The Simple Greek

Decided to give this place a try for lunch the other day. I went with the small bowl with rice (as opposed to salad), chose rice with lentils, gyro meat, yogurt/​tahini sauce (as opposed to the sour cream sauce) and topped with veggies. The small was the perfect size for me but I could see how most folks were getting the large.
I was disappointed that with the small size you only get ½ pita (2 pita quarters) as opposed to if you ordered the large size you get a full pita. I think next time, I’ll opt for the pita rather than the bowl.

Really disappointing. On a Sunday evening when there is the arts festival, two sporting events and the gay pride events, the restaurant was immensely underprepared. When ordering, I asked for lentils as my protein but they were only a few left. The server substituted rice for the protein without asking. Both the rice and lentils were undercooked. Additionally, I ordered a spanakopita and was told they would bring it to me shortly. They never brought the spanakopita so I asked the server and was told they were out of spanakopita. There just didn’t seem to be any communication between staff about what was on the menu or what needed to be refilled in the bar area.

Girl wiped her nose with her bare hands then automatically began handling my food with her bare hands. Needless to say I walked out

I came in and got a gyro during lunch. The line was long but moved through pretty quickly. Good service. The gyro meat was great along with the yogurt sauce and other toppings. I’m definitely coming back in to try the chicken next time.

Ordered Spanikopita. It was hardly that. It did have spinach and crust but was a gooey mess. Nope won’t go back if this is their version of Greek food?! This little thing wasn’t worth the 3.75 I paid.

Whomever called this the Chipotle of Greek food pretty much nailed it. You start off with a decision between a pita wrap, rice, or salad base, and take it from there with proteins and toppings. There are lots of side-​dish options too. It can get crazy at lunch time because of its location in the epicenter of the downtown business district, but you get through it pretty fast and if you’re lucky, you can snag some outdoor seating and people-​watch on Market Square. For what you get, I find the price to be reasonable and the food is tasty.

This place is an upgrade from its previous gyro place. It is on the pricey side for lunch, but I am happy to pay for a customized salad once in a while.
You can pick your own meat — gyro is my favorite and chicken is my least favorite. They have pork and steak but you have to wait for them to make it.
You can select from a variety of hot sides and cold sides. Hot include potato with green beans or just green beans. Cold include tomato, lettuce, onion, hummus etc.
However, just watch out for anything you ordered on the side to make sure they didn’t forget to put it in. I also found myself having to watch carefully to make sure they follow my requests. I caught them a couple times coming close to giving me the wrong item.
Good lunch spot if you crave a gyro salad nearby, not worth going out of your way for it though.

Delicious Greek offerings and speedy service.
Gyro = very good
Grape Leaves = adequate
Lemon Rice = my favorite item
Great lunch spot. Grab something to go and enjoy your meal in Market Square this spring /​summer.

I was expecting more. Don’t get me wrong, they load the gyro up with meat and toppings but the meat is where it’s at. While making it I seen him get the gyro meat that was soaking in I guess water (ew) tastes dry and makes my mouth dry after eating it, had a weird taste. Why wouldn’t they use the rack of meat that’s spinning behind them? The sauce wasn’t that good either.
I also got the fries Greek style, nothing special, but they were good. Probably won’t be back.

Yes. A great small shop in the Market area. If you are in Greek venue, this is a nice place to visit. And far better than the $ 40 a person across the street.

Good food but questionable cleanliness. As I sat and ate I noticed 1 of the workers wipe their runny nose with their hands and get back to preparing food.

This place should definitely have a higher rating! This restaurant is basically the Greek Chipotle. The food is prepared and served by Greeks so the tastes are authentic. This was the best tasting gyro I ever had because then meats and sauces were so flavorful! I got a gyro bowl and it was a great deal! Greek food is somewhat scarce in the area and to provide it in such a quick, efficient manner is great! This is definitely not much of a sit down restaurant and the space isn’t super inviting but there is plenty of room in the plaza to sit and eat. I went here during Light Up Night and was able to get my food fast even though the line was practically out the door. I also love the customizability to the meal. Great concept, location, tastes, and services. Only downside is the interior of the restaurant, but if you don’t plan to eat inside, then it’s easily overlookable.

This is basically Chipotle bowls for Greek food — and I am a fan! I had the chicken which was really nicely cooked and seasoned over lemon rice. I added Tzatziki, cucumbers, beans with kale and tomatoes, olives, feta, chick peas and red onion. It comes with two pieces of pita bread. I also ordered grape leaves as they are my go-​to Greek food item. These left a bit to be desired, but the rest of the meal was delicious. They also have a yogurt bar which I will have to try out next.

