Manny Yiakras knows the correct way to pronounce “gyro,” but he said he will not hold it against his customers if they get it wrong. The Greek native and Cy-Fair restaurateur said he combines a passion for food with a love of people when running Manny’s Greek Cafe on Hwy. 6.“I love people because that’s my culture; it’s all about hospitality,” he said. “My plumber is my customer. My dentist next door is my customer. My chiropractor down the street is my customer. That’s the old-school way.”
Yiakras first opened Manny’s in 2004. Over time, he said he has had to overcome multiple challenges to keep his restaurant open—including road construction and increasing costs—but has remained committed to using quality ingredients and following recipes passed down to him from his grandmother.
Yiakras said the quality of ingredients and attention to detail are two of the most crucial needs in his kitchen. Precision is required when preparing the tzatziki sauce—a process done by hand that involves dehydrating the cucumbers in a way that keeps them from being too watery while also preserving the flavor—as well as when grilling the pita bread to perfection and carving the gyro meat.
“A lot of people overcook the gyro, and it becomes too dry, and it starts to taste like jerky or bacon,” he said. “The gyro has to have juice inside. It has to have a little tenderness.”
