TAUNTON – Fall River residents George Tambasidis and Olta Joxhe are the owners of Taunton’s new Grilla Greek Kouzina, but they won’t fully appreciate the Greek specialties that feature on the menu.
Sure, they renovated the former Dunkin Donuts building on the corner of Broadway and Monroe Streets, they cook and run the restaurant, but Tambasidis’ grandmother, Stavroula Vantsouris, gets almost all the credit for the recipes.
Grilla Greek Kouzina opened on June 5 and it’s been an encouraging first day, with a line out the door and across the parking lot. Since then, business has been stable.
“It was very busy. Thank God. My grandma’s recipes worked,” said Tambasidis, who estimates “95 percent of them are definitely my grandma’s recipes.”
“And the rest is from our travels,” Joxhe said, “mainly from Greece.
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“You know, going to different cities, different cities, different islands, just trying different restaurants and seeing what we liked. And you know, we asked people what herbs and ingredients they use and stuff like that. So we kind of brought it all back after doing that for years.”
“There are some old recipes, but also a lot of new flavors,” added Tambasidis.
Greek cuisine is coming to town
Tambasidis is Greek but was born and raised in Boston, where he grew up and worked at his family’s pizza restaurant. Joxhe is Albanian, born in Albania but raised in Boston.
In their late 20s, the couple traveled extensively around Greece, sampling and chatting with locals about the food along the way. Haven’t seen or heard of much Greek food in the area so decided to give it a try.
“We just saw an opportunity and just wanted to bring something new to town as there isn’t much that matches what we do,” Joxhe said. “We just wanted to do something different, saw the opportunity and said why not?”
The opening crowd confirmed it was a solid bet.
“We had a line up to the open sign for our grand opening, so that was a good day,” Tambasidis said, pointing to the sign in the back corner of the property. “Super busy man, super busy… like the whole parking lot full, a line to the open sign.”
“Since Sunday is Sunday, we took a certain risk,” said Joxhe. “We didn’t know how people would react, but it was great.”
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What’s on the menu
Most of the cooking and prep work is done behind the scenes in the kitchen, and orders are taken at the front counter, which is decorated in bright white and blue, the colors of Greece.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are on the menu.
Rice and noodle bowls are popular with protein, fresh vegetables and homemade sauces, including tzaziki and the secret recipe Grilla sauce; Joxhe says they just can’t keep up with the demand for Grilla’s grilled chicken. The menu also includes Greek specialties such as lamb chops, skepasti and spanakopita with baklava and other homemade Greek pastries for dessert.
And of course there are six varieties of gyros at Grilla.
An example as Tambasidis describes it: “We make a traditional Greek gyros, it’s called kota gyros and we throw in the tzatziki sauce and then tomatoes and fresh onions, put the nice chicken on top, then we put the french fries on top Top of the chicken, then we wrap it in the fluffy flatbread.
“And then we throw our special house sauce over everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything.”
Grilla also offers “pizzas,” think pizza on a flatbread, and the breakfast menu includes a range of breakfast sandwiches served on flatbread and a breakfast bowl, served on a french fries base.
Grilla imports items and ingredients directly from Greece, such as spices, desserts, beverages and even a small inventory of grocery items.
“We’re trying to make it as authentic as possible, as you can see from the salts we use, the balsamic vinaigrette, everything,” Joxhe said. “It’s the small, small attentions that count.”
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looking ahead
Tambasidis and Joxhe are grateful for the warm and busy welcome and hope Grilla has the potential to thrive and grow in Taunton to develop another site or two or three in the area.
“You know, we want to keep growing,” said Tambasidis. “We love Taunton, and so far Taunton loves us too, you know, because they come in and support it. So we’re going to try to keep this and then try to expand in the future.
“People love it. It’s not just Greek food, it’s the way we do it. We prepare it right in front of you, it’s fresh, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Taunton Daily Gazette Editor Jon Haglof can be reached at jhaglöf@tauntongazette.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.