What's cooking? Quite a delectable grilled variety at the buzz-worthy Di Grill Shack. Found in the Sovereign Centre's Food Court, the nine-month-old operation is the brainchild of George Makhoul, who left his general manager position behind at TGI Fridays to start his own culinary enterprise.

"I decided to put Di Grill Shack here when I realised there was a need here in Sovereign for grill items like ribs and beef, chicken, fish and veggie burgers," the Syrian-born Makhoul explained to Thursday Life on our visit earlier this week.

A void existed, he added, for a quick-service restaurant that provided consistently good grilled options. He rationalised that the best way of filling the gap was doing so himself.

Fancying Grill Shack as "gourmet style in a fast food environment," Makhoul premised his start-up business as somewhere customers did not need to get dressed to the nines or spend a fortune to enjoy quality cuisine.

His wishful thinking has paid dividends.

Our lunchtime visit finds the open kitchen restaurant doing brisk business. Orders for barbecue baby back ribs, salads and chicken are being prepared by diligent staffers; placing slices of cheese atop burgers on the grill and spritzing oil onto meats. With meals being done to order, Makhoul said: "We try to get customers' orders completed within a maximum time of 15 to 20 minutes."

Meals will run customers -- who incidentally can call in their orders ahead of stopping by or have it delivered -- from $350 for grilled chicken to $2,000 for ever-so-succulent baby back ribs; while a mini-burger attracts a cost of $350 and a salmon burger is priced at $800.

As for his next move, the entrepreneur disclosed that he's looking to tweak the menu in the coming months and at the same time, identify another location in the city to open store #2.

Di Grill Shack is located at Sovereign Food Court.

Opening Hours: Sunday to Saturday -- 11:00 am to 10:00 pm

Telephone: 978-3463