The newest counter on Merrick Road carves gyro to order, grills souvlaki over an open flame and builds Greek bowls the way a burrito line builds burritos, and every piece of meat in the building is halal. Pita Grill House opened at 2168 Merrick Road at the start of the summer, and the father and son who run it believe that combination makes it the first fully halal Greek spot in New York.

That is a bold thing to claim in a state with this many diners and gyro stands, but the idea behind it is simple enough to fit on the door: Greek classics, counter-service speed, and chicken, lamb and beef that are all certified halal, with no mixed sourcing. For families who check before they order, that one sentence does a lot of work.

The fried chicken plan that became a Greek one

Pita Grill House is a two-generation project. Aziz Mayan spent more than 30 years in kitchens around Brooklyn and the Bronx, a long stretch of it in fried chicken shops, before buying the Merrick storefront and planning to open, naturally, a fried chicken spot. His son Ahmed, 27, had a different idea. The family, which came to New York from Afghanistan, has told the story publicly: the son grew up around Greek food and loved it, but as his faith deepened he wanted a way to eat it without compromise. So he pitched his father on Greek done fully halal, something neither of them had ever seen anywhere in the state.

The two have said the real draw was the chance to build something side by side, with the father running the kitchen the way he learned over three decades and the son handling the modern end, from the ordering apps to the social feeds. The shop opened at the end of June and is still in its grand-opening stretch.

Burrito-line mechanics, Greek food

The ordering system will feel familiar to anyone who has built a burrito bowl. Pick a base: a pita for $14, a rice bowl for $16, a french fry or lemon potato bowl for $17, a salad or grilled vegetable bowl for $18. Every build comes with two proteins as the standard, chosen from beef and lamb gyro, chicken gyro, chicken souvlaki and falafel, with steak as a $6 upgrade. Toppings run from the expected lettuce, tomato and cucumber to grape leaves, lemon potatoes and olives, and a dip and a sauce are included, with house tzatziki, a spicy tzatziki and hummus leading the dip list.

The named builds are where the menu has fun. The O.G. is the classic beef and lamb gyro with tzatziki for $14. The Zeus Bowl loads brown rice with gyro meat, chicken souvlaki, vegetables and feta for $20.50. There is an octopus bowl, grilled or fried, for $23. The Gyroll, $10 for two, wraps gyro meat and mozzarella in a crispy eggroll, and Nacho Average Greeks piles pita chips with a protein, two dips, jalapenos and feta for $17. The avgolemono, the lemony chicken and orzo soup, is billed as a grandmother's recipe, and the dessert case runs to baklava, kourabiedes and rice pudding.

Who the table is set for

The halal commitment is the point of the whole project, not a footnote on it. The owners have pointed to growing Muslim communities nearby, in and around Bellmore and East Meadow, whose options for eating out tend toward the same familiar halal staples, and a fully halal Greek menu gives those families a cuisine, not just a meal. The owners have said they picture Friday crowds coming from the mosques and Sunday crowds coming from the churches, and they built the menu so nobody in either group has to ask what is in it.

For everyone else, it is simply a new Greek counter with hand-carved gyro, and the menu quietly covers the picky eater too, with smash-style burgers, wings, chicken tenders and kids meals rounding out the Greek core.

If you go

  • Pita Grill House, 2168 Merrick Rd, Merrick, NY 11566
  • Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
  • Phone: (516) 223-7482
  • Order: at the counter, or online through Toast, Uber Eats and Grubhub
  • Follow: @pitagrillhouse on Instagram

Hours and prices can change, so check with the shop before you go. Either way, Merrick Road now has a counter where the gyro comes off the spit, the fries come under feta, and the whole block can eat at one table.