Zgara Greek Grill

Wasn’t impressed at all and knew they wouldnt last long. the food was okay but not great and the owner was a little rude when i asked him if they had lamb Gyros with a greak salad and he said they were different. i tried it although it was not the greek food i expected and said to myself I will never eat here anymore. use to love the place before when it was Pops Jersey Style Cheese Steaks great cheese steak sandwiches and real good egg plant parisian and was bummed they left since it was an elderly couple from New Jersey

Pretty sure it’s closed for good ;(

Clean, nice serving staff. The food was delicious. And the tabolili was pretty close to my mothers.

We decided to try this place because it was nearby and I wanted something relatively healthy. He ordered the pork gyro plate and I got the lamb kebab sandwich. We also ordered the sausage appetizer. Everything was tasty and we finished every bite. The employees were nice and attentive. It wasn’t packed but there was a steady stream of visitors coming and going so you can tell it’s a favorite amongst the locals. They charge $ 0.50 to use credit card/​debit but I guess that’s not too bad.

Tried this place out after looking for something new and reading some of the reviews. I have to say, very impressed! I had the gyro tender plate and it was great! A little different than most Greek places as the gyros were pork. Something different than I was used to, but from the other reviews I read, I guess that’s more «traditional». The sausage app was really good too.
Very friendly staff and had our food out quickly. Can’t ask for more, check this place out.

Finally an authentic Gyros like you will find in Europe! None of the processed meats. I recommend totally.

Went here after I was talking to a Greek gay couple in Hillcrest. We complained about the lack of good Greek food in San Diego. He then told me about a little gyro place next to Vons in PB.
I drove up there for an early lunch and met Nico the owner and his wife. I ordered the lunch special – gyro, fries, and a soda – $ 10.00 flat.
What’s special about this place is that they don’t use the typical gyro baloney (aka, the «mixed up various lamb, pork, beef, who knows what» dark seasoned meat – he actually sticks slabs of chicken and pork on the gyro.
Got a pork gyro and asked him kindly in Greek to put the fries in the gyro. Got extra tzatziki. So delicious. Took me back to childhood.
I hate that it’s in PB, but it’s worth venturing out to. Would highly recommend for anyone looking for a really great gyro.

I am so happy this place opened up last year. Pacific beach has pretty terrible food and such a lack of diversity if you ask me. There are about 20 different medicine sushi restaurants but nowhere you could get a decent gyro. Now there is. Zgara is both delicious and affordable. I usually go with the gyro and the hummus plate. Add a drink and it is about $ 12, but it is a lot of food. A pretty good deal if you ask me. They also have a chicken gyro which is good because I eat here so much I like to switch it up. The people who work here are super friendly as well. I only wish they would churn out the food a little quicker but there I guess they make everything to order so I won’t dock them for that!

What’s not to love about piles of delicious, juicy meats? We’ve been here a couple times and it has been consistently delicious. I love that they also have chicken gyros, so you can enjoy all the flavors of gyro with a little less guilt. We tried a variety of the meats; chicken, pork and the Greek sausage. The gyros are definitely where it’s at. It’s seasoned well and has the right combo of tender with a little chewy/​crunchy. Very good size portions, especially for the price! The hummus, garlic dip, and tzatziki are all authentic and satisfying. Love that I have another fresh and slightly healthy option in PB! The owners are very friendly and will let you sample almost anything.

D’lish. My husband & I were looking to eat Greek this afternoon. While searching on Unilocal he came across this little nugget & wow!!! The food was so good I wanted another plate even though I was already full.

Zgara Greek Grill is one of those wonderful, family-​owned and operated restaurants with really great food. I have dined here several times, having the Zgara salad the most recent time, which was fresh and full of flavor. This isn’t a little side salad, either. It is easily big enough to feed two! One interesting thing about Zgara is the price structure of their dishes, For example, the salad I just raved about is $ 7.41 cents. This is probably a way to avoid dealing with lots of coins, because Zgara is pretty-​much a cash-​only diner (although they will take cards if you are willing to pay a small upcharge).
In the past, I have enjoyed the Gyro tender platter with all the fixings. Just delightful. They also offer several vegetarian options for those of us wanting that kind of food!
The owners are very friendly and obviously very proud of their shop, which is a little hard to see from the street. It is way back in the mall, near the Starbucks. The ambiance is what you would expect from an order-​at-​the-​counter place, but folks come here for the food, remember!-
In short, I really like this place, obviously. It is one of my top two Mediterranean places in San Diego, and we have plenty of these, don’t we?
Give Zgara a try — you won;t be disappointed!

