Spyro Gyros

Participated in the May 2009, August 2009, May 2010, and September 2010 Taste the World events, and participating in the 2010 Taste the World coupon book.

Opened in September 2007

Jacquelyn Makris, owner
241 N. Queen St.
Lancaster, PA 17603
(717) 397-3939
SuMTuWTh 10 am-2am,
FSa 11am-4am

To try on your first visit: The gyro, stuffed grape leave, or spinach pie, says owner Jacquelyn Makris. And, for the more adventurous? Octopus with tomato sauce.

So how do you pronounce that main dish anyway? You're ordering a gyro. Do you say ji(rhymes with eye)-ro or year-ro? "Is it tom-a-to or tom-ah-to?" Jacquelyn replies. "I don't care how you say it as long as you don't eat it with a knife or fork. It's just not right. You don't get all the mixtures." Just hold it (in both hands) and chomp down. "That way, you get everything in one bite, all the flavors and textures at once." A few drops might fall to the table, she concedes. No problem. "It's OK to get a little messy," she says. "It's OK."

Makris grew up half in Cleveland and half on in Greece. "We were always back and forth. My parents were torn between the two places," she says. In Greece, they lived on Lipsos, a 15-square kilometer island with a population of about 500 people. Imagine boating and fishing - and diving for seafood. "We used to eat the raw sea urchins," she remembers. "We'd go diving for them. You grab them and you crack them open." Put some olive oil on top and they're ready to eat, she says.

Her dad fished for a living in Greece and her parents had restaurants in Cleveland. The island might have been her favorite place to live as a kid, but in Cleveland she'd rather be at the restaurant than anywhere else. "If my dad didn't take me to restaurant I would walk there after school," she says. "I always had to be at the restaurant. I started busing tables when I was 9. I started serving when I was 12." And she began to nurture a dream. "I always wanted my own restaurant," Makris says. Today, she uses her mom's recipes for dishes like lemon chicken soup with rice and other specialties, recreating the Greek cuisine she was raised with.

Her advice from growing up in two cultures? "Don't be afraid of things you haven't seen or don't understand. Give it a chance," she says. "Don't be afraid to try new things. There's so much in this world. There's so much diversity."

To do: What new things have you tried lately? Anything new you could try today? What could you try new this month or this summer - a food, an art project, a new book, a new sport?

written by Marla Pierson-Lester; photos by Matthew Lester Photography