Pita and Pizza Serves up Food for Many Tastes

There’s an old figure of speech in the Mediterranean, roughly translated, "Same face, same race," which is meant to suggest that from Italy to Greece, and on to Asia Minor, there are commonalities of blood and temperament that tie people together.

At , on Sunrise Highway at Dixon Avenue in Lindenhurst, Gary Spanos has concocted the food version of that.

For seven years now Spanos has offered a combination of tasty Italian and Greek dishes - not to mention a wide range of European, American and Hispanic foods - in a menu formula that he believes resulted in wide customer satisfaction.

“I’m Greek, and my wife is Italian,” said Gary (aka Vangelis) Spanos, a long-time diner man who came to this busy corner of Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst and took over what was formerly Mangano’s.

“But that’s got nothing to do with what we have on our menu. It’s just that there are 12 to 13 pizzerias in the area, and add to that the restaurants that feature Italian food, and that’s 25 to 30 establishments. An Italian place by itself is not going to succeed," he said.

So Gary Spanos brought his years of experience as owner of a diner in Massapequa - where he managed 47 people and learned the ins and outs of every aspect of the work, including operating a full-scale bakery - to Lindenhurst.

The result? A five-page menu in a little shop that features everything from Italian fare (pizzas, calzones, baked casseroles and pasta dishes); Greek (gyros, kabobs, souvlaki, falafels, spinach pies, saganaki hummus and baba ghanoush); American (burgers, wraps, heros, barbecue wings, Cajun); and Mexican quesadillas.

There are specialty diet items, too, along with salads.

“Most places will have a limited choice of salads - Chef’s salad, Caeser salad and Greek salad, but look at our menu,” said Gary. Sure enough, the menu includes "Horiatiki" or Greek salad, grilled seafood salads, New Orleans salad, taco salads, and plenty more.

While the varied menu keeps drawing people to Pita and Pizza’s location in a strip of stores at a corner of Sunrise near Straight Path, that corner has had a reputation for accidents. But that hasn't deterred folks from the locale. And, according to Gary, street cameras have brought the situation under control.

A recent facelift for the façade of the strip has also resulted in improved business environment for the shop.

But it all comes back to the food - and its quality, something in which Gary takes great pride.

“Today’s customers are more educated,“ he said. “They appreciate the quality of the food."

And, finally, there’s the matter of respect.

“I believe everyone is important, young or old,” said Spanos. “We give them respect when they come in, and they appreciate it. I had a man in the other day who came in to my diner when he was 11. He said to me, ‘Mr. Spanos, I liked the way you spoke to me 20years ago, so I’m back.' We get that all the time."