A Visit to Greek Eats in Shrewsbury

We had been waiting for Greek Eats in Shrewsbury to open for what seemed just shy of eternity. Gyro (yeero not jyro) withdrawal can do that. You see, we had returned back to the Jersey Shore after living not far from the Tarpon Springs FL sponge docks which abounds with Greek culture and dining. We would travel there frequently for a gyro and to buy shrimp right from the boats. Since we returned to the shore a couple of years ago we found that a gyro was not an easy thing to find locally, until now. Thanks to the Lyristis family who also own two great eateries in Red Bank, Teak and the Bistro, Greek Eats is now opened in Shrewsbury at 89 Newman Springs Road. Prior to this we had to wait for the Greek Orthodox Church to have a Greek festival.

We visited Greek Eats on Saturday after the fast food style restaurant had only been opened a few days. The 1500 square foot space offers table and counter high table seating in a contemporary setting. Food is ordered on an assembly line and carried back to the table. There is no table service. It is a very casual and cheerful atmosphere.

When you approach the order station you tell the person in attendance whether you want regular pita bread or whole wheat and which choice of meat you prefer. As you move down the line you select your toppings, sauce and drinks. It all runs very smoothly and the staff is very friendly. This day the choices of meat were spit roasted chicken of pork or grilled bifteki, a mixture of beef and lamb with Greek herbs. The traditional spit roasted beef and lamb was missing that day.

I spoke with Charlie Lyristis, who was at the helm on this occasion, and he explained how the beef and lamb on the spit was not up to his standards. It was coming out a little too dry so rather than serve a sub standard product, they decided to pull it.  He told me that the beef and lamb mixture was being replaced by a spit roasted Angus beef gyro the following day. It is not as easy as just finding a new vendor and switching as all of the meats are locally sourced and naturally raised. For that matter all of the serving materials, including the forks are compostable, and the furniture is made from re-purposed wood.  From what I have read, the Angus was an excellent choice.  We are looking forward to going back and trying it.

On this occasion we decided to try the bifteki with onions and tomato and tzaziki; the traditional sauce of yogurt, cucumber, garlic and lemon juice. It was tender and delicious with just the right amount of seasoning. There are a host of other sauces and toppings but my Greek wife and I are purists. We also ordered the village fries which are explained on the menu as being seasoned with rosemary, thyme sea salt and grated Greek cheese. Oddly they did not come with any of that. They were just fries, very good, hand cut ones, but not Greek by any stretch. When a place has only been opened a few days, there are some things that need to be tweaked. It takes time in action to work these little details out. To the one guy who said the same on their Facebook page and followed up by saying he would not return, I say good. Who needs an unforgiving spirit in the place. I guess that evil eye really works.

One more remarkable menu item that we enjoyed was the frappe, or iced Greek coffee. If you are a true coffee lover you can’t leave without trying this. It is cold and frothy with a little sweetness. The coffee flavor is so intense it will make both your eyes look like the sign out front.

Greek Eats also features a selection of “Sanmuches” and sides along with frozen Greek yogurt including vissino, Greek sour cherry yogurt.

If Greek Eats is as welcomed by others as it is by me, it is guaranteed to be a success. The experience and talent driving it, combined with a unique concept, appears to me to be the perfect formula. We are headed over to Teak this week but after that we will be back. See you soon.

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Lyristis Family Brings Greek Fare to Shrewsbury

Tuesday was opening day for Greek Eats, a new eatery on Newman Springs Road. The restaurant was filled with sunlight, the spicy aroma of sizzling gyro and the chatter of customers.

George Lyristis and his two brothers and co-owners, Charlie and Taso, were greeting customers in the family-oriented eatery, furnished in modern fashion, with soft, hanging light bulbs, wooden tables, and metallic accents.

“We’re bringing something very original, and I hope to open at least five of these within the next few years,” Lyristis said.

George Lyristis knows something about the Two River restaurant scene as the owner of The Bistro at Red Bank on Broad Street, and Teak, the Asian restaurant on Monmouth Street. He recently sold Zoe Bistro in Little Silver.

“My other restaurants are sit-down dinner places, this is more of a fast, casual eatery. We wanted to bring a little bit of Greece to Red Bank, but a different version of Greece than what you’re normally used to around here,” said Lyristis.

The owner explained that he wanted to diverge from the stereotypical Greek diner/restaurants that most people associate with Greek fare. “I wanted to do it right,” he said. “I really wanted to showcase my version of an authentic gyro.”

Each gyro is made cooked to order, on an authentic rotisserie that cooks the meat in layers on cone-shaped rods. The beef and lamb meat combination, known as bifteki, contains no preservatives or MSG. Greek Eats also offers three vegetarian options to fill their gyros, including spicy feta cheese, Halloumi cheese, and Santorini hummus.

Read this article in its entirety here.

