Not Just Another Long Island Greek Restaurant…

I was sitting with my son in Pete’s Pitaria Restaurant in Island Park. My son was doing his AP Euro homework (btw, this course just doesn’t let up with the work) and I was sitting watching Leo, the owner, and his staff running around the back making falafels, gyros and Greek salads.  The young waitress came over to our table and asked us what we wanted.  I ordered a chicken gyro with extra yogurt sauce and my son ordered bbq chicken gyro.

As we waited for the food, I had a flash back to a time not that long ago when my daughter was in a stroller and I was meeting my client there for a business meeting.  The place was different then. Leo was a young man and his dad was the owner/operator of the shop. His dad was teaching him how to make the food. Leo had a great smile and pleasantly took our order and whispered in my ear, “is that your mother?”

Luckily my client didn’t hear me, otherwise I think she would have gotten upset. I shook my head and told him I owned a small Public Relations firm out of my home and that I was with a client.

Flashback forward, I thought about how times have changed so much from back then. He was now a married man with two children running the restaurant on his own and my daughter who was in the stroller is now in her last year in college. My public relations/social media firm is no longer in the house, it’s now in three locations around New York State. And as for the client, I still see her from time to time,  but we’ve both moved on. And, now I was sitting with my son in Leo’s newly renovated restaurant in Island Park.

The food arrived within minutes of placing our order and I took a bite.  It was delicious. You know what, there was one thing that hadn’t changed… the food. It’s just as good as it was 15 years ago!