Apóla Greek Grill

We love Meditteranean and Middle Eastern food – enough that we’re willing to drive to Little Arabia or Long Beach for great meals, and actively seek out nationally famous options when we’re traveling outside the area. That said, we’re always looking for good options elsewhere in Orange County, which has brought us to the small Irvine-based Apola Greek Grill chain several times. Though the menu is very limited, Apola does a fine job with its main dishes, and an okay job with sides.

The concept: choose from seven possible proteins (chicken gyro, chicken breast souvlaki, beef/lamb gyro, pork gyro, shrimp, falafal, or meatless gyro) to place in a pita sandwich, divided rice plate, or mixed bowl of vegetables, add spreads and/or sides, and end with a piece of baklava. At Apola, the meats are the stars, all properly seasoned and decently portioned. Other items, including hummus, eggplant, fries, and baklava, tend to be unremarkable rather than great, though a lemon and rice soup (avgolemono) is nice, and dolmas grape leaves have been atypically bland.

Apola’s biggest assets are fairly low pricing and clean, In-N-Out-style dining rooms with indoor seating. It has two remaining OC locations in Irvine and Yorba Linda; a third closed in Anaheim in 2023, with additional LA shops in varied open/temporarily closed/closed states.