2 Crazy Greeks, Hixson TN

I don’t know what took me so long, but one day in April I finally got the kick in the pants necessary to go try this very humble carry-out place. It’s become one of my favorite restaurants in the Chattanooga area.

Never mind what caused the delay; let me tell you about the kick in the pants. For many years, I’ve been aware that there’s a chain around the southeast called Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, based out of Birmingham. I’d never tried it before, but one day I got a serious hankering for some Greek food. I’ve been to a place in town called Opa’s that a lot of people really enjoy but didn’t have a really great time and left it on the “try again another day” list. This wasn’t that day. So I went to the Taziki’s on Gunbarrel Road and had one of the most bland, boring, and forgettable meals I’ve ever had in my life. The food was not at all bad, but about sixty seconds after I finished eating, I noticed that I was full and wondered what I had eaten for lunch. You might argue that’s even worse than a bad meal.

So the next time I went out for lunch instead of making it myself, I resolved I was going to do something about that. I drove up to Hixson, where once upon a time there had been a barbecue place that I never had the chance to visit that I believe was called BBQ City. In 2015, brothers Paco and Nicky Fotiadis gave the old carry-out building a fresh coat of white and blue stripes. Paco’s been there with his wife Maria each time I’ve visited. I’ll be hitting double digits before too long. Holy anna, I love this place.

I even love this place so much that I didn’t mind wearing their food the first time that I visited. That first stop, I had the gyro platter, and I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed gyro meat this much. Probably Nick’s in Atlanta. It was completely delicious, and I had it with a Greek salad rather than potatoes. You can see it in the picture above, noticing that I’d placed some triangles of pita bread inside the cover of the tray while I enjoyed my lunch at one of the two picnic tables in front of the building. Well, the wind started raging as I ate, and three triangles weren’t enough to hold it open. As the gale force grew, my knife and fork vanished, my book flew off the table, the triangles went airborne and the bread whished through tzatziki sauce in one compartment and dressed lettuce and feta in the other and smacked me in the chest. I turned my back to the howl, cleaned myself off, retrieved my book, and walked back up to the window. “May I have another knife and fork?” I asked. “A tornado claimed the others.” I ate the rest of this wonderful meal in my tiny little car.

I came back the following week and had their regular lunch special, a gyro “sandwich” on pita with fries and a drink for $9. It comes with less meat and a whole lot less vegetables than the platter, but it’s every bit as tasty.

A couple of weeks later, I was back to try their falafel. It’s very good, too. I prefer the gyro, but I wouldn’t say no to another order of these at all. It’s a great place for lunch and one which I’ll return for another meal before long.

You know, I have to stop finding places that I love so much in this town. I only go out for lunch once or maybe twice a week. I’m not as able to find new things if I keep coming back to Bolton’s or Uncle Larry’s or Steamboat…

2 Crazy Greeks
4848 Hixson Pike
Hixson, TN 37343

Special celebratory note: I saw that 2 Crazy Greeks was the 100th Chattanooga-area restaurant that we have written about (Sugar’s Ribs was the first, back in 2010), and so I did a little counting. We have written about 226 restaurants in Tennessee, including 47 in Nashville, 39 in Memphis, and 25 in Knoxville. Let’s see whether we can’t get one of these other cities into triple digits before we get too tired of driving!

If you enjoy classic adventure television and movies, then come visit our other blog, where we’re enjoying thrilling shows from the seventies in the company of our six year-old son. It’s called Fire-Breathing Dimetrodon Time and it’s updated several times each week!