Jeanne Muchnick's Best Thing I Ate This Week: Greek in Yorktown Heights (lots of feta)
I love Greek food so it's easy to pick pretty much anything and everything at Pappous Greek Kitchen in Yorktown Heights for my "Best Thing I Ate This Week."
If I had to narrow it down, I'd recommend the "Marcos," a versatile dish that originally started as a Greek quesadilla with gyro meat and has since morphed into a popular appetizer or entree with a side. It's filled with sautéed peppers and onions, kasseri cheese, and a side of spicy feta and is available with a choice of meats, as a chicken gyro or with grilled chicken as well as on gluten free pita. Yes, I said it. This restaurant has amazing gluten-free pita bread.
They also do a super fresh, super addictive Chickpea Salad on a bed of arugula with crumbled feta.
The family-owned restaurant, run by Rui Cunha, his wife Bessie, and his oldest son Andrew, is all about doing whatever it takes to make customers happy. So there's never a problem making substitutions to accommodate any dietary needs. Items are even tagged on the menu notifying customers what's gluten-sensitive, gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free and modifiable.
They'll also "Opa any sandwich" which means you can get your meal "Pappous Style," with feta and French fries inside of a sandwich, or "Zoulis Style," with blended spicy feta and French fries.
I'm also a big fan of their Shrimp Santorini in a hearty tomato sauce with (naturally!) feta, as well as their falafel, lentil soup, hummus and grilled veggies.
Feta, if you can tell, is a big ingredient at this five-year-old spot.
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And it all seems to taste better with their housemade "Cabana Sangria," available to go in different size bottles. I prefer red but they also have white.
Rui Cunha, who's of Portuguese descent, named the restaurant after his father-in-law, Konstantino Giannopoulos, who spent 35 years in the food business, working his way up from dishwasher to the owner of a Manhattan diner. "Pappous" means grandfather in Greek and his photo, along with that of his wife, hangs on the wall near the takeout counter. It's from him — he's now 94-years-young — that Cunha learned how to make his special sangria.
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Family is at the heart of the space with signage in the front that reads "Welcome" at the front door and another that says "Family" right above the takeout area. Giannopoulos' name is also inscribed in tile on the wall behind the takeout area.
Adding to the sunny vibe: Two blue shuttered decorative windows in the dining room that tease with a view of life in Greece. Believe me, I'm ready to book my ticket. But in the meantime, at least I have all my favorite things at Pappous.
If you go
Address: 1983 Commerce St., Yorktown Heights, 914-455-2111, pappousgreekkitchen.com
Hours: 11:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday; to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
FYI: The restaurant does catering as well as a swift take-out business. Sangria is sold in containers to go near the front.
Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Jeanne Muchnick's Best Thing I Ate is Greek food in Yorktown Heights
