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Yia Yia's Kitchen - Owner Michael Harrison and Chef Fredys Delao's Fast-Casual Greek in Beltsville


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Kliman has listed this place in his chats recently.  Spit-roasted pork sounded like a good idea today, so I stopped in for lunch.  Yia Yia's is a smallish place, and somewhat awkardly laid out.  You order at a counter, and then shuffle around being in everyone's way for 10 minutes or so until your order is ready.  There are several tables as well, although it looked as though the food was still delivered in takeout containers.

 

The menu is succinct.  There are 3 options for gyro: chicken, pork, and beef+lamb, all roasting on vertical spits behind the counter.  The pork looked the best of the three today, and that's what I chose.  The pork was well-seasoned, and as promised, there were plenty of pleasantly charred crispy bits, along with more tender pieces.  The sandwich was served on thick, soft, pita with a healthy schmear of tzatziki and a small handful of chopped tomatoes and onions.  It's definitely filling, though the hand cut fries I saw people munching on may be worth a try on a return visit.

 

If you're in a hurry for lunch, it may be a good idea to call in your order ahead of time, as there seemed to be a good bit of confusion expediting the orders, and had I not remained visible while waiting, I think my order would've taken much longer to come out.

 

Anyone else in DR-land stopped in here?

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Just went for the first time.

The pork gyro is life-changing.

Friends said the lamb gyro was just about as good as Marathon, but the fries are below theirs, so Marathon just barely wins.

The greek salads I saw come out looked really good.  One appeared to be topped with halloumi.

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Stopped in for lunch for the first time in a few months. The menu has changed a bit (and hasn't been updated on the website). The only major changes are the (welcome) addition of a few vegetarian sandwich options including a fried zucchini, a roasted vegetable and feta, and falafel. I opted for the zucchini (pictured below). I love the thick pita, warmed on the grill, and the tzatziki was great as usual. The zucchini were sliced thin and coated in a very light breading that wasn't able to maintain much crispness in sandwich form. That aside, the sandwich was quite tasty and filling. I would have preferred a bit more salt, either in the breading, or by adding a little feta, but I will definitely be ordering this again.

As a side note, the place was packed with a line almost out the door at 12:15.

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Sorry I haven't posted here about Yia Yia's, but I'm here fairly regularly.

The gyros are the best I've ever had, anywhere, whether the pork or beef/lamb versions.

Stuffed grape leaves are good, as is the fried calamari. I haven't made it through the rest of the menu, because I can't stop ordering the pork gyro.

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Had an early dinner here last night for the first time before a trip to Ikea. We started with the Taramasalata. I can't remenber having this dish as an adult because as a child I was probably too grossed to try it. It was 2 huge scoops with a ton of chips. The flavor was very rich and fishy, in a good way with some smoke and saltiness. My wife had the greek salad with a shrimp. She really enjoyed it. I had the village with beef. Both salads were barely contained by the plate and were very good. I don't think I will be as good next time and will go for a less healthy alternative. Our daughter got the kids tenders meal which was really the star of the night. It was three huge home-made tenders with a breading we couldn't figure out fried to a nice crispness served on what appeared to be a pound of fries. Her dish was also barely contained by the plate and ate as much as her tiny stomach could handle (the value of this dish at $6 is amazing and can easily feed an adult dinner) it was served with a side of sharp honey mustard, too spicy for our daughter but that didn't matter.

A note though. We overheard that they recently changed ownership (a fried thinks its the same owner as Sardi's now). I haven't been here before so I don't know if things have changed, but the person said they have kept all the staff and that the change was seamless. We wouldn't have known. Like I said we got here at about 5 pm. They were doing a pretty steady business. We will be back.

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This has earned a regular to-go order spot in my rotation, for dinner. Note - it is highly recommended that you call your order in ahead of time as it takes a bit for them to get food out (mainly because of how busy they get during the dinner rush). I usually get a pork souvlaki and also a beef & lamb. The beef and lamb is better by a bit, but I always cannot resist the pork one because, well, pork.

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A note though. We overheard that they recently changed ownership (a fried thinks its the same owner as Sardi's now). I haven't been here before so I don't know if things have changed, but the person said they have kept all the staff and that the change was seamless. We wouldn't have known. Like I said we got here at about 5 pm. They were doing a pretty steady business. We will be back.

As much as I like Sardi's, this is probably TERRIBLE news. Those are family recipes they are serving, and there's little chance those recipes are enforced to the level of quality they are now if nobody from the family is involved going forward.

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As much as I like Sardi's, this is probably TERRIBLE news. Those are family recipes they are serving, and there's little chance those recipes are enforced to the level of quality they are now if nobody from the family is involved going forward.

The proof will be in seeing if they can keep delivering.

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I am hoping that it just coincidence that I had my first mediocre meal there after coming regularly (every month or two) the last couple of years, but...

  • Stuffed grape leaves were obviously pre-cooked and poorly reheated. Cold spots, a wan sauce, and one of 4 leaves was overcooked to the point of being inedible.
  • The pork gyro, previously a reason to drive across town, was just ok. Some of the pork pieces were dry, and the fries on top were cold and limp.
  • A special of lamb shoulder chops was the highlight of the meal. These were substantial, cooked beautifully and well seasoned. We chose sides of green beans with tomato (excellent) and rice pilaf (comically undercooked - crunchy).

One visit does not set a trend, of course, and I saw some of the same staff I've seen in the past.

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Got carryout again Friday. It could be me, but it looks like about 60 to 70% of the staff is new.  Also, one clear change was the amount of meat they but in their gyros. It is the same price, but with at least one third less meat.  The flavors were still decent, but it is dismaying to see this change.

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On 4/25/2016 at 10:09 AM, Pool Boy said:

Got carryout again Friday. It could be me, but it looks like about 60 to 70% of the staff is new.  Also, one clear change was the amount of meat they but in their gyros. It is the same price, but with at least one third less meat.  The flavors were still decent, but it is dismaying to see this change.

Been back a number of times, most recently yesterday. I have to admit, while the place gets busy and all, the guy that is running and managing the place now is a beast. And so friendly. They even seem to have gotten the memo that cutting way back on the meat in the gyros was a good way to piss off your inherited clientele. They seem to have restored the quantities of meat to these and for that, I am grateful.

I ended up getting carryout from there instead of Pasta Plus because, I kid you not, I tried calling Pasta Plus about two dozen times over the course of 8 minutes or so and I just gave up. That is not the first time.

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