Local restaurant gets new owners, plans to expand; downtown business lands on national list

Gyro is among a fairly sizable list of words that I neither know how to spell or pronounce but do know how to eat. Well, one of the city’s largest producers of gyros has new owners and is looking to expand.

Downtown Lawrence’s Pita Pit restaurant has been bought by longtime commercial real estate executive Pat Peery and his son Sam. The duo has begun a small scale remodeling of the location at 1011 Massachusetts St., including a new rear entry, new signs, a new large screen television and the installation of free Wi-Fi for guests. Plans also call for a new sidewalk dining area to be built along Massachusetts Street.

The menu also has expanded some. The restaurant has begun serving fruit smoothies, with a variety of mango, berry and banana flavors.

But the bigger changes to the restaurant may be yet to come. Pat Peery used to direct the real estate activities of Wal-Mart Stores and Kohl’s Department Stores before coming back to Lawrence in 2012. Peery said he and Sam bought the Lawrence Pita Pit with the idea of expanding the chain’s presence in the region.

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“We intend to grow the business,” Pat said. “We aren’t doing this to just own one Pita Pit. A west Lawrence location at some point would make a lot of sense for us.”

The Lawrence store also has launched a catering division and has bought a delivery van. Sam Peery, who runs the day-to-day operations of the restaurant, said the Lawrence store had seen a bit of a downturn under previous ownership, but he thinks the idea of pita can still be a hit with Lawrence diners. I guess I shouldn’t assume you are all familiar with a pita. It is a type of unleavened bread with a pocket that can hold a variety of meats, cheeses and veggies.

“I was a customer of a Pita Pit back when I was in college,” Sam said. “I like that it is a healthier alternative. It is less bread than a sub sandwich.”

In other news and notes from around town:

• I’ve learned the hard way, don’t get your gyro and your Yugos confused, although a used Yugo will cost you less than most gyros. Either way, skip the Yugo, one of the worst cars of all-time, and get a good bike.

All this is to say that Lawrence has one of the top-rated bike shops in the country, according to a new ranking.

Downtown Lawrence’s Sunflower Outdoor & Bike has been named to the America’s Best Bike Shops list by the National Bicycle Dealer’s Association. The association looks at about 4,000 bike shops across the country, and fewer than 300 bike shops were included on the list. The program involves an application process and mystery shoppers visiting the store to evaluate a host of product and customer service issues.

This is the fourth straight year Sunflower has been named to the list.

• Here’s the name of a restaurant chain to keep an eye on: Buffalo Wings & Rings. The restaurant recently announced that it has signed a deal to build three restaurants in Wichita, with construction set to begin this year. But the chain also took the unusual step of announcing that Lawrence is the next city in the state where it plans to locate, although the timeline might still be another three years.

The chain is a sports bar concept that serves chicken wings and onion rings but also has a large menu of hamburgers, quesadillas, tacos and other items.