Red Bank Restaurateurs to Open Greek Eats in Shrewsbury on Nov. 17

It’s no secret that one of the reasons I love Red Bank so much is the food scene. There are tons of great restaurants in the town, and the owners of one of my favorite spots are branching out into Shrewsbury for a cool new venture.

George, Charlie, and Taso Lyristis, owners of both Teak and The Bistro at Red Bank, are opening a fast casual restaurant, based on Greek rotisserie-style cuisine.

The restaurant, Greek Eats, is in a new shopping center at 89 Newman Springs Rd (Rt. 520) in Shrewsbury, just west of Rt. 35.

It will offer a build-your-own menu where guests can get a customized pita, salad, or plate meal. There will also be seven different sandwich options, called ‘Sanmuches,’ as well as salads, kids’ meals, desserts and more.

The eatery will focus on Mediterranean flavors using organic and healthy ingredients, and best of all, it comes at a totally affordable price point.

Seeing as their other two restaurants are known for their fusion-style menus, it should come as no surprise that there will also be some interesting and less-traditional flavor options available, like Sriracha tzatziki, chipotle cilantro crema, and avocado tzatziki sauces.

I love Greek food, and especially love the idea of a quick and affordable place that offers healthy and interesting dishes that I can suit to my tastes. I can’t wait to check it out!

The restaurant will open to the public on Tuesday, November 17th, and will be open from 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. seven days a week. (Extra awesome: from opening day through the end of the year, a portion of all proceeds will go to STOMP the Monster, a Marlboro, New Jersey-based non-profit charity that provides financial and emotional support to those battling cancer.)

Best of luck to the Lyristis family!

Read original article here.

Greek Eats, a fast-and-healthy restaurant selling gyros, opens Tuesday at 89 Newman Springs Road in Shrewsbury.

Joining Platypus furniture and Megacycle spin gym, it’s the third and final entry in a new three-tenant building erected by developer Metrovation on the former site of Memory Bowling, which was destroyed in a spectacular 2009 blaze.

Owners Charlie, George and Taso Lyristis — who also own the Bistro and Teak, both in Red Bank, and earlier this year sold Zoe, in Little Silver — modeled Greek Eats on Chipotle Mexican Grill, where customers “build” their own meals at a cafeteria-style counter. In this case, the starting point is the choice of pita, salad, or plate. Then diners load up with their choice of chicken, pork or beef and lamb, followed by sauces and toppings.

The meats are free of MSG and other preservatives and fillers, George tells Retail Churn.

“If you went to a gyro place in Greece, this is what you’d see spinning,” he says, pointing to three vertical rotisseries of sizzling meats. Charlie notes that the proper pronunciation of the name is “YEE-ro,” which he said most Americans seem to get, but New Jerseyans turn into “JY-ro.”

The flavors at Greek Eats are strictly Greek: bifteki, or ground beef and lamb with Greek herbs; tzaziki, or a yogurt-based cold sauce that comes in three varieties, including a kicky sriracha; halloumi cheese, a springy substance that retains its form even while being imparted with the flavor of grilling. Even the soda case is loaded with beverages from Greece.

The 40-seat restaurant features a clean industrial design created by Red Bank architect Steve Raciti supplemented by bold branding by Asbury Park’s M Studio. The result is a simple look with a simple menu that the Lyristis brothers hope to make ubiquitous by creating more Greek Eats restaurants, with an eye toward franchising, said George.

Through the end of the year, the Lyristises plan to donate all profits from the business to Stomp the Monster, a charity that provides support to cancer patients and caregivers.

Read this article in its entirety here.

3 New Restaurants At The Shore Worth Trying

Good news, foodies – the Shore’s culinary scene is growing again.

These new restaurants – two are open, the third will do so next month – are owned by longtime Shore chefs you may know from some of your favorite restaurants. One offers a new take on Italian cuisine in Freehold, one will bring traditional Greek gyros to Shrewsbury, and another has a seasoned Shore chef branching out on his own.

George Lyristis of Tinton Falls has been in the kitchen for much of his life.

The 46-year-old chef has owned The Bistro at Red Bank for 20 years and Teak in the borough since 2011, and he owned Zoe Bistro in Little Silver from 2008 until earlier this year.

Now he is bringing to life an idea he has been working on for a long time, one that celebrates his Greek heritage and honors one of the country’s most beloved foods. “We’re a true Greek gyro place,” Lyristis said of Greek Eats Authentic Rotisserie, which he will open this fall in Shrewsbury with his brothers, Charlie and Taso. “We really want to take this Greek street food and Americanize it a little bit. It’s my interpretation of what I want gyros to be.”

Greek Eats is a fast-casual restaurant, similar in style to Chipotle, Lyristis said. “You walk up, you order your gyro on a pita, a plate or a salad. It’s an individual, make-it-yours type of thing.”

