Long before Chef Mike Andrzejewski told us about his fond feelings for Zorba’s Texas Hots, it was on my wishlist. Sure, I knew exactly what they were going to serve just from looking at the building and the name, but something seemed so appealing about this tiny hot dog stand. After doing some last minute X-mas shopping this week with my brother, I decided to take a drive down Transit to find a cheap lunch.
The inside of Zorba’s is pretty simple, a small dining room that holds a dozen tables and looks like every Hot Dog restaurant/diner in Western New York. Their menu has a large breakfast selection (always available) and the usual diner food of burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. You place your order at the front counter, yes they do take credit cards, and they bring your food right to your booth/seat.
Quick Info:
- Restaurant Type: Casual, Diner
- Location: Depew
- Cuisine: American, Hot Dogs
- Prices: Almost everything is less then $8
My brother isn’t the most adventurous eater and decided to order Chicken Fingers and a side of fries for his lunch, they looked pretty standard. I decided to order their Texas Prairie Platter (~ $6, pictured above) which could be a considered a distant cousin to Rochester’s infamous Garbage Plates. The platter consists of a bed of french fries, topped with two chopped hot dogs, onions, mustard, cheese sauce and a lot of their Texas sauce. There weren’t any culinary walls being broken down but this plate was delicious and for only $6 it was quiet a large pile of food. The sauce had a really nice flavor and they definitely piled up the fries to make sure there was a large bed for all this food to sit on. The bite of the mustard and raw onions also worked well against the savory meat sauce. After I left I saw a tip on foursquare to have your platter with one hot dog and one hamburger, in retrospect that sounds delicious and I’ll probably order that on any returning trips.
The hours of Zorba’s are kind of confusing, from 6am Tuesday to 3pm Sunday they are open 24/7 and on Monday they are open 6am to 10pm. Which means that during the weekend, this could make for some amazing post drinking food. It turned out to be the perfect lunch spot for my brother and I, simple good food and very large portions. The menu and food wasn’t that much different from Hot Dog Heaven or Louie’s, but the Texas sauce had a little extra flavor and kick that might have me going back soon for more.
Photo Gallery:
