Saturday, September 20, 2008

Hey other Greek fast food restaurants--suck it!

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Don't be fooled by the lame name "Opa!", which has been used and abused by pop culture in marketing all things "Greek." This food court gem is GOOD, at least for a food court. Yes, it's a chain, with a ton of locations in Canada, but still, it's really pretty tasty. And it's certainly the best Greek fast food restaurant I know of.

The main thing that impresses me is that they know how to make a gyro or pita wrap in such a way that the contents don't spill out at the bottom. I can't even begin to tell you how many failed gyros I've eaten in my day...most were just time bombs poorly wrapped in pita bread, eventually exploding all over my plate.

The deft employees at Opa!, on the other hand, not only include a plastic wrapper for their gyros and pitas, but they actually TWIST it at the bottom, and everything stays amazingly neat. What a concept! No spills! And this is not to mention how good the fava bean (falafel) wrap really is, especially with diced jalapeƱos, feta, tomatoes, onions, creamy tzaziki sauce, and maybe even hummus (yes, fava upon fava).

If I can compare apples and oranges--and yes, I will do that--Opa! is probably the best food court fare MOA has to offer. I know food court business has been slow through the economic downturn, and Opa! had been hit hard according to its manager, so I hope they weather the storm. They have set an example for the right way to do Greek fast food. (Ok I suspect the PC term is "Mediterranean" not Greek. Not as easy to type though.)

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