By: Dining Dan (dbrown@aikenstandard.com)
Sponsored by: Zorba's
Finding a nice place to eat to beat the summer heat is a task unto itself.
A pleasant surprise to beat the intense summer heat where it is sometimes too hot to eat is Zorba's located at 510 Silver Bluff Road in Aiken.
Zorba’s offers a classic Greek meal to fill that hungry spot on a hot summer day.
The iced tea offers a nice break from the afternoon heat and the Greek salad hit the spot.
The dressing is classic Greek with a liberal dousing of feta cheese to compliment the vegetables, black olives and lettuce.
The salad goes down easy.
It’s cool.
If you’ve never tried Greek cuisine, you have to try their classic gyro first. The gyro came as a pleasant surprise as I’d completely forgot the gyro was a Greek dish.
This was going to be fun, I thought, and it’s always a good thing when you can look forward to a meal being fun.
Their gyro is a sandwich that sneaks up on you. It’s a unique and new taste not easily found in the South. The seasoned beef and lamb, the lettuce, tomatoes, onion and tzatziki sauce folded into a lightly steamed pita flatbread, and served with their special hand cut French fries.
It hits the spot.
The gyro fills the void, and nothing beats a healthy order of hand cut fries.
That wasn’t all though.
Be sure to save room for the baklava. It satisfies the sweet tooth.
Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey.
Mediterranean cuisine takes a festival approach to meals where eating is an event to be celebrated.
“We celebrate our food,” said owner Georgia Chionakis, who, along with husband Nick, has operated the casual family restaurant for more than 20 years.
“We have a little bit of everything,” she said. “We offer quality and authentic Greek cuisine, plus homemade pizzas. We have a little bit of something for everybody.”
The hobby room located downstairs is stocked with arcade and video games, and pool.
“It’s great for birthday parties,” Chionakis said.
Zorba’s customers are loyal. They come back when they want a good meal.
Whether it’s Greek cuisine or their wide assortment of pizzas and other traditional dishes, Zorba’s has an answer for even the most discerning palette.
Zorba’s is open Monday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Website: http://www.zorbasaiken.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ZorbasIslandBarRestaurant/
