Dervish Plans 200-Seat Turkish Restaurant in Johns Creek

A family-run Turkish restaurant with roots in Gaziantep is preparing to make Johns Creek its first Georgia home.

Dervish plans to open a roughly 200-seat restaurant at 10990 State Bridge Road, Suite A, with construction and permitting now underway. The owners are targeting an opening in about two months, although an exact date has not been announced.

The Johns Creek restaurant will be the Georgia expansion of Dervish Turkish Restaurant, which currently operates locations in Cedar Grove and Wayne, New Jersey. The Yalaza family has spent about a year and a half looking for a Georgia location before choosing Johns Creek.

The new restaurant will be a full-service operation with a bar and a menu built around Turkish and Mediterranean cooking, including several specialties associated with Gaziantep, a southeastern Turkish city known for its food traditions.

One of Dervish’s signature dishes is sogan kebabi, made with lamb meatballs, small onions and a pomegranate-based sauce before being baked under a thin layer of bread and opened at the table. Doner kebab and kuzu incik, a slow-cooked lamb shank dish, are also expected on the Johns Creek menu.

Meat preparation will be a major part of the kitchen. Dervish butchers whole lambs in-house and marinates cuts daily rather than relying primarily on pre-portioned meat. The family’s restaurant history stretches back to Turkey, where co-owner Emre Yalaza’s father and grandfather worked in the business.

The arrival adds another international restaurant to the State Bridge Road corridor, where Johns Creek’s dining scene increasingly reflects the city’s diverse population.

For Dervish, the location is also considerably larger than a typical neighborhood restaurant. With seating for about 200 guests, it is being designed as a destination for full meals and groups rather than a small kebab or takeout shop.

Construction and approvals are still in progress, and the owners have not yet released opening hours or a firm debut date.