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By Miriam Raftery
October 15, 2009 – Business and community leaders congregated at Spinners last week for a celebration of the fast-food Mediterranean restaurant’s grand opening in Rancho San Diego. Guests sampled gyros, falafels, tabouleh and baklava, among other flavorful offerings.
“We grew up on these flavors,” said owner David Barka, a Chaldean Christian whose family origins are in Iraq, the cradle of civilization. “We tried to match as much as we can the flavors with the authentic food, but the presentation differs,” he explained.
Barka hopes his fast-casual concept of fresh Mediterranean cuisine will prove popular among not only the 30,000 Chaldeans now living in our region, but also returning military veterans who have served in the Middle East—and anyone else who enjoys the exotic flavors and healthful qualities of his restaurant’s affordably priced Mediterranean menu.
Ultimately, he hopes to expand to create a chain of fast-food fresh Mediterranean outlets. “Business is going well,” Barka said. “We’re seeing new faces, which means word is spreading. We want to succeed with this concept; then we will expand. We aer already looking at other locations,” he disclosed.
Spinners, named for the trio of spinning vertical rotisseries serving up lamb, chicken and beef, officially opened on July 3rd in the site of a former flower shop. Since then, the proprietor has been fine-tuning recipes.
Though the cuisine dates back thousands of years, Barka is utilizing the latest state-of-the-art technology to market Spinners’ to an increasingly high-tech audience of potential customers. “We’re doing a lot of social media—Twitter, Facebook,” he disclosed. Spinners was also among the restaurants featured at East County Magazine’s recent “Celebrate East County” event.
The East County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony on October 6th, complete with live musical entertainment. Leaders of East County’s Chaldean community, local business owners and other community leaders turned out to help celebrate—and savor the tasty fare. Our own East County Eater also stopped by for a second visit – and plans to return some more.
Read the East County Eater’s rave review of Spinner’s: http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/2075
Visit Spinners at 2654 Jamacha Road, Suite 101, in the Ralphs shopping center in the Rancho San Diego area of El Cajon. For more information, visit Spinners’ website at www.ilovespinners.com.
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