DOWNEY – Tacos. Burgers. More tacos.

For a community as culturally diverse as Downey – where Cubans, Mexicans and Greeks are increasing in both population numbers and local political influence – this city’s dining options haven’t always reflected the shifting evolution of Downey’s demographics.

Only recently have we begun to experience culinary ambition in Downey, with menus that inspire creativity and celebrate ingenuity. For those restaurants that stick it out, the success appears to be there.

Examples are Gaucho Grill, the Lock & Key, Green Olive, The Olive RestoBar, and Caña by Tropicana, each of which are receiving rave reviews on Yelp for their unique twists on otherwise traditional dishes.

Barriles RestoBar, formerly Mi Cielo, also recently revamped its menu with platters intended to appeal to the young, working professional (chilaquiles burger, anyone?).

The latest addition to Downey’s new foodie scene is Pita GR (the GR stands for “Greek”), sandwiched in the middle of a strip mall a few doors down from See’s Candy. The address is 9905 Paramount Blvd.

Barely a month old, the restaurant is owned by the trio of Dino Marougas, Valentin Flores and Joseph Manacmul, who collectively saw a need for a Greek street food concept in Downey. They purchased Cafe Opa in early 2018 and spent the next six months remodeling the interior and developing a menu.

The fruit of their work was revealed Sept. 24, when Pita GR opened to the public.

As a fast-casual restaurant, customers order from a register at the front of the store and have their food delivered to their seats. Servers work in teams, allowing customers to order additional food or receive help from any of the staff members on the floor.

The restaurant offers most of the traditional Greek offerings -- lamb and chicken souvla, pork souvlaki, roasted potatoes -- available as either a pita, salata (salad) or merida (plate).

The dip trio can be ordered with any of Pita GR’s five traditional dips. Pictured left to right are the skordalia, melizanosalata, and tirokafteri dips.

Unlike most other Greek restaurants, Pita GR sells its protein by the kilo. Souvla lamb, lamb chops, pork souvlaki and pork yeero can be purchased by the half-kilo (enough to feed 2-3 people), or a full kilo (3-4 people).

There are five choices of dips: skordalia (a mixture of potato, olive, garlic and chives), tirokafteri (Greek cheese blend, roasted hot peppers, and oregano), revithosalata (garbanzo, tanhini, garlic, lemon and evoo), tzatziki (Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic and dill), and melitzanosalata (roasted eggplant, tahini, walnut, garlic, parsley and evoo). “Evoo” is extra virgin olive oil.

Featured on the a la carte menu are dishes such as saganaki (pan-fried Greek cheese), avgolemono soup (traditional egg-lemon soup with chicken and rice), and the original GR salad (tomato, cucumber, red onion, anaheim pepper, feta, kalamata olives, oregano and evoo).

This reporter tried the lamb rotisserie pita, stuffed with avocado, tomato, cucumber, fries, pickled red onion, chives and a htipiti spread. It was paired with a side of seasoned garlic fries. For dessert, both the vissino and baklava GR frozen yogurt.

“Greek street food is the common food that one would eat on a daily basis if you lived in Greece,” explained Marougas, who also helped develop the menus at Poached Kitchen and Gaucho Grill.

“On every corner of any city in Greek you will find souvlatzidiko. This staple Greek eatery consists of a few things: yeero (pork or chicken) and souvlaki, and they are almost always served two ways: wrapped in a warm pita or a la carte by ½ kilo or kilo.

“This is equivalent to the American burger stand and it is eaten for lunch, dinner and late night after hours.”

What makes Pita GR different from other Greek restaurants?

“Our food is authentic and carries all the ingredients of what you would find in modern-day Greece,” Marougas said. “Our food is refined and the ingredients touched with intent. For example, the red onion is still the red onion but pickled to invoke sweet, sour, and spice. This helps accent the fat content in the lamb and brighten up the flavor profile.

“Greek cuisine has too long been related to Greek immigrants that served their mothers’ food and a menu of food that has been Americanized to accommodate a palette that was less adventurous before the days of Food Network and Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown,’” Marougas added.

“What Americans know as ‘yeero’ or ‘gyro’ is actually not served in Greece. This product was produced in Chicago by a Greek immigrant, again to accommodate the American palette at a time when pork was deemed to be unhealthy.”

Marougas, Flores and Manacmul already have plans for their next project -- Louks Greek Baby Donuts at 9232 Lakewood Blvd. -- but for now their attention remains fixed on Pita GR.

Pita GR is located at 9905 Paramount Blvd. It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Pita GR is Downey's latest example of culinary ambition