After years of traveling to Boston for a good gyro, Anisa Hoxha Luarasi and her husband, Redi Luarasi, decided last October it was time to bring a little slice of Greece to Worcester.
The couple searched for months to find the perfect location, agreeing in January that 623 Chandler St. in Worcester would become home to Gyro & Souvlaki, an authentic Greek restaurant in the heart of the state.
The restaurant officially opened its doors and welcomed Worcester customers on July 20.
“My husband always wanted to open a gyro place and we saw huge potential and demand for an authentic gyro,” Hoxha Luarasi said. “We’ve been in the neighborhood 20-plus years — it’s very convenient and a very good neighborhood to be in.”
Gyro & Souvlaki started with a simple idea: “to share the authentic taste of Greece with our neighbors,” its site states, adding the company aims to “create a community of lifelong patrons who love our food as much as we do.”
Hoxha Luarasi and husband, Laurasi are first-generation Albanian-American citizens, having moved to the U.S. in 2000 while Hoxha Luarasi was still a junior in high school. The couple met in Boston while getting their fingerprints stamped as part of the citizenship process.
Gyro & Souvlaki brings a “little slice of Greece right here in Worcester.” Shown is a Greek salad, one of the restaurant’s biggest hits. Dallas Gagnon
More than 20 years later, the pair has opened a business and have two children, Areanna and Lucas Luarasi.
Hoxha Luarasi and Luarasi spent the past six months remodeling 623 Chandler St., to create a European-style restaurant.
“For us, we wanted to bring a piece of our home here,” Hoxha Luarasi said.
The restaurant features a crisp, black and white color scheme with marbled counter tops and several plants around the dining area, plus patio seating.
“We brought a lot of things in from Italy to be installed … the process was a bit lengthy because we put a lot of work into the place,” Hoxha Luarasi said.
When the restaurant held its grand opening last week, food sold out within hours — prompting Hoxha Luarasi to increase deliveries from twice a week, to three times a week.
Gyros are loaded with hand-cut french fries, marinated, organic meat, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and tzatziki sauce. Shown is a pork gyro.Dallas Gagnon
“The french fries are hand cut — everything is hand cut,” Hoxha Luarasi said. “I don’t buy frozen foods; I refuse to do that. I want it fresh.”
Gyro & Souvlaki food is supplied by a local food distributor based in Taunton. All the vegetables, meats and bread are fresh, with the meat being organic, Hoxha Luarasi said.
“I want to deliver great food and a great experience,” she said.
Hoxha Luarasi and Luarasi are both employed full-time in addition to owning and operating their new business. Hoxha Luarasi said she plans to build their “dream team” in the coming months to make the business self-sufficient.
She has already started building that “dream team” with “skilled chefs to ensure each bite is nothing short of extraordinary.”
“Over a cup of coffee, my husband was talking to a chef that specializes in gyros and asked him if he would come on board,” months before the business opened, Hoxha Luarasi told MassLive.
“He is very well known in the Albanian community so people knew his work and they were very excited to come and support.”
Niska Zguri has 25 years of experience and owned his own gyro restaurants in Albania previously, Hoxha Luarasi said, adding one of Gyro & Souvlaki’s other chefs specializes in salads and souvlaki.
Shown is a pork gyro from Gyro & Souvlaki in front of the business’ sign.Dallas Gagnon
Some of Gyro & Souvlaki specialties are the pork gyros and Greek salads.
All gyros are served in fresh-baked pita bread which is delivered every two to three days and stuffed with hand-cut fries, tomatoes, onion and yogurt, cucumber and garlic tzatziki sauce.
The Greek salad features fresh-chopped mixed greens, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, Feta cheese, Kalamata olives, Greek dressing and pita bread.
Hoxha Luarasi said she and her husband are “both very busy,” with their full-time jobs and the restaurant as they work from 10 a.m. until at least midnight putting in long-hours to build the gyros, starting with marinating the meats.
Hoxha Luarasi attributes some of her work ethic to her parents, as they left everything they had — family, careers, friends — in Albania and sacrificed everything for her and her brother.
“My goal was to do well in school and do what would make my parents proud,” Hoxha Luarasi said. “I remember my mom working so hard, even when I was little — the Greek work ethics of my mom and the calmness of my dad.”
While sharing a “little slice of Greece right here in Worcester,” Hoxha Luarasi said she also aims to provide everything she can for her children and eventually pass on the business to them, and even expand if business allows.
Hours:
Tuesday through Sunday, 12 p.m. – 10 p.m.
