Shishco Mezze and Grill – Maitland – Turkish and Mediterranean

I’m a huge fan of Turkish food, particularly the delicious version of gyro / doner kebab / lamb cuts that they make. It’s a little bit different from the typical Greek gyro meat you get around town – less processed, more grilled, and very delicious. The meaning of doner kebab literally means “rotating roast” as the stack of meats is cooked via a rotating spit roasted over a fire.

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Shishco Mezze and Grill is located in a strange building in the middle of a parking lot in Maitland. It used to be Fast Eddie’s Famous Burgers, then a smoothie joint, and a hot dog joint, among others. You order up at the window, kind of like at Checkers without a drive-thru. The spot only has a few picnic tables for seating outside, so most folks might want to take it to go.

Mehmet Tanriver and Mehmet Gurkaynak, owner partners of Shishco Mezze and Grill in Maitland started their first restaurant in 2003 in Turkey. Shishco means chubby, mezze means Mediterranean appetizers – put it together you have chubby Turkish appetizers.

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The partners moved to Orlando from Adana, a southern part of Turkey near the Mediterranean coast, cooking everything fresh with free range beef and chicken. One loves cooking falafel and zucchini pancakes while the other enjoys cooking chicken wings and kofte – grilled ground beef patties blended with garlic, onion, and spices.

On a recent visit for lunch, I ordered the gyro bowl, a generous bowl with a large lavash flat bread base overflowing with bulgur wheat grain, sliced pickled red onion, chopped tomatoes, and slices of beef and lamb doner / gyro. It was one of the best lunches I’ve had in a long time and would go back again just for this.

Go and try them out as soon as possible!
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