This is basically Chipotle bowls for Greek food — and I am a fan! I had the chicken which was really nicely cooked and seasoned over lemon rice. I added Tzatziki, cucumbers, beans with kale and tomatoes, olives, feta, chick peas and red onion. It comes with two pieces of pita break. I also ordered grape leaves as they are my go-​to Green food item. These left a bit to be desired, but the rest of the meal was delicious. They also have a yogurt bar which I will have to try out next.

I was looking for a bite to eat for lunch in Market Square and was curious about checking this place out, plus I love Greek food.
I was a little skeptical of another «build your own» type place when I first walked in, but The Simple Greek delivered.
I was surprised that they were actually visibly roasting the lamb (much like in other authentic shops I’ve seen while traveling). I ordered a salad bowl and the staff seemed to encourage you to add as much stuff to it as possible. They had an enormous variety of topics, well beyond the basics – 3 choices of cucumber/​tomato mixes and grape leaves for good measure.
The interior was decorated minimally, but had various seating options inside and out. The staff wasn’t too friendly and this place is definitely a cafeteria style-​clean up after yourself type place. Maybe it’s just that it’s not ANOTHER Mexican restaurant in its spot, maybe a little refreshing to get a little fancy with that salad bowl, but the food was 4 stars for a lunch joint!

The worst part about my review is that I can’t even comment on the food because I didn’t get that far, due to the myriad of complete morons that work there.

I was really impressed by my yogurt bowl with hummus, vegetables, and pita, topped with honey, lemon and sea salt (an interesting combination that I completely enjoyed). The staff kept the line of customers moving (around 12 pm) and were very polite. A terrific place for lunch to go – and the food was fresh and had great flavor.

Total disappointment… This place WAS going to get a great review.
I’ve encountered the Simple Greek three times thus far. The first time was great! They were apart of a delivery service, and it was so awesome to have great Greek food delivered to my door. The chicken was overcooked, but I still enjoyed the gyro.
So… Of course I wanted to order again. I put an order in on Mr. Delivery through the Eat24 app. Typically, it takes some time for actual restaurants to deliver the food, but no big deal. By the time my ‘estimated delivery time’ came about, I get a phone call from Mr. Delivery… They’ve called to tell me the restaurant isn’t currently taking delivery orders, and my money would be refunded… Okay, I understand, maybe someone was short staffed on the restaurant side or the delivery side. I was disappointed, and still hungry… But not angry.
A couple days go by, and I figured there’s no way that hiccup can happen again. So this time I ordered Mr. Delivery through GrubHub. At least they didn’t wait for my delivery time to call to say the restaurant will not deliver.
I guess the restaurant decided to not participate in the delivery game any longer… That’s cool, but maybe have your vendor take the restaurant off of their websites, so customers don’t place orders. Both times– I prepaid with my credit card and included the tip. Which I normally do since I’m a frequent online food orderer.
Long story short, I’m out $ 45, yes $ 45 until the whole bank processing time is completed… and HUNGRY! DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS RESTAURANT ONLINE.

Great lunch spot in market square. Quick, tasty, and simple. The rice and salad bowls are great, as are the gyros.
Downside is that it could be a buck or two cheaper. The grape leaves aren’t that great, which is disappointing. Would be nice to be able to get a greek salad with no meat and tons of vegetables for a few bucks cheaper than their bowls.
In the end, one of the better spots in market square to grab a quick bite.

Gross. The chicken was bland and super dry, the grape leaves tasted like dry cat food smells, and the whole expensive ($ 15) meal smells vaguely of fish. Can’t even bring myself to take another bite, and I’m a pretty gracious person with food.

I don’t like lines. Who does? I especially don’t like lunch lines at high noon in Market Square. Yet there I was, at the stroke of 12:30, with four companions. What to do? Well, we met in front of Simple Greek, so we thought we’d take a peek inside, where we found ZERO line! To be honest, I’m not sure why, given that after thoroughly enjoying a greek/​lentil salad, I left thinking it should be more popular. It’s a little pricey for what you get, but sometimes it’s worth it to splurge for a warm, soft pita, great service and awesome flavors. Check it aht!

The Simple Greek was good. That’s it. The staff wasn’t organized but they were friendly enough. My friend ordered some steak and they were out (not a big deal) but it took everyone in the kitchen to figure it out and they looked terrified when she ordered it, which was weird. I had a gyro and it was good, they did load it with too much meat for my taste, but I’m sure a lot of people like that. They do have a nice outdoor area that looks across the farmer’s market, so that was pleasant. Like I said, it was good. But nothing special.

