**** 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......
It's quite a sight. Eating it ASAP is recommended; the warm pita enrobing crisp bits of pork; somewhat smokey and not overly seasoned, delici-yoso, the tzatziki is creamy, but not too salty, the red onions add the pungency; this is one heck of a sandwich. That pork is quite delicious...those crispy bits are great.
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
nice!
Posted by: kat | Sunday, 16 August 2015 at 09:27 PM
That looks awesome, then again we gots Demos.
Posted by: nhbilly | Monday, 17 August 2015 at 08:51 AM
Mmmmmm. Crispy pork. I'll need to head down there this week.
Posted by: Junichi | Monday, 17 August 2015 at 01:37 PM
Oh that vertical spit looks fantastic.How is the restaurant name pronounced - is it Zah-gara?
Posted by: Faye | Monday, 17 August 2015 at 03:26 PM
It was Kat!
Love the pork gyros here Billy.
Let me know what you think Junichi....
I pronounce it Zz-gara Faye.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 17 August 2015 at 07:32 PM
Oh man. Road trip.
Posted by: janfrederick | Wednesday, 19 August 2015 at 11:22 AM
Hi Jan - Road trip? It's just PB!
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 19 August 2015 at 07:02 PM
Road trip? This is like 5 blocks from me! I guess I should go sometime...
Posted by: Hao | Monday, 24 August 2015 at 10:50 PM
Well Hao - For you it'll be a "walk trip".
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 25 August 2015 at 06:30 AM
I'll think I'll make a walk trip tomorrow for lunch. Looks great. I agree about that processed meat-like substance that stands in for gyros in the U.S. It's nothing like the real thing.
I remember crossing from Greece into Turkey and suddenly the gyros/döner were no longer pork (of course!), but usually a choice of beef or chicken.
Posted by: Jim Gottlieb | Tuesday, 01 September 2015 at 02:35 AM
Hi Jim - I'm sure a request for a pork gyro in Turkey would not have appreciated. Check out Zgara. I thought that Pork Gyro was pretty good.
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 01 September 2015 at 06:47 AM
Had gyros on the mind last night so I thought of this post and stopped in at Zgara for a pork gyros platter. It was love at first taste. Will definitely be making it back to Zgara from time to time, when I get out of my North Park/University Heights/Hillcrest bubble.
Posted by: Derric | Friday, 18 September 2015 at 09:32 AM
I'm glad you enjoyed Zgara Derric....it's been almost a weekly stop for me.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 18 September 2015 at 05:57 PM
Zgara is closed. Have you found another place with the authentic greek gyro?
Posted by: Elizabeth Van Loucks | Saturday, 27 May 2017 at 12:53 PM