Couple to introduce quick, fresh Mediterranean food to Manassas

MANASSAS — A new Mediterranean restaurant called Strofi is coming to Manassas. It will open in the Shops at Signal Hill on Liberia Avenue, across from Aldi.

Strofi owners Lidiia and Benan Aksoylu are a married couple with a desire to bring authentic Mediterranean food to Manassas. Benan is Turkish and explained that gyro, while typically seen in Greek restaurants here in the U.S., has its roots in a popular Turkish street food known as döner. He and Lidiia want to bring that same authentic dish to Manassas.

“I found out that people want to eat gyro. Gyro is what it’s typically called but Middle Eastern/Arabic people call it shawarma, said Benan. “People usually understand gyro because the Greek population in the U.S. is a lot larger, and with it, people know what the gyro is.” 

But what he wants to do is bring authentic gyro – döner – to the U.S.

Benan explained that döner is a huge deal in Europe – in Germany alone it’s a $30 billion-dollar industry. A lot of people ask Benan where to get a fresh gyro and he always tells them that the only place he knows is in Washington, D.C. 

“Fresh gyro is something that hasn’t been really popularized so people haven’t really tasted it. So in the U.S. there is something that is an imitation version of gyro but it isn’t really real gyro, it’s basically a huge piece of meat cut into shavings whereas real gyro is stacked…” Benan explained.

Lidiia, who is Ukrainian, explained that they will be making their gyro with fresh meat. “In my home country, we don’t have that much frozen food.” Lidiia also said their pita bread will be baked fresh morning and night.

This is the first of what they hope will be many other locations. Strofi is equipped with a drive-through window, which makes fast and fresh gyro even easier for hungry patrons to order quickly.

Manassas is an ideal location for the restaurant.  “It seems like a great area- it’s still developing, it’s not like Fairfax where everything is already built,” said Lidiia.

Lidiia, 28, is not only a new business owner she a new mom who is also vegetarian and an aspiring vegan. Her husband, however, is a meat eater. The couple playfully riff on their differences, which will translate to vegetarian options such as quinoa and falafel but also typical staples such as beef and lamb gyro meat.

“People in the US haven’t eaten a real gyro”, according to Benan. “I believe it’s going to be a hit in the U.S.,” Benan said, “So that’s why I decided to do it.”

Strofi, located at 9740 Liberia Avenue, is expected to open in September.