Dropped in here for lunch, it’s a small little shop, the décor is nothing to be impressed by, but don’t let this fool you!
The falafel sandwich was delicious! $ 5 was well worth it. A good size too and very fresh tasting.
The only downside was the waitress who seemed like she hated her job, but I’d go back anyway because that falafel sandwich is BOMB!

The veggies in the Zgara Grill Salad are cut up fresh when the customer orders the salad. That’s why this salad just pops with flavor and crisp, fresh texture. The romaine, roasted peppers, capers, black olives, artichoke hearts and tomatoes are dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette. I love this little Greek place, where I found the owner cooking in the kitchen on both visits. You can see the kitchen when you place your order. The Zgara Grill Salad is $ 7.41, and 2 people can share it if you order something else as well, or if you want to make it a meal, you could add falafel or chicken or pork to it for an additional charge.
The homemade Gyro Tender platter is outstanding, and the meat is made in house… the pork slowly sizzles and rotates. Don’t even get me started on the sides. The feta cheese spread has just a little zip of spice, and I can’t get enough of it. The tzatziki is good as well, and everything is made in house. The Gyro Tender plate is $ 10.42.
Thank goodness for rice, as if you skip the grilled pita bread, and have rice, the meal can be gluten free. I’ve recently had to change over to a gluten free diet, and I recommend Zgara Greek Grill as an excellent family-​run little place which will please omnivores, vegetarians, and those on a gluten free diet.
Ladies, note that Zgara Greek Grill doesn’t have a bathroom, and neither does the nearby Starbucks. The only place in this small shopping center that has a toilet is Vons. Apparently Pacific Beach is suffering from a scarcity of toilets.

Excellent little Greek café that just opened up 7 months ago in the little plaza with Vons; where Great News used to be. Friendly service, reasonable prices, and super tasty, fresh service. They have pork gyros, chicken gyros and varieties of plates, sandwiches and salads.
Was looking for something relatively light before going for a rollerblade on the boardwalk, so tried the ZGARA Grill Salad w/​romaine lettuce, roasted peppers, black olives, capers, tomatoes and artichokes in a wonderful light balsamic vinaigrette dressing w/​chicken gyro added. Enjoyed it w/​my daughter on their sunny patio. Would definitely return!

Never had pork gyros. Never heard of pork gyros. All my life I was happy with my beef+lamb meat hybrid. All my life has been a lie. Zgara changed that and now I see the light. I don’t think I can ever eat another one of those beef+lamb imposters after today.
I had the Gyro Tender Platter because I was feeling especially famished. The pork very tender, tasty (though a touch salty) and surprisingly moist. Not like the usual dry cardboard texture of that beef+lamb combo. The rice (French fries are available) was cooked well and fluffy. The platters also include a few pieces of pita bread, tzatziki, feta cheese, and tomatoes/​lettuce/​red onions.
Service was adequate but parking in this center can be a challenge during peak hours. If you’ve never had pork gyros, I highly recommend them. But, be forewarned, it may ruin you for the other, more mainstream, stuff.

Surprisingly high Unilocal average (4.5) for the food. I paid almost $ 11 for thinly shaved chicken and gyros meat, sauces, fries and a pita round. I said shaved meat, not sliced because the use a meat buzzer the shave the meat – literally the cheapest way to get meat – as opposed to taking a huge knife to it like better places do.
The meat FLAVOR WAS GOOD! And the sweet gal at the cash register was golden. The gruff dudes behind the counter could have left at the end of the day to be in a mobster movie – they were tough.
But overall, for food quality and price I can’t give them more than three stars.

