Sandwiched between an ice cream shop and a Chinese restaurant, Pita Pockets is tucked under a fading awning on North Pleasant Street in Amherst, calling no attention to itself.
It doesn’t have to.
Since the eatery opened two years ago, college students as well as local residents have been flocking to the shop for a dose of Middle Eastern cuisine and the hearty reception of the gregarious staff.
“I’ve never walked into this place without seeing two things: a smile from the staff behind the counter and a line,” said Katie Paolano, an Amherst College senior who had settled on a chicken and falafel pocket on a recent Monday afternoon. But, she added, “the line moves fast and they entertain you with jokes the whole time.”
The restaurant features pockets, or pita wraps, filled with grilled chicken, Greek-style seasoned beef, or falafel and variety of toppings, such as hummus, tahini (a tasty sesame seed paste), feta, tzatziki (yogurt cucumber sauce), and fresh vegetables.
Plate dinners of similar ingredients are available, as well as jedra (rice and lentils served with sautéed onions) and kibeeh football (lightly fried cracked wheat shells of lean sirloin, onions and pine nuts).
Though mid-afternoon on a Monday is a typically slow time in the restaurant business, on this day, owner George Ejja was busily frying falafel, filling orders for a crowd.
Kim Abernathy of Darien, Connecticut, who was taking her order to go, noted she had been looking for a quick bite to eat on her way through town and discovered the restaurant on TripAdvisor.
“It was a highly ranked, quick, local eat, so I gave it a try,” she said. “This is some of the best falafel and hummus I’ve ever had.”
Ejja’s family here, originally from Syria, includes his sister, Victoria Khabot, her husband, Abboud Khabot and the Khabots’ son, Yussef.
“My dad had a restaurant in Syria that served up to 500 people. I mean it!” said Yuseff, who cooks at Pita Pockets.
Ejja left Syria and owned restaurants in Germany and Austria before coming to the United States, where he attended school at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell.
From there, he says, he moved to New Hampshire where opened a restaurant similar to Pita Pockets. Eventually, his sister’s family joined him.
But then a friend he had met at UMass put an idea in his head.
“He said, ‘George, there’s no good Middle Eastern cuisine in the (Amherst) area, you should look into filling that gap.’ ”
Ejja said his family was game.
“When you open your own business, you have to be optimistic about its outcome or else there is no point in doing it,” he said. “If you have good food and service, it should succeed.”
When he arrived in Amherst, Ejja says, he discovered what he saw as a lack of high quality vegan fare in area restaurants. His response is his signature falafel topped with fresh vegetables, tahini and a dollop of hummus, which has become a popular dish at Pita Pockets.
“I know how hard it is to be vegan and find good food,” he said, “so I try to spoil the vegans very much for that reason.”
Aside from the Middle Eastern offerings, the menu at Pita Pockets includes American fare such as a Buffalo chicken wrap and French fries, which can be added to a falafel pocket upon request.
Prices range from $4.50 for a veggie pocket to $8.50 for a falafel, gyro, chicken combinations platter.
For dessert, customers can pick from a 12-piece tray of baklava, a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo, filled with chopped nuts, and sealed together with syrup.
At the restaurant which is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Yussef Khabot often runs the dinner shift.
Throughout one recent evening, he was serving a steady stream of customers that included a group ofHampshire College students.
Khabot’s playful bantering kept them entertained as they surveyed the menu posted above the counter.
He commended one patron’s choice of a falafel pocket.
“Yes! A falafel a day keeps the doctor away,” he quipped as he spun behind the counter, grilling chicken, tossing falafels and sprinkling pita bread with an assortment of toppings.
In keeping with the casual ambiance, the restaurant chiefly offers counter service.
After establishing their basic choice — falafel, chicken, gyro, or a combination — customers move along the counter, choosing their veggies and toppings. To-go patrons arrive at the end of the line with a crisply rolled pocket wrapped in tin foil.
“Twisty side up!” cautioned Khabot as he handed over a packet.
It’s not unusual for the Pita Pockets staff to offer free samples to those waiting in line.
“Here, taste the kebab,” Khabot said as he offered a piece to one student who was eying the options with uncertainty.
“If you are wavering, they will give you a taste of falafel or chicken or whatever,” said Gina Lambiase, an Amherst College student who was eating her pocket at one of the few tables available.
“It’s clear they aim to please,” she said.
Ejja is matter-of-fact about his willingness to give customers free samples.
“I trust my quality and want my customers to be happy with their order. I like to look out (from behind the counter) at satisfied faces.”
Khabot agreed: “I want everyone coming in through that door to be satisfied. You don’t like what you get? You get your money back.”
Now that the Amherst shop is going strong, Ejja is expanding to Northampton. Renovations are underway at 193 Main Street, a former Subway location.
“I’m hopeful it will work out,” he said. “Like always, I’m optimistic.”
While Ejja and the Khabots keep hush about Pita Pockets’ falafel recipe, they offer a tzatziki recipe for those who want to try one of the restaurant’s dishes at home. This traditional Greek sauce can be served alongside grilled meats and falafel or as a dip to vegetables.
Tzatziki
2 cups plain Greek yogurt
1 large cucumber — peeled, seeded, and shredded
¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
2 cloves crushed garlic
Pinch of salt
1. Use a cheese cloth to strain yogurt over a bowl for 3 hours. Make sure most of the water has drained.
2. Press out the excess liquid from the shredded cucumbers.
3. In a medium bowl, stir the yogurt and cucumber together.
4. Mix in the garlic, salt, and mint.
5. Refrigerate mixture for 1½ hours.