Z's Greek — Restaurant in Phoenix

As a Greek myself, I was disappointed with the experience and would like to provide feedback to enhance their menu with AUTHENTIC Greek options. Since my Yiayia passed, I find myself wanting more and more Greek comfort food, I think it's because I miss her so much. Being Greek, I found the SPICY lamb and meat dishes with bell peppers everywhere disheartening. In Arizona, finding authentic Greek restaurants without Middle Eastern, American and spicy influences is challenging to say the least. While I appreciate Middle Eastern and American cuisine, I believe maintaining traditional Greek flavors is essential when ADVERTISING and serving "Authentic" Greek food. Offering non-spicy meat options would be beneficial, as Greek lamb and other meat is typically not spicy. (I'm not saying there aren't SOME Greek dishes that are spicy, but I'm saying typically Greek food is NOT spicy) The presence of chopped bell peppers on top of the Spanakopita was also EXTREMELY disappointing. AUTHENTIC Spanakopita has zero bell peppers. However, on a positive note, the lemon potatoes tasted VERY authentic, and the rice was pretty passable. I ordered the lamb souvlaki and beef souvlaki platters, as well as the crazy fries, Spanakopita and Greek salads, the Greek salad didn't even have traditional Greek salad dressing, they had ranch and I saw a little bell peppers in it too. Which was extremely surprising and upsetting, how is it Greek if you just put ranch in it? The crazy fries, which my daughter was not crazy about, due to the American cheese and other toppings making it "way too sticky and soggy" in her words. Unfortunately, the customer service was subpar. When I called to inquire about a question regarding my DoorDash order, the representative was somewhat polite but became annoyed and hung up on me abruptly while I was trying to politely say goodbye, like she couldn't wait to get off of the phone. This behavior was unacceptable and unprofessional. I'm extremely disappointed, having searched for a genuine Greek restaurant since the Golden Greek restaurant closed. I will say this, they are CLOSE with the food but Greek food is not so spicy. Is there a way I can order the lamb with no spicy ness? Also, I'm more than willing to give my input to help make the dining experience and taste more authentic. You guys have got to do away with the spice and calm down with the bell peppers or at least make an option where you can order it without bell peppers and spiciness I find myself hesitant to even call and ask that due to the way I was treated when I called to ask a simple question. Believe me, I'm a very kind and tolerable person, so I was very confused as to why this person was having such a bad day and taking it out on me, it's not the right way to act to customers and any other person for that matter, customer or not. In Greek culture, Greeks are very welcoming and inviting and they love to feed people, so that customer service experience made me feel very unwelcome and like I was annoying them when all I did was call one time and asked a simple question. I'm not trying to be mean, Greeks just take their culture very seriously and their food is a big staple in Greek culture. The reason I'm so passionate about this specific restaurant is because your food was so close to being authentic tasting, you've just got to calm down on the bell peppers and spice as I stated. The spice was so bad that it hurt my stomach and I feel I even wasted money. I was afraid to call and ask what to do about it due to the way I...

Update: 12/05/22 Had lunch today ordering the Gyros combo with soup (Ovgolemono). As in the past I’ve ordered the Gyros with no lettuce, and white onions sliced thin. She asked if I wanted extra sauce (she remembered that); and if I wanted cheesecake (as I had that last time. I had chocolate cake before that). Strange then to get my Gyros with RED ONION! I don’t know what to do besides alert others about the service one may receive, share a photo of the onions, and drop the four star review to one star. I just don’t understand this. And despite going out of my way to eat here, maybe I need to search for a new place that serves great Gyros and Ovgolemono soup?

Update: 11/28/22 Had lunch, and it was all good. The only part about the Gyros 🥙 that I found odd: I asked for white onion sliced thin, and found both white onion raw and grilled. I finished trying their cheesecake and can say it’s quite good. Now if only they made Galaktoboureko I could say I’ve found a slice of heaven on earth. Maybe a crumbiete?

Update: 11/21/22 Had lunch today, and learned that I could have white onion instead of red on my gyros 🥙. The soup was thick with rice; very little broth. The onions were in big chunks. Maybe next time they’ll slice them thinner. It would be an improved taste over the chunks. Good lunch still. Tried the chocolate cake. It’s good. The frosting too thick and rich. Milk chocolate frosting may be better? —— Update: Soup is in season, and I came here on Tuesday 11/01/22. The Ovgolemono soup is good. I’m very pleased that it’s back in season. I’d eat it even during summertime despite the desert heat being in the 100’s.

I have to say that I’m not a fan of red onions that are diced. Tomatoes are diced too. I wish they’d use white, yellow, or Vidalia onions sliced long and thin… NOT diced. And the tomatoes should be sliced as well. Not whole slices; sliced in halves. And no lettuce. A proper gyros is simple: meat, onions, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce. This last visit the sauce had too much chunks of what appeared to be red onions(?)… it’s a simple sauce as I recall that has yogurt, sour cream, cucumber, garlic, salt & pepper, herbs, and lemon juice. Too much herbs can ruin it. —— I’ve lived in Phoenix for over a year and a half, and have had difficulty finding a good gyros. By chance I’ve driven by Z’s a few times, and today I had the chance to have lunch. I’m not one for lettuce on my gyros. Just tomatoes, sliced onions, and tzatziki sauce. Had I known that they used red onions I would have asked for easy on the onions. It’s a Scott Conant thing… red onions have a distinct bite that kills the pallet. If they are kind to recommendations, please use yellow or sweet onions. I had their combo with the Greek salad. The dressing was not my expected choice. Oil and balsamic would have been better. The meal was very good. I would have loved more than one kalamata olive 🫒 on the salad. The tzatziki sauce is the best I’ve had compared to other restaurants tzatziki sauces. The meal with a fountain drink was over $15+change. One last thing, since it’s summer they don’t serve soup. I wouldn’t care about the season; I like ovgolemono soup. One can’t beat a good lemon, chicken, and rice soup. I look forward to when they’ll be serving the soup. This restaurant is...

Great customer service and AMAZINGLY delicious food. This happened while I was there: The old guy (I'd say between 63-67 years old) ordering after me orders a soup. Sweet young girl at counter taking order nicely explains they only have soups Monday thru Friday. Old Man pounds fist on counter in threatening manner frightening her and starts yelling how he wants soup and drove ALL the way from the next town (Glendale) over because he wanted soup. She apologizes unnecessarily as he continues for next five minutes to rant to his male companion about how terrible this was that they didn't have soup. The funny thing is...when I see incidents like this with someone having an irrational emotional outburst...it seems to always be supposedly mature adults who should absolutely know better and be able to control themselves. I have never seen 20 somethings behaving like this. But I have seen 40, 50, 60 and 70 year old customers behaving like this more times than I can count. Anyway, the food-every single bit of it- was absolutely DELICIOUS, and WAY more plentiful than I expected! So in this case...I really hope someone in the kitchen took the time to spit in his food...but I am sure they did not because they seemed way too nice and classy to do that even after putting up with such an abusive customer. And the loud mouthed guy did order food and sit...