Nu Greek

another time

Right off of Granville on Broadway, so the location is pretty darn handy.
My food came quickly, always a plus. I ordered a veggie lunch special. Chickpea salad, greek salad, veggie kabob, tzatziki and a pita for $ 8.
It was ok. Nothing special, but it did the trick.

The octopus plate came with a side order of the traditional Greek salad, their mint chick pea salad, loads of tzatziki sauce and a pita for dipping. I was surprised to be given an option for what pita I wanted, in both of the dishes I ordered. I choose the white for my wrap, oregano for my plate, and forgo-​ed the whole wheat all together. Be warned, when asking for octopus it does take longer. Its prep work is done in the back. And was the last component to hit my recycled take out carton. Octopus is hard prepare at any restaurant, let alone a hole in the wall, two man operation. But here at «Nu Greek» they did it well. Their octopus was firm and not chewy, with a great charred flavour. The Greek salad was nothing special, soggy and cold, it tasted watered down. The chickpea salad was a different accompaniment, a great break from tradition that played off the other elements well. It just needed a little citrus spritz to give it some life. Notable is the fact that they spell their tzatziki, «satsiki». I had to ask if it was the usual kind, and was assured it would be. I am a sucker for tzatziki. So anything smothered in it is a winner to me. They were definitely generous with its usage, and far for stingy.
I was not the only customer to ask what was the difference between the «souvlakis» and the «plates». Even the staff agreed that it was confusing with the wraps being called souvlaki. The clerk joked that she should add in «wraps» in tiny font, for ease of confusion. The wrap came quicker than my plate. It was prepared with premade components, that were gathered together by a fluffy pita shell. Your options for fillings were cabbage, tomato, and onions, with a healthy scoop of tzatziki and some spices or hot sauce. Wrap it up or take it to go. Just make sure you make up your mind quick, as the sauce gets messy and your pita gets soggy. The flavours were solid. The lamb tender. A well crafted wrap. The perfect sized get it and go lunch or snack option. Just make sure you have some gum or mints around after, the onions, garlic and tzatziki really does a number on your breath.

Fast & efficient, very busy during the lunch hour.
only 3 bar-​style tables to sit at, but with the floor to ceiling glass windows, plenty of eye candy action.
Usually order the lamb, comes with lots of fresh veggies all wrapped in their special sauce in a pita.
good value, healthier than eating McDonalds haha.
No front parking but a block away.

Stopped in here tonight, and despite the bad reviews gave it a try because I love the Nu Greek in gastown and how different can they be? Overall, the wraps (chicken /​veggie) were ok, although the greek salad was very disappointing, mostly consisting of day+ old cucumber and one. single. olive.
Why does the quality of Nu Greek vary so widely different from location to location??? I’ll stick with gastown for now.

Two stars because the Octopus wrap really is tasty-​but overall it’s a grubby little dump run by people who’d obviously rather be somewhere else.
It’s badly designed looks like hell to work in and has never had an in depth cleaning thus the ‘grubby’ remark.

Got a groupon for this place to give it a try. I know I would have been disappointed had I paid full price. The food was very bland… everything incl. the tsatzki (sp?). Isnt it supposed to be garlicky goodness?
And I know this is going to seem like an odd comment, but the cold items (everything other than the chicken) was too cold. So cold it hurt my teeth and the maybe thats why the flavour lacked?
Anyway, give it a miss.

I ordered the Chicken Souvlaki wrap. I’m not entirely sure what the meat they served me actually was. If you like Greek food, don’t go there. Ever. I’d opt for Opa when it comes to Greek fast food.

