By Denise Allabuagh, Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice
WILKES-BARRE — A new gyro restaurant will open soon in a North Main Street building that the longtime home of III Guys Pizzeria & Restaurant.
Husband and wife Sam and Ashrakat Suhib, of Kingston, plan to open Shawermajy Halal Gyros at 67 N. Main St.
Sam Suhib said they have their recipes and menus ready but they are waiting for inspections to be completed. He hopes to open in the beginning of April.
The restaurant will sell chicken and beef gyros, cheese pies, meat pies and traditional Middle Eastern food like falafel and hummus, he said.
Suhib said he likes the location and he believes the restaurant will be popular among college students as well as people who work in the area.
The restaurant will have “quick service” and include a dining area, Suhib said.
Takeout and delivery will be available. He said the hours have not yet been set but the restaurant will probably be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and later on the weekends until 1 or 2 a.m.
Gyros are staples of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine that have gone mainstream in the U.S.
Shawermajy Halal Gyros will join other gyro businesses in the area, including King of Kings Gyros on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and Notis the Gyro King food truck in Wilkes-Barre Twp.
The latest ethnic restaurant adds to an array of cuisines from around the world being offered in downtown Wilkes-Barre, which has been called “restaurant row.”
Other ethnic restaurants in downtown Wilkes-Barre include Letts Eat — Flavors of India, French restaurant Le Manhattan Bistro, Thai Thai, Japanese restaurant Katana, Mexican restaurant El Zocalo, Italian restaurant Cafe Toscana and Caribbean restaurants, Hartman Jerk Center and Caribbean Paradise.
After 30 years in business, III Guys Pizzeria & Restaurant closed at the North Main Street location in 2014 and opened a bigger location in Edwardsville.
Hottle’s Pizza and Pasta then opened at the site, but closed in 2016, less than a year after it opened. It was owned by the Burns family.
