I was looking forward to revisiting Zgara again, since it had been a while. For some reason, I was missing their pork gyros. So, I headed off to grab some lunch and when I got to that area of Morena….well, there was no parking to be found….I could not even find any parking on Savannah or Vega street! So, I needed to come up with another option. I headed toward Linda Vista Road…thinking of perhaps J&T. Yorimichi2 also came to mind, but it was just a few minutes after 11 and they weren’t open yet. But instead of taking the left onto Linda Vista, I went straight ahead on Napa Street and turned into the Arrive Mission Valley center. My usual choice here would be Pho Kitchen….but it was a bit too hot for pho or bo kho on this day. I saw another place that caught my attention.
Pita Grill SD:
Pita Grill…hmmm….. So, I thought why not? And walked on in.
The interior looked very “chain like”; but doing a quick check; I couldn’t find any other “Pita Grill” in San Diego. The prices didn’t look too bad…but it seemed like one of those fast casual “concepts”.
Still, the prices were not bad.
It seems this was one of those places that makes everything from Gyros to Hummus….. All the nice women working were speaking Spanish. In the end; I went with a Chicken Shawarma Wrap ($14.95). My wrap was put together on the “line” and I picked it up at the register.
It was quite hefty. At first bite, I knew this wasn’t typical. The “bread”…this was closer to a tortilla than something coming off the “sajj”. It was chewy, not warm enough. The chicken was on the tougher side, not really Shawarma in flavor…lacking in savory-herbaceous aromatics….you could take this chicken and put it in a tortilla with some salsa and call it a burrito.
The “tzatziki” was really watery lending little of that sour-savory-herbaceousness to this. This made the stuff that Tahini and the now defunct Simsim seem like great traditional food! I’m sure this will do fine for hungry students at USD or folks looking for something not too assertive in flavor, but this really didn’t do it for me.
Unless anyone has a recommendation for this place, I think this is a “one-and-done”.
Pita Grill SD
5375 Napa St. Unit 110
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 7pm
Sunday 11am – 6pm
Now, I was really determined to head back to….
Zgara Greek Grill:
Once a upon a time Zgara was a big part of my “rotation“. I’d been a fan since they first opened in PB back in 2015! Then back in 2024, because of all our travels…I didn’t visit for about six months. I finally returned to find out that Eric, the original owner had sold the place. Folks I know who were regular customers have told me that the food has definitely changed and on my revisits under new ownership, I’ve noticed perhaps some changes.
I figured since it’s been over 5 months since my last visit, it was time…… At least there was ample parking this time around.
I quickly noticed that since my last visit in October of last year, the price of the Pork Gyros has gone up $1.60, from 11.86 to $13.46, that’s a 13% increase in less than five months!
Though they still feature a lunch combo at $16.04 which becomes $17.68 after 4pm. Me, I’m just wanting my pork gyros fix.
I have noticed that the new owner does wrap things a bit tighter and the pork seems to be more chewy these days. Also, there seems to be less tzatziki????
Still, that savory porkiness with some nice crisp bites, with a bit of acidity, pleasant pungent tones, with a background of olive oil is still there. So, while I do miss Eric, I’ll probably still be coming here for my gyros fix.
Zgara Greek Grill
1229 Morena Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92110
Current Hours:
Mon – Sat 11am – 8pm
Closed on Sunday
It's still quite hefty, though wrapped a bit tighter. There seems to be a bit less Tzatziki, but the pita is still nice and pillowy.
And to be perfectly honest, I was interested to see what the price of the Gyro Combo was these days. And the sign said the combo was now $15. In case you’re keeping score, in 
Upon opening up the Gyro, I quickly noticed that things had changed. This was no longer marinated pork cut from a spit into thin slices. This was more like chunks of marinated grilled pork shoulder. Along with being chunks of pork, the meat was a lot darker in color than what I’d had previously. It was also tough and dry. In terms of flavor, this was on the salty side.
Greek sounded good for lunch, too.
There's a menu above the cash register and on the wall to the right. Order and pay and your food is brought out in disposable/"To Go" containers.
The walls from the former restaurant are still here; the furniture is new.
Lentil soup with pita ($4.50) was an excellent Mediterranean version. Cumin and turmeric flavors were primary and the broth not too thick with lentils or potato or carrot as other versions, but very deep with flavor. I did not taste onion and salt/pepper were not needed. 
A side of four pieces of falafel ($2.50) was a good choice. The thin, crisp edges were perfect, leaving the inside fluffy. The side of tzatziki sauce was refreshing with its yogurt and garlic base.
Greek Mix Plate ($14.99). 1/2 chicken shawarma, 1/2 lamb gyro on top of yellow rice and pita along with a good sized side salad (served with a herb-infused vinegar dressing) was quite a lot of food to share. The shawarma was not shaved, but instead chopped and grilled. It had great flavor. Indeed, it was lamb gyro and shaved, leaving each piece with a crisp side. The rice, pita and salad made this a good size meal, enough to share. 
Lemon and mint lemonade ($2.99) was excellent- fresh lemon juice, not too much sugar and dried mint gave this beverage two 'thumbs up' from us. We'll be back to try more of the menu.
The stamped floor with animal footprints remains.
The other update is that this family owned and run restaurant has been here for more than 30 years.
Walk in, order and pay. There is a menu board above the ordering space in the wall. Your food is brought out by one of the family members. 
As always, we order onion rings ($4.49). Thick slices of sweet onions, sweet batter, properly crisp fried and not greasy. This is served with ranch dressing.
A small Greek chicken salad ($9.49) holds a lot of tasty, moist roasted chicken and comes with pita bread and tzatziki. The salad part is the same size as the side salad which comes with the meal below and includes cucumber, tomato and onion and a red wine vinegar based dressing.
The Moussaka and Gyros combination plate ($15.99) was ordered on this day…because we wanted leftovers. Plenty of fluffy rice with some peas and carrots topped with slices of gyros and, of course, the Moussaka- the bottom layer is baked potato, then a nice layer of eggplant, the sweet (cinnamon and oregano) spiced ground meat filling topped with a layer of thick béchamel and covered in a subtle seasoned (garlic, thyme, parsley, basil) tomato sauce. 
You can see the Santa Sophia Roman Catholic Church tower just East out the side window of the restaurant. The Greek title, "Santa Sophia" (Holy Wisdom) is popular in Greek Orthodox churches and is rare for Catholic churches.
The quality of the ahi wasn't quite as good as what I'd had on previous visits; with more "sugi" (connective tissue) than usual.
And I was happy, because my Pork Gyro was as good as ever.
Located in a nondescript strip mall with a nice sized parking lot at the NorthEast corner of El Cajon and 73rd, next to the gas station,
Elsa's Kitchen has been here since at least 2009.
The pastrami burger ($6.99)is hand shaped and char-broiled. I *love* the char broiled flavor. It's topped with a quality pastrami (not the pepper coated one; a regular smoked corned beef; the Liquor Store next door sells Boars Head deli meats and I think they get the pastrami there) and the usual toppings. Hefty and very, very good.
The bun is toasted, both on the top and inside, making for a non-soggy sandwich.
The large greek salad ($10.99) is a great meal. Plenty of gyros and very fresh traditional Greek salad- romaine, tomato, onion, cucumber and Feta, served with a really nice dressing and tzatziki. 
As always, a large order of onion rings ($3.99) was ordered. I have mentioned before that all Greek restaurants make wonderful, from scratch, thick cut rings from sweet onions. No exception here. 