Diners will choose their own fillings or order a signature dish made with bifteki, a traditional preparation of ground beef and lamb with herbs; rotisserie chicken, pork, beef or lamb; spicy feta; griddled Halloumi cheese, or hummus made with fava beans, garlic and herbs. Then they will select a sauce from a list that includes, among others, tzaziki, Sriracha tzaziki, harissa yogurt, which is made with chilies and tomato; avocado tzaziki, and Greek chimichurri, a blend of fresh herbs and olive oil.

Don’t expect to see the big cones of gyro meat that are used elsewhere; instead, the meat at Greek Eats will be spit fire roasted, a technique Lyristis said is less fatty and “will taste 1,000 times better.”

And don’t forget the french fries. “When I go to Greece, almost every place throws french fries into the pitas,” Lyristis said. “If you go to northern Greece, gyros are made differently and then in the Middle East as well. There’s all different kinds.”

His menu also includes side dishes of potato salad with a sauce of lemon, olive oil, oregano and garlic; organic faro salad with parsley and mint; and fries topped with fresh herbs and grated Greek cheese. Then there are the Sanmuches, “a made-up word that me and my brothers grew up on,” he said. “When we were little, we thought that’s how you said sandwich in Greek. We still use that word.”

“There’s no better way than expressing yourself with food than with family traditions, your little quirks like that,” Lyristis said, adding that one of the Sanmuches, Yioti’s Way, is named for his father and is a gyro made “the traditional way of eating it in Greece, with the tomatoes, the onions, the parsley and the tzaziki.”

Prices range from $6.65 to $9.35 for gyros, $6.65 to $7.25 for Sanmuches and $2.34 to $4.68 for side dishes.

Read this article in its entirety here.

Greek Eats Opening in Shrewsbury

There is a Greek evil eye staring from the window at 89 Newman Springs Road that grabbed my attention while sitting in the long traffic line, waiting to make a left turn into Red Bank. The sign said that Greek Eats was coming soon. Being of Greek heritage myself, I had to find out more about this place and was excited by what I learned.

Greek Eats in Shrewsbury is the creation of George Lyristis who is well known in the Two Rivers area, along with his two brothers Charlie and Taso, for two other establishments, Teak and Bistro. Greek Eats is a concept of George Lyristis that has been on the back burner simmering for five years. It will be a 40 seat casual eat in/take out restaurant featuring authentic vertical spit rotisseries cooking up fresh gyros. Both traditional and chicken versions will be offered along with organic vegetables and salads. I am hoping that there will be other traditional Greek items like spanakopita,  but that remains to be seen.

Greek Eats shares a three front retail space with Platypus which is already is operation and another coming retail store. Greek Eats will be opened in September of this year and I can’t wait.

There are several more locations planned in Monmouth County to be opened subsequently as a franchised, fast food style, operation.

I am thrilled by the fact that the area will have a Greek fast food choice that is healthy and unique as well as sumptuous. I can’t wait for my first taste of tzatziki and seasoned meat on a soft warm pita. It will be great respite on a weekend shopping day in the area.

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Shrewsbury To Get Fast Greek Eats

For about five years, Red Bank restaurateur George Lyristis has been developing an idea for a casual fast-food restaurant based on his ethnic heritage, he tells redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

Well, the time has come to make the concept real, he says. With the sale of their Zoe Bistro in Little Silver, effective Wednesday, Lyristis and his brothers Charlie and Taso are planning to open a new place called Greek Eats in Shrewsbury in coming months.

As of April 1, the Lyristis brothers will hand off ownership of the six-year-old Zoe to chef Laercio Chamon Jr., known to truck food fans as the brains behind the Rollin’ Bistro. After a one-day closure, “Chef Junior” will reopen Zoe, located in the Markham Plaza strip mall, on April 2, we’re told.

“We had a buyer for Zoe, and so we’re pulling the trigger” on the Greek Eats concept, Lyristis tells Churn.

Greek Eats will offer Mediterranean rotisserie meats, salads and vegetables, with an emphasis on organic and healthy choices, says Lyristis.

With 30 to 40 seats and no wait service, it’s “in and out the door in 30 to 40 minutes” for those who eat onsite, matching the profile of diners who are driving growth in the fast-casual food category, he says.

The Lyristis brothers, who also own the Red Bank restaurants Bistro, on Broad Street, and Teak, on Monmouth Street, plan to roll out four or five more Greek Eats in quick succession, elsewhere in Monmouth County, with the goal of creating a franchise operation, says George. No locations have been chosen, he said, but Red Bank isn’t under consideration because, in his view, the town has too many restaurants and not enough parking.

Greek Eats will join furniture retailer Platypus in the new three-storefront building developed by Metrovation – owner of the nearby Grove and Grove West shopping centers – under construction on the site of the former Memory Lanes bowling alley, which burned down in a 2009 blaze.

Metrovation partner Chris Cole tells Churn that Platypus is just weeks away from opening, and that he’s within days of signing a tenant for the third space.

Read original article here.