Ziziki's AND The Greek features new line of Liquors - The 86 Co.

We are proud to carry all of these at all Ziziki's Restaurants as well as The Greek at One Arts Plaza. Sip on some of our amazing signature cocktails (designed exclusively for Ziziki's and The Greek by Jason Kosmas). These are a new line of distintive spirits - tequila, vodka, gin and rum.

Learn more about these new spirits with this special feature story Forbes.com and The 86 Co. Website.

Recipe Week: Greek Style Leg of Lamb

If anyone is an expert at cooking fabulous tasting lamb, the Greeks are. Of course, we reserve serving lamb for the most special of occasions. And we do know how to throw a party! Opa!

Lots of lemon, garlic, rosemary, and oregano infuse this spring roast.

Yield : Makes 8 servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary, coarsely crumbled
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 leg of lamb, 5½ to 6 pounds, excess fat trimmed
¾ cup water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.

2. In a small mixing bowl combine the lemon zest, oregano, rosemary, garlic, and flour. Stir in the lemon juice to make a paste, then season with salt and pepper. Make ½-inch, deep slits allover the leg of lamb. Rub the lemon paste all over the leg, making sure it gets into the slits.

3. Put the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan and pour the water into the bottom of the pan. Roast the lamb 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325° F and continue roasting until a meat thermometer registers 145° F for medium-rare meat, 1 to 1¼ hours longer.

4. Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let sit 10 minutes before carving. Skim the fat from the pan juices and spoon over the sliced lamb.

If you try this recipe, be sure to tell us what you thought in the comments!

Recipe: Greek Spice Cake

Photo Courtesy of Taste of Home

Who doesn't love cake? The brown sugar, almond extract, cinnamon and cloves is what really gives this cake it's exotic taste. Serve it warm for a special treat. See, you can have your cake and eat it too! Opa!

Prep: 25 min.
Bake: 50 min. + cooling
Yield: 12 Servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon shortening
2 tablespoons plus 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

Directions

Grease 10-in. fluted tube/bundt pan with shortening; lightly coat with 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the sugars, oil, buttermilk, eggs and extracts until well blended. Combine the remaining flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda; gradually beat into the sugar mixture until blended. Stir in pecans. Transfer to prepared pan.

Bake at 325° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

If you try this recipe, be sure to tell us what  you thought in the comments!

Recipe Week: Greek Yogurt Chocolate Truffles

Last week we gave you some great info on Greek yogurt. How about trying your hand at a treat made with that nutritious and delicious staple?

This truffle recipe gets rave reviews by everyone who tries it. They simply melt in your mouth. These are quite rich. Just one is sure to cure that chocolate craving.

Ingredients:
- 4 teaspoons of fat-reduced cocoa powder + some extra cocoa to roll the truffles
- 1 tablespoon of fat free Greek yogurt
- 5 tablespoons of powdered skim milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 5 drops of butter flavoring
- 3 teaspoons of artificial sweetener

Directions:
Mix everything together. Add extra powdered skim milk if necessary until the paste reaches a firm consistency. Put aside in the fridge for a few hours. Before serving them, roll the balls in cocoa powder.

If you try this recipe, be sure to tell us about it in the comments. 

Ziziki's Taverna Nominated For Favorite Mediterranean Restaurant With Addison Magazine

Ziziki's Taverna has once again been nominated Favorite Mediterranean restaurant in the 2012 Readers' Choice Awards!

 Click here to VOTE NOW!

A special thank you goes out to our Addison patrons, who have nominated and voted for us - to victory - last year for this great honor! We' ve been nominated as Favorite Mediterranean restaurnat with Addison Magazine Reader's Choice Awards! Now, we need your votes to seal the deal and launch us into first place. Thank you for making Ziziki's Taverna - Addison's Best Mediterranean Restaurant!

Join Ziziki’s in Supporting Homeless Families with Children

We at Ziziki's are proud to partner with a wonderful charity this holiday season - Family Gateway!

For well over 20 years, Family Gateway has helped over 7,600 homeless families - the children and their parents - recover from crisis and make positive choices for their future.  These families have found themselves homeless, and this can be devastating - especially for children.

This holiday, we are partnering with this wonderful organization to support these families during the Holiday season. Please bring an unwrapped toy, game, book or gift card by any Ziziki's location - or Ziziki's Taverna -  and we will make sure it goes to provide happy holiday memories for a homeless child at Family Gateway.

WHEN: November 29 - December 12 
Click here to download flyer.

Taste The Competition

The Taste of Addison is a huge event (May 21-23) that provides visitors with the tastiest food, music, and fun that Addison, Texas has to offer.  It includes 55 restaurants that serve samples from their menus at reduced price, and there's an awesome line up of entertainment including Chris Cagle and Luke Bryan.  For the family, there are carnival rides and midway games and tons of other attractions.

Ziziki's Taverna is proud to be a part of this exciting event this year! Watch culinary magic happen in our video below - with our Chef (and Ziziki's Owner) Costa making his exclusive specialty dish - Leg of Lamb Gyros.

This is a great opportunity for you to come out and try some of our delicious food - at a great price. Ziziki's is going to be offering a variety of our most favored entrees for a price that is unbelievable! Here are some of the deals we will be offering during the Taste of Addison event:

• Sliced Leg of Lamb Ziziki (Gyro) $6.00
• Artichoke Dip w/ Pita $4.00
• Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmas) $2.00
• Bud Light, Domestic Beer (16 oz) $3.00
• Premium Wine (red or white) $5.00
• Bottled Water $2.00

LEG OF LAMB GYROS

Lower Greenville Dallas

When we see the huge flames roaring and hear the sirens of fire trucks we only hope that everyone is going to be okay and safe. A fire is a tragedy that can touch so many people in such a little time. It can destroy a large structure in just a few minutes, but it cannot destroy the faith of the people touched by it. As we all know or have heard a very important part of Dallas was destroyed by a fire on Tuesday March 2, 2010.

The fire roared through lower Greenville very quickly and destroyed four very well known businesses to that area. These Businesses included: Terilli's Restaurant & Bar, Mick's Pub, the Hurricane Grill and the Greenville Bar and Grill. Although we cannot replace the historical meaning that these restaurants had on lower Greenville, we can help the owners and people out who held these places closest to their heart get back in business!

Since the businesses that were affected by this fire are temporarily out of commission until they can rebuild, there are many employees finding themselves without jobs. With the economy, finding a job isn’t as easy as it seems, but Ziziki’s is offering a great opportunity to those employees affected by this tragedy. Ziziki’s at Travis Walk location is here to help out in every way possible by offering jobs to those who are looking for employment! Please see Bobby in the evenings if you are interested.

Not only is Ziziki’s helping out lower Greenville but so has the community. Everyone in the surrounding area has come together to help rebuild.  It is such an important part of Dallas’s attractions and history. There is plenty of help that is still needed to get these businesses back on their feet.


Donations are welcome to help out this awful tragedy. Also on Saturday March 13, 2010 The LGNA (Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association) will be selling t-shirts that were donated by them at the block party between Vanderbilt and Vickery. These T-shirts will be $10 dollars each and all of the proceeds will go to help this cause.

So when a tragedy strikes a part of our history we all have to come together to give them a boost to get back on their feet, because we all know if this was our business they would be doing everything they could to help us too.