904 Gyros Food Truck in Jacksonville, FL

I ate dinner from a food truck in Jacksonville called 904 Gyros. I loved their tagline on the truck of "Under a Billion Sold." That's impressive!

 I had a Carved Lamb/Beef Gyro Plate, served with saffron rice, a cucumber and tomato salad, and Tzatziki. Everything was delicious. Everything on the plate was really flavorful. 

Stefano Greek-Italian Restaurant in Temple Terrace, FL

After a long day of looking at animals and riding roller coasters at Busch Gardens, I stopped for dinner nearby at a place called Stefano Greek-Italian Restaurant in Temple Terrace. The menu seemed to be mostly Greek with only a small section of Italian foods.

My meal began with a salad and some pita bread. The salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, and feta cheese. It was quite large for a side salad that accompanied my meal.

I had the Gyro Plate as my main course. This was an open face gyro sandwich served over a bed of yellow rice. There was lots of thinly sliced gyro meat on a pita, topped with tomato slices, onions, and some of the best tzatziki I can remember having in a long time. The gyro meat itself wasn't as flavorful as what I've had at other Greek restaurants, but the tzatziki made up for the difference. It was yogurt, cucumber, and lots and lots of big pieces of garlic. I probably stunk for the next two days from all the garlic, but I didn't care and finished every drop of the sauce because this tzatziki was delicious.

Like the salad, the portion size on the gyro plate was large. It was the first meal I've had in a while where I immediately knew there would be no possible way that I'd finish what was served when the food was brought to the table. I liked the food at Stefano. Prices were reasonable, portions were large, and the food was tasty. I'd go back.

Zorbas Eatery in Longwood, FL

I ate dinner at a new Greek restaurant called Zorbas Eatery in Longwood. Zorbas went into a former Quiznos and didn't do much to change the setup of the restaurant. They still have the fast food feel where you order at a counter, only now the food has vastly improved over the former occupant of the space.

I tried the chicken gyro. The pita sandwich was filled with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, and plenty of delicious tzatziki.

This vegetarian platter was also ordered at my table, consisting of a spinach pie, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, and pita.

For dessert, I shared this slice of kadaifi and baklava. Greek desserts are wonderful, these being no exception...

I had nothing bad to say about my meal. I'll be back to Zorbas Eatery...

Athens Cafe in Winter Springs, FL

I got takeout from Athen's Cafe in Winter Springs. I initially was going to order some sort of chicken pita, but then changed my mind and got their Falafel Pita. I'm glad I did too!

This was some of the best falafel I've had in Central Florida. The falafel balls were full of flavor, fried to a crispy brown color on the outside, and moist and tasty on the inside. Feta, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes were also wrapped inside the pita. The side of tzatziki sauce was also really flavorful. Rather than the normal cucumbers mixed in yogurt, this tzatziki had a really nice kick of garlic. Being that most Greek restaurants don't have falafel on their menus, I was really surprised how tasty this falafel was!

I wasn't too pleased with the potato salad served on the side though. It really wasn't anything against Athens, but more of an issue with my personal taste. It had hard boiled egg mixed with the potato. Personally, this is a food combination that really bothers me. The smooth, cold, and somewhat slimy consistency of hard boiled egg is somewhat unsettling when mixed in with potato. Without the egg, I think I'd be happy...

Overall, I enjoyed my meal and I'll definitely be back. Next time I'll be sure to get the full experience and eat my food in the restaurant instead of getting takeout.

Athens N.Y. Style Diner in Mount Dora, FL

I always enjoy my visits to the Greek Diners up in New York and New Jersey. They seem to be a mostly regional thing and rarely are seen elsewhere. While the quality varies greatly from diner to diner, I seem to always end up at a Greek diner at least once whenever I'm up north.

While in Mount Dora one afternoon, I decided to try Athens N.Y. Style Diner to see how they compare to the Greek diners that I've eaten at actually located in New York.

Athens is located in a strip mall. No classic diner building here. The interior of Athens seemed very dated...

A basket of rolls was brought out first. They were okay, but where was the challah and assorted crackers that you get in Greek diners in New York? And how about the appetizer plate of celery, carrots, and radishes that you get from New York Greek diners at dinner time?

I ordered a Chicken Souvlaki Pita. Rather than getting the normal side of fries, I substituted a side Greek Salad. It consisted of lettuce, onions, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese.