This was a tough one to review. The restaurant needs a makeover. It is disorganized and dirty. The restaurant had so many flies flying around, I can’t believe my husband ordered food from here. With that being said, I was surprised that it was actually pretty good. The gryo was tasty. They are set up like subway. You add whatever you want to the gryo. The veggies were fresh as well which was a nice surprise.
I am torn on recommending this place. I would give it 2.5 stars.

Delicious salads and pitas! I have come here for lunch during the week and the line can get a little out of control… I would like to give them some advice to make the queuing a little faster but it’s worth the wait for their salads. It’s basically what you would expect at a greek restaurant, I do like that you can choose what you want on your pita/​salad.
I’ve had both the pita and the salad before, they offer different meats and proteins and then your choice of mix-​ins.

Just ate there for the first time. It was just ok. I got a chicken bowl. Chicken and lentil rice were both really dry. I did come at 2:30 pm at the end of the lunch rush, so maybe this had something to do with it. The green bean garnish was just ok, the cucumbers and tomatoes were very fresh and tasty. I also ordered fries. You get a lot of them, but they were not cooked long enough at all. Soggy and undercooked. I will try them again during a «lunch rush» now that I know how to order and see if its any better. The food probably won’t be sitting around as long.

It may be a good idea for Mr Lemonis to come by to do a quick run through. why did the restaurant open 20+ min past its stated opening time? the restaurant was kind of dirty, empty ketchup container, no napkins at table, no cheese pies, place looked disorganized… the food was good, but i expected a better experience. Also… napkins instead of paper towels in bathroom… and the place was
suppose to open at 2 for lunch on 4^th of Jul… Isnt that kind of late???

Have you been to Subway? Imagine that system but with gyros and Greek salads. You go in and pick if you want white pita, wheat pitas, or a salad. Then you go and pick your meat, tzaki sauce (they have 2 choices yogurt or sour cream based), and veggies.

There will be a line here at lunch, do NOT let that intimidate you, it typically moves very quickly and the staff is good at keeping it moving. They also have alot of outdoor seating right there in Market square. I highly reccomend grabbing your gyro and sitting outside on a nice summer day and enjoy the ambiance of Market square without the need to fight for a table and enjoying a great gyro.

Went in at 11:05 to try the new menu and the girl looked at us like why are you here and said they don’t open till 11. We told her it was after 11 and she said «Oh than 20 more minutes». How do you just randomly change your opening time. Not very organized obviously. We really wanted to try their new menu but just left and went somewhere else. Not very good customer service.

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. I would give it 8 stars.
This place is so GREAT, so much that it deserves ALL CAPS OH MY GOD. It’s basically set up just like a Greek chipotle and the food is soo delicious and fresh. For basically the same price as a burrito bowl ($ 8.50 with tax) you can have truly delicious Greek food.
I went for the rice bowl with lentils and chicken. They give you a huge portion of meat (no skimping here!) and all the greek yogurt/​veggies/​feta/​olives you want! Be careful though, olives are not pitted. Sorry molars …
And when I teetered back and forth over getting a side of hummus, the gal putting my bowl together said to just get some hummus in the bowl since it comes with pita, so I didn’t’ have to pay more. (My wallet thanks ye kind lady!)
Super excited to go back!

As a first time visitor to Pittsburgh, I asked the hotel concierge for a good place for lunch and she pointed me to Market Square with it’s host of choices. I honed in on The Simple Greek as I prefer to skip chains whenever possible and there were a fair number of these to be found in the square. Additionally the line was at to the door so either it was really good or grossly inefficient. I am happy to report the former rather than the latter.
The line actually moves pretty quickly but I did feel some pressure to know exactly what I wanted to order to keep things moving and not screw it up for all the regulars in line. I selected a gyro salad bowl on to which I had green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, feta cheese with Tzatziki sauce added. Everything was quite fresh and yummy. Despite the line, there were several free seats available for eating there. Most folks seem to be taking it to go to chow back at their desk. I found their prices to be quite reasonable and the meal overall quite satisfying.

Great lunch spot in Market Square.
Friendly, fast service and fresh food. I love the concept of their «rice bowl,» which comes with a lemon rice (lentils optional), your choice of protein, and then various delicious toppings such as olives, feta, onions, green beans, etc. The bowl is topped off with your choice of sauce as well.
Great décor and a nice addition to downtown. I will be returning soon!

These guys do a good job of making quick gyro and other items. HOWEVER they need to know the difference between sour cream and yogurt. Today I asked for yogurt and they gave me sour cream… even after I questioned what they were putting on my salad.
Otherwise, a nice quick downtown lunchtime option.