My most recent visit to Nu last week is the reason for my two-​star rating. Prior to that I would have had no problem giving them a five-​star rating. The food is excellent, and the various dips and pita selections are always great. The girl who worked the counter and the guy working the grill were always friendly and efficient. The previous employees had been replaced with two new people. I hadn’t visited them for about a couple of months because of summer holidays, so when I went in last week to order the tzaziki and pita, I was (pleasantly?) surprised to see that the price had dropped from $ 5.50 to $ 3.50. When it was the higher price, they would give the larger container of dip, and two pitas. So when I saw the the 2 dollar drop in price, my first question was whether the portion had been reduced… it wasn’t a critical question, just wanted to know why the price had dropped. The answer I got was that the $ 5.50 included tax, with the lower price the tax would be added. Portions sizes were the same. Hmmm, $ 2 tax on a $ 3.50 food charge? It actually turned out to be a total of $ 3.95 (incl tax), which made more sense. The front person started putting the dip in a container half the size of what they used to use. So, my comment was, «Oh, the portions have been reduced to reflect the price». He quickly grabbed the larger container and filled it instead. When the pita came, it was one, not the two they usually gave (at the higher price). Now, please understand, I do get that the lower price reflects a smaller portion. What I don’t appreciate is being told that the portions haven’t changed.
Meh, I’ve experienced better at Nu.

I have been here a half dozen times, I like the octopus warp (please forgive me Jacques-​Cousteau you showed me on public TV that octopus are smart beings) sadly do to constantly changing staff it not always tender when its been served to me. Overall if they could get the staff consistent it would be better overall experience.

Not related to Nunu’s Sandwich next door (believe it or not), the singular Nu occupies the space formerly known as Michi Sushi, which served pre-​wrapped sushi cones for a quick take-​out solution. Trading seaweed for pita, Nu offers pita /​wraps with choice of chicken, beef, lamb, veggies, salmon, or octopus. Simple salad sides include minted chickpeas, Greek or romaine. Dips include tzatziki and hummus. Beverages consist of the usual assortment of pop and bottled water. This Broadway location foregoes French fries in favor of a daily soup. All of these items come individually or in combos and platters.
Since the Nu restaurants belong to the Kambolis restaurant group that operates the mighty, aqua-​expert C Restaurant, I figured I’d try the OCTOPUS ($ 7) pita. «Everything» on it means chopped tomatoes, parsley, romaine lettuce, and tzatziki. The pita consists of the thicker variety, nicely grilled in a panini press. Everything tasted fresh. The octopus was tasty, moist and tender, not at all rubbery. Great food, great service. Accepts credit cards.
SO HERE’S MY GRIPE: For a place that emphases take-​out, even during the lunch-​hour rush, I should NOT have to wait 20 minutes before even ordering, then another 10 before having the product in hand. And from what I’ve observed, it’s always like this. I’ve attempted to grab a bite here on several occasions, even started queuing up, but then had to abandon ship because of time constraints. Today, I decided to stick it out. But boy, what a wait it was.
And we’re not talking Japa Dog lines, folks. It’s just a few people. And you can’t blame the lunch rush. The two young fellows over at Mr. Shawarma on W 4^th Ave, or even Subway down the block, have a system that works.
PROBLEM: this Nu location seems chronically understaffed during peak hours. The lone employee had to take orders, process payment, grill pitas, heat up meat, stuff pitas, grab drinks, take phone orders, process phone orders, make phone orders, replenish supplies, and even repair a broken panini press handle. Ridiculous! Management should hire more staff members not merely out of human decency but for the sensible fact that a more efficient system would move more pitas and people out the door, and that means more profit. Not only had I been deterred in the past, but I saw many other people wait for a few minutes, realize the inexplicable inefficiency inside, and mosey on elsewhere. One person should take orders and payment, and at least two should be making the food. I really pitied the overworked girl there, so I did not comment at the time they way in which she handled (cocaine-​laden) cash, (finger-​fondled) credit card machines and (about to be eaten) food with the same (bare and unwashed) hands. Instead of experiencing the fresh food, fine weather, or pleasant company, customers are instead subjected to a display of frantic, apologetic multitasking, eliciting feelings of human sympathy and collective bewilderment at either the ignorance or, even worse, willful cruelty of an absent boss.
I WILL NOT RETURN until the business improves the working conditions for its employees, alleviates the waiting time for customers, and guarantees better food safety. It’s a shame, really, because the food is good, albeit priced at the upper limit for souvlaki; but in this case, it’s not worth the wait. Four stars for the food and hard-​working all-​inclusive staff member; one star for the experience; overall three stars, in generous faith, hoping management will wise up.