor somewhere else.