Food

A Taste of Greece in Bristol

Old school values meet deliciousness at this local restaurant

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Greg Gatos is the owner and chef at Bristol House of Pizza, which has been family owned and operated for 37 years. His parents emigrated from Greece and opened the restaurant with old school ingenuity and hard work. The family has been infusing passion into its food ever since.

What’s it like working with family?
I work alongside my mother and father. We all work very well together. We all bring something different to the table, and this helps prevent a lot of arguments. But there are times when we all have some good old Greek battles!

What type of food is your specialty?
We offer Greek dishes, but our cuisine is essentially focused on pizza, sandwiches, pasta, salads and daily specials.

If you had to choose, what is your favorite item on the menu?
My favorite item would probably be our chicken stir-fry. It consists of broccoli, mushrooms, onions, peppers, chicken over rice pilaf and finished with our homemade chipotle soy sauce – I accidentally created this sauce. It’s such a unique item on the menu.

What items do you make in-house?
All dressings (Greek, honey balsamic) are homemade as are the sauces, dough, meatballs, marinara sauce, tzaziki sauce, etc. We make everything in-house with the exception of our bread.

What’s a dish that people seem to come back for time and time again?
Customers seem to absolutely love our souvlaki plate and our Greek salad with grilled chicken. Our tzaziki sauce is really what makes the souvlaki. We also use it for our gyros.

I hear you have pretty amazing pizza. What makes it so incredible?
I think we can contribute this to our homemade sauce and the fact that we make our own dough everyday. I also think that we have a special ingredient; it’s called passion.

If I was going to try one pizza, which one should it be?
I think you should try our Greek pizza with chicken. It consists of fresh garlic, spinach, grilled chicken, tomatoes, feta cheese and imported Greek oregano. It’s out of this world! As a matter of fact, I’m going to make one now.

Do you use any local ingredients in your dishes?
We buy local produce from Kanakis & Son – onions, peppers, romaine, iceberg lettuce. We get tomatoes from everyone right now since they are perfectly ripe and in season. We also go to the Colt State Park farmer’s market in Bristol.

Now that  it’s getting colder, what menu item will warm you up?
We will be making a lot of hearty soups soon. My mother, father and I always have competitions to see who sells the most soup. It’s a lot of laughs, but more importantly, the fact that I’m spending this quality time with my mother and father is absolutely priceless. They are not going to be around forever, so I treasure all the beautiful moments we share together.

What kind of soup is everyone famous for making?
I do a hamburger vegetable soup using all fresh vegetables (whatever is available at the time) and lean hamburger meat. My mother is famous for her homemade Greek chicken lemon soup. My mother used to make that for me when I was sick. In fact, she still makes it for me. My father is known for his bean and vegetable soup. He calls it the boom bean soup… I  think you know why.

Bristol House of Pizza, Greek Food, Family Owned, Homemade, Local Ingredients, Colt State Park Farmer's Market, Bristol, Rhode Island

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