My pita soon followed the salad. It was filled with chicken, lettuce, onions, and tzatziki. While there was nothing exactly wrong with the pita, it all tasted very bland. Even with the tzatziki drenching the interior of the pita, there really wasn't much of any flavor that stood out. Athens needs to put more seasoning on their chicken or maybe add more spice to the tzatziki...

I've had some pretty tasteless souvlaki pitas in true NY Greek diners, so maybe it was authentic. Overall, Athens NY Style Diner had pretty average food. Nothing worth going out of my way to return to...

Weekend Trip: Mediterranean Sunrise Falafel

After disembarking from the plane and finishing up all of the airport stuff, it was soon time for lunch. We chose a Greek restaurant called Mediterranean Sunrise in Franklin Square, NY. I ordered a Falafel sandwich, and it then turned out everyone else I was with also ordered the same. Mediterranean Sunrise was basically a fast food restaurant, but they seemed to have issues getting the food out in a timely manner. It took about twenty minutes for the sandwiches to be served (which don't require all that much preparation), and in the meantime, some of the other customers in the restaurant were getting angry about the wait.

The amount of time that it took for the food to come out was bad, but the food itself was good. The sandwich consisted of two falafels, each crispy on the outside, but moist on the inside, along with lettuce, onions, and tzatziki in a pita. It was a tasty sandwich...

Greek Food in Uptown Altamonte

Lots of art shows/craft fairs were going on this past weekend. There's the Longwood Crafts Fair. Deland had some sort of similar event, and Altamonte Springs had the Art on the Boulevard in Uptown Altamonte Festival of the Arts event. I walked around this art show the day after I walked around Longwood's event. I liked the selection of art being sold here much better than what Longwood had, but don't forget it's all about the food.

Unlike Longwood, I actually ate something in Uptown Altamonte. I had a chicken gyro from the Sparta Greek Food stand. It was tasty, with chicken, lettuce, tomato, onions, peppers, and tzatziki, all wrapped in a pita. My only complaint was that the chicken was a little burnt in spots, but otherwise I had no complaints. I ate the gyro sitting on bleachers overlooking the lake in Cranes Roost Park...

Athena Chicken Souvlaki Pita

I ate a Chicken Souvlaki Pita at Athena Cafe in Altamonte Springs, FL. The pita was filled with very flavorful chicken, lettuce, and tzatziki. Tomatoes were also an option, but I had them left off of the sandwich. Pasta salad was served with the pita and it was all very tasty.

Even though the food is good, the atmosphere of the restaurant could use some improvement. Being able to watch the employees do crossword puzzles due to there being so few customers isn't a good thing.

Americana Diner's Athenian Feta Crepes

I ate at the Americana Diner in East Windsor, NJ. Since it was a Greek Diner, I ordered something Greek sounding and got their Athenian Feta Crepes. They were filled with spinach and feta cheese. The crepes were served with some zucchini and tzatziki. They were good!

Stop 20 Diner

I ate lunch at Stop 20 Diner in Elmont, NY today. I ordered the Chicken Souvlaki Pita lunch special. It came with soup, a side Greek salad, the sandwich, dessert, and a drink.

There were several choices of soup to choose from, and I picked lentil. The soup was good. A basket of challah bread and crackers was brought out at the same time as the soup.

The soup and bread was followed with the side Greek salad. It didn't come with the wonderful items that make Greek salads from these Greek diners special such as the stuffed grape leaves or anchovies, but these generally don't come with side salads. It consisted of lettuce, tomato, onions, feta cheese, and olives. It tasted good enough, although it would have been much better with some stuffed grape leaves...

The Chicken Souvlaki pita came out next and was the biggest disappointment of the meal. The pita was filled with lots and lots of grilled chicken, chopped green peppers and onions, and chopped tomato. It was served with a cup of tzatziki. The sandwich was way too much chicken, and not enough other stuff. Each bite was almost all chicken and was way too much and lacked enough flavor. I've had much better chicken souvlaki sandwiches elsewhere...

I ordered a cheese danish for the included dessert. It was tasty enough, and had some currants in it which was a nice touch.

The lunch special was a great deal with the amount of food that was given for the money, but the quality of the food could have been better. My souvlaki had room for improvement. Two of the other meals ordered at my table was a spinach quiche and a spanakopita (spinach pie). The spanakopita and the quiche were exactly the same thing, only the quiche was served as an upside down spanakopita. A quiche is more than a spinach pie turned upside down.

The food here has been better in the past...