Pitas — Taylor Street’s Mediterranean food stop — corners their market with homemade pita bread that makes each dish on the menu. From the classic lamb gyro to the chicken tzatziki wrap, the simple, but signature base pushes the traditional wraps, sandwiches and pizzas above the restaurant’s like-cuisine competition.
Co-founded by Ahamad Jabali, the owner of Mediterranean Tea Room on Devine Street, Pitas was born as a pita bread bakery. Employing family recipes, Pitas hold up their cuisine’s health food standards, with no fat, cholesterol or preservatives in their bread.
Starting their menu off with a short but staple list of appetizers, Pitas presents its founding strengths up front. Hummus, baba ghanouj and tzatziki dip are each topped with imported olive oil, and served up with warm pita wedges. The tzatziki dip, a Greek cucumber yogurt, stands out as a mouth-watering must-have, but the already winning sauce is made that much better when served as a dip with the fresh-from-the-oven pita. Each starter costs around $5, serving up a portion perfect for a group of 3 or 4.
The restaurant’s salads — the basic Greek, Caesar and tossed — even manage to work in the spot’s namesake with pita croutons, and the more specialty Fattoush salad, including red onions, green pepper and mint, is topped with pita chips. Each salad sticks around $5, with the tossed salad just $4.
Burgers, including the Mediterranean favorite Kofta and Tzatziki burgers, are each under $6, with one standing out as an employee and customer favorite. The Kofta burger, which can be topped with tzatziki sauce upon request, capturing the best of both recommended dishes, is a ground lamb and beef patty — made with top-rated, certified lamb meat — kept basic with tomato, onion and lettuce.
The gyro, one of the most well known of the Mediterranean fare, is simply delicious. It’s not overdone, with red onion, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce adding just enough contrast to the pita and gyro meat, putting Santorini’s to shame. At just $6, it’s a fair enough price for an off-campus alternative, and, for an extra $2, upgrade to the gyro platter for an added side Greek salad and choice of yellow rice or fries.
Moving down the menu, Pitas’ pita pizzas still win with their named crust, but the different topping combinations do get a little overwhelming and detracting. The Greek pizza, throwing together feta, olives, baby spinach and pepperoncini, is good, but not great. All the different flavors feed into each other, and stray from the simple deliciousness of the rest of the menu.
But, again, the unifying factor of each of Pitas’ dishes is the homemade bread. A bag of pita chips is available for $3.50 and a bag of pita goes for $2.75, while the homemade pistachio or walnut baklava, cased by the storefront cash register, is all too tempting for just $1.25 a piece.
Decorated with traditional rugs and hookahs, the bright yellow building can’t be missed. A wide-open dining area is checkered with tables and booths, and servers stay on top of their game with a seat-yourself policy. A popular lunch spot, located just across from Township Auditorium, both professionals and casual diners enjoy the relatively quick service and low prices, with the only complaint resting in their non-existent weekend hours.
Open Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Pitas targets the lunch and dinner high-points. The restaurant is located at 1800 Taylor St., and the menu can be viewed on Pitas’ website, www.pitasofcolumbiasc.com.