**** Update Zgara Greek Grill has reopened on Morena Boulevard
Like I mentioned before; I've been getting some nice recommendations recently. The same person who mentioned the Beef Salad at Pho Ha Noi and the Rikimaru Miso Tonkotsu Tsukemen at RakiRaki also mentioned a few other places. One of them was Zgara Grill which replaced Pop's Jersey Steaks. Was sorry to see Pop's go. Anyway, I've never really had any Greek Food, even a simple Gyro, which reminded me of the stuff in Greece. And based on the location I had my doubts.
Yes, even the simple gyro here in San Diego just isn't right….most of it is highly processed "mystery meat"…..
So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is real meat. I was surprised the first time I visited Greece to find that most of the gyros there were pork. And so it is here; pork and chicken; sliced thinly, layered on the vertical spit, with a wonderful knob of fat topping this thing of beauty.
Everything is made to order; so if you order the souvlaki or kebob you'll have to wait for a few minutes. The owner, a rather serious looking gentleman is very nice. He told me everything except the pita is made from scratch.
So naturally, I had to have a Pork Gyro Sandwich ($6.48). He tilted the meat toward the heat….I could see it get brown and crisp. He brought out a saw thing-a-ma-giggy…..it buzzed and slice thin pieces of crisp pork falling into the pan. The final product looked like this.
Here this is a much better shot……
I've been back at least once (sometimes twice) a week since then.
I've had the Kebob; a combination of beef and lamb.
Which was nice; though the ratio of ingredients seemed a bit for a sandwich…..
Same with the Souvlaki Pork; which had a nice delicate flavor and was ever so moist and fairly tender. I think both of these would probably do much better solo in a platter, which I intend to do soon…..as soon as I can get over the pork gyros.
The Loukanico, which I bought as an "appetizer" was nicely grilled…..rather mild in flavor.
What really blew me away was the wonderfully powerful Feta Spread….man, this was really good. The owner gave me some with the sausage saying that it went really well with the sausage…..or anything else for that matter.
Meanwhile, over the course of my visits I'd gotten to know the staff. The owner is from Rodos and it's a kick talking to him about places like Lindos, Stegna, and Symi. Travel always brings us a little bit closer to our food and this is no exception.
Of course the pork gyros…..well that makes me a regular customer of Zgara.
Finally. Real pork gyros in San Diego.
Zgara Greek Grill
1730 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109
Hours
Sunday – Thursday 11am – 9pm
Friday – Saturday 11am – 10pm