Cretan Gyros a family affair
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Cretan Gyros began in a food truck and has grown to encompass a brick-and-mortar location.
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
Courtesy of Cretan Gyros
If you love a good gyro, there’s a new place in town that will win you over with every savory bite. Cretan Gyros opened its doors at 180 Brownson Ave., just around the corner from the intersection of East Maiden and South Main Streets in downtown Washington last October. Business has been booming with a steady flow of lunch and dinner dine-in customers, along with a steady stream of folks picking up takeout orders. Their catchphrase is, “We’re all Greek here!” Whether you’re dining in or taking out, the meal won’t disappoint. “We have worked to package our meals in a way that lets you bring the quality of our meals into your home,” says owner Anastos Makripodis. “We always love to see you in person, but even when we can’t, we ensure that your dining experience is top-notch.” The business started out with a food truck and has now grown into a full dining experience.
Anastos Makripodis learned early on how to handle himself in the kitchen. “I was always cooking,” says Makripodis, who credits his father for teaching him how to cook. “My father had a gyro shop in Mt. Oliver, but he moved us out to Amity,” says Anastos, who has seven siblings and is now married himself with three children. Though he now lives in West Alexander, his Greek roots run deep all the way to the island of Crete, where many aunts, uncles and cousins still live. This isn’t Makripodis’s first restaurant venture, but this one is close to home and family. “I had a restaurant in Ohio,” he says. “I moved out to Ohio, where my wife is from, and we opened up a gyro shop in Sandusky, but we wanted to move back home closer to family.” Now, Cretan Gyros is a family affair, with wife Meaghan creating baklava from scratch after learning the recipe from Anastos’s aunt from Greece. The kids are often on hand to help out after school as well. “We started out with a food truck,” he adds. “But right now, we only use it for special events and festivals.”
Unsurprisingly, gyros are the most popular item here, not just your standard lamb variety. “That’s our main thing,” says Anastos. “But we also do a lot of chicken gyros and large salads.” He has some creative items on the menu as well, like the “Cheesy Cretan,” which is a bed of fries and gyro meat topped with nacho and feta cheeses. And here’s a new twist: pork gyros. “Yes, pork gyros!” he laughs. “Growing up, my dad used to make them. I just think they’re something out of the ordinary.”
Currently, Cretan Gyros is seeing about a 50-50 mix of eat-in and take-out customers. “We have a very wide variety of customers,” says Makripodis, who admits this venture is a labor of love and couldn’t be done without the help of his extended family. While many restaurants struggled or never reopened after COVID, his family has made this dream a reality. “It was all done by family, that’s all. All family help,” he says. “My son, my wife, my dad. We all just kind of pulled together to help.” His sons are 20 and 15 now and often help out at the restaurant though Anastos says they’re too young to know whether they will stay in the family business and become third-generation restauranteurs. “We’re just taking it one day at a time, trying to get through the first year,” he adds. “It hasn’t been too bad, but there have been days where it’s been trying, you know?”
While his favorite ingredient to cook with is definitely lamb, Anastos says he enjoys creating dishes with all kinds of elements. While the family usually eats dinner at the restaurant during the week, Makripodis doesn’t hang up his apron on his days off and says you’ll often find him grilling burgers at home.
Cretan Gyros is open Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Friday-Saturday. They are closed Sunday-Monday. You’ll find them at 180 Brownson Ave. in Washington and cretangyros.com.