GRAND RAPIDS, MI – “Bold Mediterranean” food, generations in the making, can be found tucked away in the Breton Meadows Shopping Center on Grand Rapids’ Southeast Side.
Emad Shatara and his parents, Sami and Suzan Shatara, opened Tasty Gyro & Coney Island, 2269 44th Street SE, in 2018.
Customers can find fresh homemade Mediterranean cuisine such as gyros, felafel and Greek salads, as well as typical Coney Island fare such as coney dogs, burgers, fries and salads. Americanized Mediterranean options are also on the menu.
“If you go to the Middle East and you ask for feta on your felafel, they’ll slap you in the face,” Emad Shatara said with a smile. “But you want that here, no problem, I’ll give that to you. ... This is basically a Coney Island express.”
Even though it’s a relatively young business, the Shatara family name should be familiar to the area’s Mediterranean foodies because they have been selling Grand Rapidians gyros for decades - first, from Sami’s Party Store, and later, The Pita House.
The Shatara family came to the U.S. in 1990 from Jordan. Sami, a CPA, who graduated from University of Basra in Iraq, helped support his family by working as a Big Boy manager until he was able to open Sami’s Party Store on Wealthy Street SE and Ethel Avenue in 1995.
They began offering gyros at the party store, until four years later, they opened The Pita House across the street from the now-defunct party store.
Sami Shatara retired from The Pita House in 2012 but the restaurant is still operated by relatives, moving to its current location in the Eastown neighborhood, 1508 Wealthy St. SE, in 2015.
About five years later, the Shatara family decided to buy a struggling Coney Island business from a friend and opened Tasty Gyro & Coney Island in its place.
Born in Jordan, Emad said there weren’t many Mediterranean food options in the area when he was a kid in the 90s but his family has been on the forefront of bringing the cuisine to Grand Rapids.
The now-permanently closed Osta’s Lebanese Cuisine, in East Grand Rapids, was the only Middle Eastern cuisine in the area when the family moved to Grand Rapids, according to Emad, and Sami’s Party Store was the next to open. Osta’s was sit-down dining while Sami’s Party Store was more Mediterranean “fast food.”
“When we’d go to school, (my mother would) make me a hummus pita, sandwich people would look at me, ‘What are you eating? Where is this from?’” Emad said of his childhood. “All of the other kids were eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or ham and cheese sandwiches, while I’m getting this pita bread rolled with hummus.”
Tasty Gyro & Coney Island’s falafel is his mother’s recipe.
Suzan Shatara brought along a cookbook when they moved to the U.S. and learned to improve food, “learning by taste.”
“We’ve had people from the Middle East come and they’re like, ‘We want this (falafel) recipe,’” Emad said about his mother. “That’s one thing with her that she’s passionate about.”
One falafel sells for 99 cents.
But, of course, the Shatara family is also very proud of their gyros, using the same undisclosed Chicago-area butcher since the 90s, the pita bread is sourced from Dearborn and the sauce is homemade with fresh sour cream and yogurt.
The Tasty Gyro, a blend of seasoned beef and lamb topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, feta and homemade cucumber sauce, sells for $14. The Tasty Mixed Gyro, with a mix of Labenese-style marinated chicken with the regular beef/lamb that includes homemade cucumber sauce, lettuce, tomatoes and onions goes for $17. The Falafel Pita features fresh ground chickpeas mixed with spices and parsley deep fried topped with hummus, lettuce, tomato, onion, turnips and topped with tahini.
Emad said he is planning to add a variety of suggestions on the menu such as an “American” gyro with mayonnaise, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese and gyro meat. He also has plans for a Middle Eastern gyro, Greek gyro, Southwest gyro, and an Italian gyro.
“We’re not as traditional, we’re more Coney Island, because you can get a hot dog, you can get a gyro,” he said. “But I’m still going to have the classic, obviously.”
A Detroit Coney, with mustard chili and onion (no cheese), goes for $4. The Chicago Dog, with mustard, green relish, onion, sliced tomato, sport pepper, chopped pickle, celery salt and poppy seed goes for $4.75. The Grand Rapids Coney Dog ($4.75) is topped with seasoned beef, chili, cheese, mustard and onions. The Flint Coney ($4.75) comes topped with seasoned beef, mustard and onion.
Burgers are 1/3 pound patties cooked to order. The Cheeseburger is $11 and the Double Cheeseburger is $15.
A “Yovany Burger” is topped with gyro slices, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana peppers, feta and tzatziki sauce is $14. The “NYC Chopped Cheese” burger with seasoned ground beef sautéed with onions, American cheese, with lettuce, tomato, mayo and ketchup on a toasted bun is $14.
The menu is filled with many more options.
Business hours are Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Delivery hours are available Monday 10:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; and Saturday 11 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. The business is closed on Sunday.
For more information or to order food online, check out the Tasty Gyro & Coney Island website here or call 616-635-2100.
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