Beloved 16-year-old Middle Eastern restaurant Rumi is moving to a new home not far from its Brunswick East location, putting an end to the uncertainty that's hovered over the restaurant's future since its current site was earmarked for development in 2021.

Come August, Joseph and Nat Abboud and their team will be the main dining attraction at East Brunswick Village, a housing development that covers three hectares of the suburb and will soon include Bridge Road Brewing, a cinema and, rumour has it, a Blackhearts & Sparrows bottle shop.

Within the same development, the Abbouds will also take on a 100-person events space and a wine bar opposite the cinema, serving Rumi snacks.

The new 80-seat restaurant will retain Rumi's signature green, mixing in terrazzo floors, reed glass and a more contemporary feel overall. A central horsehoe-shaped bar will have views across the room.

"There's no denying that after 16 years, it's a challenge to keep things fresh," says Joseph Abboud. He adds that it feels great to finally have a home for the restaurant that, at one stage during his real estate hunt, he thought may have to close.

The kitchen is ditching gas for an all-electric set-up, an environmental choice, but charcoal will still lend its inimitable flavour to grilled fish, vegetable skewers and chicken wings.

Weekend lunches may be part of the offer and Abboud is also considering bringing back breakfast after 15 years, given the many apartment dwellers that will be his neighbours. But some things aren't changing, such as menu favourites sigara boregi (cheesy pastry cigars) and advieh lamb shoulder.

"We're always working on new dishes but we're constantly fighting our old dishes," he jokes.

This will be the restaurant's third home since opening in June 2006, and its first away from Lygon Street. Abboud is hopeful that Rumi will trade right up until the move to East Brunswick Village.

Rumi, 116 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, 03 9388 8255, rumirestaurant.com.au