FLORHAM PARK - Residents have a new dining option in the center of town.
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill opened its doors at 182 Ridgedale Ave. on Monday, June 6, serving freshly made, fast-casual Greek Cuisine for dine-in meals, takeout and delivery.
The restaurant is located between Jersey Mike’s Subs and Playa Bowls, both of which opened last summer, in the strip mall anchored by the Florham Park Diner.
The menu includes popular Greek staples such as gyro and souvlaki, stuffed grape leaves, tzatziki and hummus dips and spinakopita, but also new inventions like a baklava ice cream.
Owner and operator Jonathan Arzt, a Mendham resident, said his favorite dish is probably the tirokafteri, a feta cheese and spicy roasted pepper dip.
“Our menu is very fresh-food based, so all of our dips are made every day, based on volume,” he said in a Thursday, June 9 interview at the restaurant. “We cut and marinate all of out proteins daily. Everything is done in-house and there’s nothing that really comes pre-made.”
In terms of fast-casual restaurants, Great Greek plants itself more on the casual side.
“It’s not like some other fast-casual places where you’re in and out in under three minutes and everything is sitting under a heat lamp ready to go,” he said, noting orders may take six or seven minutes, for example. “There is a little more heart and a little more love going into it here. We’re more recipe-based and we make it all here.”
Arzt said the falafel and the gyro meat – lamb, steak, chicken and shrimp – have probably been the “biggest movers” since the restaurant opened.
French fries and a variety of salads are also served, among a number of other dishes.
Desserts include rice pudding, kourabiedes cookies, baklava and the popular baklava iced cream.
“I mean, it’s baklava and it’s ice cream – flaky pastry dough with honey, nuts, all those flavors – in vanilla ice cream. Everyone who tastes says it’s fantastic,” said Arzt.
The Florham Park location is the first Great Greek Mediterranean Grill to open in New Jersey, though there are dozens of locations across the country from Florida to Washington state. Arzt has signed on to open five more across Morris County, with the future locations to be determined.
A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Arzt formerly worked in the food and beverage industry for nearly 20 years, but left as he started his family and no longer wanted to work the late-night bar scene.
Upon deciding to return to the industry, he said he was attracted by the Great Greek’s diverse menu and the freshness of the food.
“No one is ever going to walk in here and say ‘I can’t eat anything on the menu,’” he said. “You don’t eat chicken, steak, lamb, shrimp or salad? That sparked my interest, and also because it’s one of the healthier, lighter types of meals that you can get.”
Great Greek franchises also differ from other fast-casual spots in that many offer daily specials, which is something Arzt wants to implement in Florham Park in time.
“Some places do a slow-cooked, pulled lamb; others have done lamb burgers,” he said. “That’s a fun thing that’s on our timeline, so people can know if they come here on a Tuesday or Thursday, that’s when we’re going to have those lamb burgers or whatever the daily special may be.”
The restaurant is in the process of something of a soft opening at the moment as it gets its bearings, Arzt said. A grand opening is to be held in July, tentatively scheduled for July 11.
“We’re just really happy to be in this area,” he said. “It’s a nice residential area, but it’s also kind of a hub of Morris County with all the business centers and shops. Morristown is 10 minutes away, Novartis if five minutes away, the Jets are eight minutes away.
“We’re just getting ourselves going. Hopefully people give us a chance and we become their top choice for lunch, a place where they can come grab a salad or grab a gyro.”
The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill will serve lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. over the next few Sundays. Sunday hours are expected to expand to 8 p.m. in late June, Arzt said.
To learn more about the restaurant, visit www.thegreatgreekgrill.com.
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