Go Greek relocates to Mineola

When Go Greek opened in 2016, Tommy Matheos was thrilled to be on Seventh Street, smack in the middle of Garden City’s busiest commercial block. Seven years later, he decided that his fast-casual, takeout-friendly concept didn’t require such a prime location.

“With the launch of all these online ordering apps,” he said, “the value of being on a main street just isn’t there for a takeout spot.” In September, he and his wife, Gabriella, moved Go Greek about a mile north to Mineola. “Everything now is radius — and the new location not only keeps Garden City in the radius, but it brings us closer to Williston Park, Roslyn and Manhasset.”

The new shop on Mineola Boulevard still has good foot traffic and is near NYU Langone (formerly Winthrop) Hospital, the Nassau County courts and a number of newly built apartment buildings. And Matheos is saving $7,000 a month on rent.

It’s also true that Matheos had his heart broken in Garden City. When he opened Go Greek, he was adamant that it serve only "real" Greek food — that meant his gyro was made of hand-stacked slices of pork, not prefabricated columns of minced beef and lamb. The Greek salad featured tomato, cucumbers, onion and olives, but no lettuce. If you wanted lettuce, you ordered the romaine salad with scallions and dill.

“I wanted to keep it authentic and healthy,” he recalled. A veteran of Chipotle, he believed that it was possible to run a successful restaurant that had no freezer or microwave and brought in no premade ingredients. “I’ve visited Greece many times as a kid and as an adult,” he said. “I didn’t feel like many fast-casual Greek restaurants were representing that cooking the right way. I want to set a new standard.”

A noble goal, but too few of his customers shared it. He kept his pork gyro — served, traditionally, in a pita with French fries — but he also added the best premade beef-lamb gyro he could find. He kept his hand-stacked chicken gyro but offered it tossed with Buffalo sauce. He put lettuce in his salad. “Look, I’m in business. It’s not about my pride,” he said.

While Go Greek’s menu won’t make anyone believe they are in Athens, it’s full of good things to eat. Besides pork, chicken and beef-lamb gyro, there’s shrimp, lamb or chicken kebabs, falafel and roasted vegetables. Have these in a pita or on a platter, in a rice bowl or over a salad. Nothing is more than $15. Starters and sides (none of which are more than $8) include grape leaves, gigantes beans, spinach pie and roasted eggplant.

Go Greek, 147 Mineola Blvd., Mineola, 516-746-2222, gofreshgreek.com. Open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed on weekends.