Mesopotamia Deli brings authentic Middle Eastern flavors to Short Pump

Owner Hummam al Naqeeb and his wife relocated their family business from Baghdad, Iraq to Lauderdale Drive in the Wellesley community.

June 12, 2015; 9:35 AM • by Trevor Dickerson

A new delicatessen is bringing something different to the Wellesley community and Short Pump as a whole–authentic, family-made Middle Eastern recipes.

Seeing an opportunity to provide the Short Pump area with more authentic ethnic food options, Hummam al Naqeeb and his wife, Shymaa al Durrah, relocated their family business, Mesopotamia Deli, from Baghdad, Iraq–its original location since 1994–to The Shops at Wellesley, where they joined 16 other tenants in April.

“My infatuation with creating delicious food began when I was 14, working for my parents and their catering company,” said al Naqeeb. “My wife and I have owned the deli together since 1994, pulling recipe inspiration from different areas of the Middle East, including Iraq, Persia and Turkey. I look forward to providing a unique variety of Mediterranean food to the Short Pump area.”

The Richmond location offers a deli, a small grocery, and a buffet with kebabs, shawarma and salads, all made fresh daily. Al Naqeeb’s overall goal is to create pre-packaged, fresh-frozen dinners that can be sold to local grocery stores in the Richmond area, in hopes to provide a different variety of Mediterranean food to the community.

“We acted quickly on the chance to offer the community something different with the Mesopotamia Deli, as it is an under-represented food segment within Richmond,” said Alex Zikakis, president of Capstone Advisors, which owns The Shops at Wellesley. “Not only is this move well-aligned with our approach to offering local communities diverse retail and restaurant options, but it also upholds our strong belief in supporting small businesses.”