The little family-​owned Greek places are the best! You don’t get the pre-​made fast food version of Greek like at Daphne’s.
I have wanted to try Zgara’s, ever since I heard that it took over in the old Pop’s location after he retired (miss his cheesesteaks!) Luckily I was eating a late lunch, so I could actually find a parking place in the Vons center. Normally, its like winning the lottery to get a space.
I had the Chicken Bacon Souvlaki plate, with salad, fries & pita. Man, that was good! I loved the Feta spread, I put it on the pita. They also have a mayo/​mustard sauce that they give you with the chicken items. That was really good, also ate it on my fries with lemon.
I need to come back and try some of the other choices, like the pork gyro. I’m super picky, and have only found 1 gyro I really liked (Santorini way out in the back part of Poway). This one sounds very promising!
Everything is made to order, and takes about 15 minutes, so call ahead if you are getting to go.

PORK GYROS… At laaaaasssst… my looooove has come along…
I spent a week in Greece a couple years ago…3 nights in Athens and 4 nights in Santorini. I ate Pork Gyros just about every day. Why? Because they’re f**king amazing! For only about 2 – 3 Euro I could score a quick and cheap delicious meal of a pork gyro sandwich. My stomach has been yearning for this ever since because San Diego had nothing like it… until Zgara! Zgara’s pork gyros are exactly like what I ate in Greece! In Greece, the lamb/​beef mix gyro mix doesn’t exist as it does all over in America… pork gyros is the real deal! Dip in some tsiziki sauce with some pita bread… amazing!
$ 6.50ish for gyro pita sandwich, or $ 10.50sih for a dinner plate, both are delish and great values. I recommend throwing in a few french fries into the pita sandwich, just as many gyro joints in Greece did. For you non-​pork eaters, they have other meats available, but y’all are missing out!
I’d eat here more often if it weren’t for the crappy traffic trying to get into Pacific Beach.

New little spot next to Vons and Starbucks. Stopped by for take out while I was in the neighborhood & I left really impressed!
I got the pork gyros since it was called «tender gyros» or something random, and I had never had pork gyros before… Apparently it is more traditional than the blended meat-​on-​a-​stick we usually see around here. The pork wasn’t exactly soft, but more on the crispy side… and the flavors were on point! Not processed and blended with spices, but real pork! The hot plate came with tzaziki and FETA SPREAD sauces on the side. Omg, I love feta but I’ve never had it in spread form. It was delicious, and I put that sh*t on everything! The plate also came with your choice of fries/​rice, some pita bread, raw onions, tomato, and shredded lettuce. Looked kinda like a halal guys bowl if you’ve been to NYC.
Prices: ~$ 11 for a hot plate and then ~$ 3.50 for a side of hummus. Seemed a bit high until I actually got my food. The portions are huge! The side of hummus is like an actual container of it that I would buy in the store! It was good but personally I like more zing to my hummus so I wished it was more garlicy/​lemony/​cumin-​y.
Overall, a great quick stop for fast and delicious food. I’ll definitely be back to try the rest of their Greek fare!

This place is a little slice of Greek heaven indeed. I stopped in for lunch and the first thing Iearned was that these guys do not make the Americanized version of Greek gyros, where lamb and beef are mixed and pressed into a perfect huge cylinder form, but they used tender portions of seasoned flattened out pork meat or chicken placed onto a spit and cooked to perfection; a traditional method from the Greek Isles.
I ordered the Pork Gyros Plate with hummus, rice, salad, pita bread, and yogurt sauce for $ 10 and some change. The first thing I was enamored with was the succulent pork meat. It was just right, in that it had a crispy exterior and moist juicy center with a great savory seasoning. I am embarrassed to admit, that is was «finger licking good.» The pork was great eating on its own or nestled in some warm pita bread with a touch of yogurt sauce and hummus. It was quite depressing when the meat was all gone.
The rice was very well prepared with a light and fluffy texture and a very light seasoning. The hummus was very good. It was thinker than most I have had, with good flavor, but it would of been nice if they would of drizzled a little olive oil over it. I really like the way they toasted the exterior of the pita bread and that it came nice and warm.
Although, I only ordered the pork, the owner gave me a taster of the chicken gyro, and it was just as good as the succulent pork. They also provide traditional Greek sausages, not normally found at most Greek eateries in San Diego.