San Francisco’s pioneering Moroccan restaurant Aziza reopens today in the Richmond roughly three years after originally closing its doors.

Located on the same corner where it was launched in 1999 (5800 Geary Blvd.), the new Aziza boasts a modern look, thanks to a few years of renovations to the building, while staying true to the original iteration’s California-Moroccan style of cooking.

Chef-owner Mourad Lahlou collaborated on the new Aziza with his culinary director Mike Daly from Lahlou’s other San Francisco restaurant, Mourad, as well as chef de cuisine Frank Hanes who worked at the original Aziza. Reservations for Aziza are currently available online.

The new Aziza menu is divided up between snacks, small plates, large plates and desserts. Lahlou, when he originally announced he was reopening Aziza earlier this month, said he wanted the menu to have a blend of small and large plates to encourage communal dining.

“The space has a soul but it has one because people want to be there, they want to spent time there and they want to just enjoy some great food,” he said.

Aziza’s snack menu includes oysters and a smattering of vegetable offerings including radishes with preserved lemon and creme fraiche.

(See the full menu here)

The hand-rolled couscous with aged butter should be familiar to fans of the original Aziza, along with the chicken basteeya. Among the other entrees is a braised lamb shank, beef tagine, slow-cooked chicken thighs and a chickpea stew.

Lahlou and architect Kristen Mayberry Simmons improved the lighting and plumbing within the Aziza building, raised the ceiling and moved the bar area more toward the back of the restaurant to create more space in the dining room. There are 15 counter seats at the Aziza bar which has a bar top made of concrete. A visual focus in the main dining room is a large, 12-seat wooden communal table.

Overall, Lahlou said he poured around $300,000 into the upgrades. All of the work was needed, he said, considering he opened Aziza 20 years ago on a shoestring budget. Critical acclaim quickly followed but as the restaurant grew in popularity, Lahlou said he was never able to find time to update the space.

And though Lahlou had plans during Aziza’s closure to turn the space into Amara, a Moroccan-Mexican restaurant, the building was ultimately always meant to remain Aziza, he said.

“Mourad took on a life of its own, building its own relevancy in the food world. But I never forgot about Aziza during that time, wondering what was would be next for it,” Mourad said earlier this month. “(Opening Aziza) feels like coming home.”

Aziza. Open 5:30 - 10 p.m. daily, and for brunch Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. 5800 Geary Blvd. San Francisco. Azizasf.com. (415) 752-2222

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @JustMrPhillips