JOHN'S GRECIAN DELIGHT

Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★⭑

District: Bellevue

Gyros & Greek Dishes

Perfect For: Casual Dining; Lunch; Takeout

Standout Dishes: Gyro Supreme; Onion Rings

John’s Grecian Delight is not an easy place to find. One of the few standing vestiges inside the old Southroads Mall in Bellevue, it supplies some of the only breath to this shell of a building. You must stumble through hall after hall of empty white walls and boarded up stalls to find this bright blue beacon.

But there are two reasons you should make the trek to find John’s:

The reason the restaurant has stayed in this building is quite endearing.
The food is so good, it’s worth making a little extra effort to find.

Owner John Sakkas, a native of Greece, has been slinging gyros, salads, and chicken saganaki out of this hole-in-the-wall for more than four decades. The location is quite humble; orders are taken at the counter by John himself, who then turns around to the grill and vertical rotisserie to shave meat and starts assembling your dish. You have a choice of about six tables to sit at, to which your food is promptly delivered. The restaurant has a welcome claustrophobic effect; yeah, it’s cramped, but you feel like you’re eating in John’s home kitchen, not a mall.

John’s menu is as small as the restaurant itself. Your options consist of gyros and gyro platters (with either chicken or the classic beef/lamb combo), burgers, salads, and a few sides and desserts. There are also some Greek specialties like Chicken Reganato and Souvlaki, along with daily specials. The prices are incredibly reasonable, as you can get a gyro and fries for less than 10 bucks.

And John could (and probably should) charge more for his cuisine, as the Gyro is one of the best in Omaha. John employs a simple trick that adds a whole new depth to the flavor of his gyro; after slicing the meat off the spit, he places it and the buttered pita on the grill. This last-second addition of heat adds char and smokiness to the dish, drawing out the spices in the tender meat.

That extra grilled flavor tangos perfectly with the creamy, tangy, sour tzatziki and fresh vegetables. The pita is soft enough to be folded yet firm enough to be eaten without tearing, and it has a pleasant chewiness. Though it is one of Omaha’s smaller gyros, it’s packed with meat and is more filling than it looks.

The gyro is what John’s is best known for, but sleep on the Chicken Dinner at your own peril. Ridiculously moist and juicy, this thigh/leg is so juicy it’ll have juice dripping down your hands and arms, but you’re so drawn to the flavor you can’t be bothered to stop and clean yourself. The skin is fragrant and flowing with Greek spices, making this one of the better chicken entrees you’ll find in Omaha.

But the other half of this plate is just as noteworthy—the Greek Potatoes. These studs are cooked in olive oil, giving them a soft creamy inside while the outside is crisp and caramelized from grilling. They’re garlicky and have a subtle acidic burst from lemon juice.

The other sides are a bit of hit and miss. The Onion Rings are large and have a great crunch, with the savory batter providing a brilliant foil for the sweet onion inside. The Fries are crispy and of the crinkle-cut variety, giving them extra texture, but they desperately call for more salt.

Every self-respecting Greek restaurant must offer Baklava, and John’s version is quite good. With raisins, cinnamon, and a generous amount of honey sandwiched between layers of flaky phyllo dough, it threatens to be too sweet. But the pistachios pull back on the sugar and add crunch, making this an excellent sweet treat to end the meal.

So if John’s food is this good, why is his restaurant in such a run-down location?

Two words: loyalty and love.

Southroads Mall was once a bustling locale, but the areas changing economy caused most of the mall’s restaurants and stores to close up shop in the early 2000s. TD Ameritrade briefly moved in to help bring business, but it too moved on, relocating to West Omaha.

John was offered opportunities to move, and his business would likely thrive in more populated locales. But while relocating makes perfect business sense, John doesn’t want to leave the community that has supported him since he first opened his business. He can’t bring himself to think about leaving his regulars.

So John’s Grecian Delight remains in a dead mall with no foot traffic. It has little social media presence; the only way you’d even know it exists is if someone told you about it.

Fortunately, the food has created so many fans and such word-of-mouth traffic that John’s lives on. John could (and maybe should) move, but then John’s wouldn’t be John’s. And the man has been making amazing gyros for 40+ years; who’s to tell him to change up his business?