A Better Gyro

When Vasili Pahountis couldn’t find a good gyro in his new home, he began selling his own

- Emma Way

FOR 40 MINUTES, Vasili Pahountis and his family waited in line for a chicken gyro at the Yiasou Greek Festival. They were new to Charlotte and excited to see such a vibrant Greek community, a comforting piece of their heritage in a new city. But after one bite, they decided to stick with the festival’s entertainment.

Vasili turned to his wife, Irene, and said, “I’m going to open my own Greek restaurant.”

That was in 2010. Now, Gréco Fresh Grille has three locations in the Charlotte area: in Blakeney, Wesley Chapel, and Colony Place. Vasili, who most customers know simply as Bill, splits his time among the three, zipping around town in his Porsche Boxster convertible, royal blue like the Aegean Sea that surrounds his family’s home island of Karpathos, Greece.

Vasili’s father was 17 when he came to the United States after World War II, after agreeing to work as a coal miner in West Virginia. Not long after arriving in the States, Vasili’s father left the mines and took a job as a grill cook.

“I grew up in the restaurant business. And much to my parents’ chagrin, I stayed in the restaurant business,” Vasili jokes.