This is the first installment of Hidden Gems of Fayetteville, a series that will highlightunheralded, long-running restaurants, great new spots you probably haven't been to yet and all sorts of other unexpected food finds all across the greater Fayetteville area. Have a place we should check out? Share your hidden gem with me at jpucci@gannett.com
"It's every day, all day," John Frangakis said. "And we enjoy it."
Frangakis owns Zorba's Gyro, which his father, Tommy, opened on Raeford Road in Fayetteville in 1974. If the bustling crowds you'll find at breakfast, lunch and dinner time are any indications, they're still going as strong as ever.
Introducing:Hidden Gems of Fayetteville, our search for the best food you might not have tried
Frangakissaid his father, a Greek immigrant who came to Fayetteville around 1961, learned how to make gyros almost serendipitously while on a trip to Chicago before opening the restaurant. He walked unannounced into a Greek restaurant and asked them if they'd show him how to make the spool of ground beef and lamb that's roasted on a vertical spit and wrapped in pita bread.
They agreed and shared the recipe and technique. After a few tweaks of his own, he was ready. Frangakis credits his father with introducing gyros to Fayetteville.
The beef-to-lamb ratio has changed a bit over the years, but the process has not. All the gyros at Zorba's are mixed, shaped and roasted in-house. One employee works a 10-hour overnight shift every week making 70 gyro spools at a time.
You can get your gyro inside a pita with lettuce, tomato, onion, feta cheese and tzatziki sauce, or come for breakfast and get it in a Greek omelet ($7.25),Frangakis' personal favorite item on the breakfast menu.
It's filled with the homemade gyro meat, along with diced tomato, onion and a generous sprinkling of crumbled feta cheese that will ensure the salt shaker on the table goes untouched—though a dash of Texas Peteis a welcome addition.
A stand-out — in more ways than one
The Zorba's building and dining room are painted a shade of sky blue that's reminiscent of the Greek flag. Same for the cushioned vinyl booths. Combined with the yellow trim and gold-and-blue checkered floor, you'll never accuse Zorba's of looking sterile.
The same goes for the bright yellow and red sign that no matter the day of the week, alwaysreads "Every Wed Spaghetti $4.25."
Stop by for lunch or dinneron aWednesday and you'll find most diners heeding the sign's advice,twirling forks of spaghetti and meat sauce. At $4.25 — $4.75 with two meatballs — it's a veritable bargain.Frangakis said they'll sell around 300 to 500 platters of spaghetti every Wednesday.
Within five minutes of ordering, you'll be served a platter of pasta, a basket of garlic bread and shakers of parmesan cheese and red chili flakes. Their paper-only ordering system is simple, but efficient.
"We just stick the tickets back there and they sling out some spaghetti,"Frangakis said. The receipt spike full of completed tickets next to the cashier at the front counter is proof the system is humming along just fine.
It's a hearty lunch and the sauce exceptionally meaty, a pleasant surprise considering the price. A shake of grated parmesan adds the right amount of salt. The buttered and griddled garlic bread is the ideal tool to wipe up any leftover sauce.
It's a straight-forward, comforting taste of a classic — for less than the price of a Big Mac.
The secret ingredient: Time
Frangakis said the spaghetti has been a weekly tradition for more than 30 years. The meat sauce has been a family recipe for just as long.Frangakis wouldn't divulge all the secrets, but said it starts with sautéing ground beef and minced onion and simmers on low heat for around five hours.
"That's what makes the flavors really come together," he said.
They'll make five or six large batches of sauce a week. Thursday night is pizza night, but they'll sell a lot of spaghetti then, too.His father fiddled with the sauce during the restaurant's early years until coming up with the current recipe.Frangakis said producing that same sauce week after week is a key to the spaghetti's popularity.
If you want to really feel like a regular, order the combo on pita. It's a sandwich with ham, salami and cheese on a pita, heated, and then topped with lettuce, tomato, onion and Italian dressing. It was a popular lunch item — last century.It hasn't actually been on the menu for more than 20 years, thoughFrangakis is happy to oblige the long-time customers who still regularly order it.
A restaurant that's been open as long as Zorba's is bound to have a legion of regulars. Some come in daily for breakfast. Others for lunch or dinner.
"And then I have some who come in all three," Frangakis said.
The details
Address: 2919 Raeford Road, Fayetteville. Frangakis opened a second location at 3114 N. Main St. in Hope Mills in 2009 that's just like the original.
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Website:zorbasgyro.com
Jacob Pucci writes on food, restaurants and business. Contact him by email atjpucci@gannett.comor follow him on Twitter at@jacobpuccior onFacebook. Like talking food? Join ourFayetteville FoodiesFacebook group.
