Two restaurants under one roof: Gyro Love and Pizza Pie expand to Glastonbury
Gyro Love, a fast-casual chain of Greek-inspired restaurants in Connecticut, has opened its fifth location, this one at 2941 Main St. in Glastonbury.
The restaurants serve American-Mediterranean fusion food. The Glastonbury, Southington and Cromwell locations have a second restaurant inside the building called Pizza Pie, which serves pizzas, flatbreads, wings and salads. The other locations are in Bristol and Newington.
William Mutraji of Farmington founded both chains in 2019 with the opening of the Cromwell location.
“They’re two separate businesses, two brands. I thought it was a good idea, something for everyone, like a mall. If the kids want pizza and the parents want Greek food or a healthy salad, it will make them all happy,” he said. “It’s not Greek pizza, it’s Italian.” The kitchens are separate.
Mutraji said the Gyro Love recipes are traditional Mediterranean — gathered from his travels to Greece, Lebanon and Turkey — but with adaptations to make them more attractive to American palates.
Gyro Love serves gyro sandwiches with shrimp, falafel or the house gyro meat (beef and lamb); hummus; stuffed grape leaves; and salads.
The shop also sells gyro bowls. Each offers a base of skin-on French fries, rice or salad; a protein of chicken, shrimp, falafel or the house gyro meat; and a side of hummus, eggplant hummus or tzatziki. Baklava is sold for dessert.
One standout on the menu is the Greek fries, a huge portion of skin-on French fries with feta, oregano and olive oil and drizzled with lemon, so cheesy it must be eaten with a fork.
“It sounds weird, lemon on fries, but it tastes good,” he said.
The other four locations also sell chicken, gyro meat or lamb chop platters; crostini; gyro meat pizza; baked feta with sliced bread; tapas platters; veggie platters; the “grill mix” with a variety of proteins; and a two-people combo with a combination of meats and appetizers.
Mutraji said after the Glastonbury staff gets up to speed with the rhythm of the restaurant and the computer systems, he will add those dishes to the menu there.
The new store, which had its soft opening Jan. 7 and will host a grand opening in the spring, has tables and chairs but is primarily geared toward takeout. Ordering can be done online, in kiosks in the store and at the store’s counter. Everything is served in takeout containers even for those who want to eat in.
Mutraji said that if all goes well and the supply-chain slowdowns — which delayed the opening of the Glastonbury location by about three months — ease up, he hopes to open six to 10 more Gyro Loves around the state by the end of the year.
“So far it is going really well,” Mutraji said. “The customers are really coming out.”
All of the stores are open Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday noon to 8 p.m.
The other stores addresses are 751 Terryville Ave. in Bristol; 136 Berlin Road in Cromwell; 832 Queen St. in Southington; and 337 Willard Ave. in Newington.
More information at gyro.love and woodfiredpizzapie.com.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
