Gyros Kabob would never have opened its doors for business had it not been for the dream of one man to come to America...

After a worldwide adventure of life on the move as refugees Josef and his family settle in America.

Finding his former career skills in engineering would not be acknowledged, Josef realizes he must try something else.

Josef and a friend set about to open a restaurant featuring the delicious Gyros Sandwiches & Kabobs like he had encountered in Europe and the Middle East.

From that day forward Josef's quest has been to offer the best GYros, Kabobs, and a small, specialized menu of Persian, Caspian, Greek and Middle Eastern food.

Gyros Kabob would never have opened its doors for business had it not been for the dream of one man to come to America. It’s a story told over and over in this country, for as they say… we are a nation of immigrants. Josef’s parents were refugees too, but it was a different world 60+ years ago. Fleeing from Russia, Josef’s parents settled in Iran which was a far more friendly and relatively freer society back then. Although bias against Christians was still prevalent, Iranian society was much more tolerant of outsiders in those pre-revolutionary times. Josef came of age during the reign of the Shah when life was more “normal”… more like our own way of life. People could listen to music, dance, enjoy a drink now and then and be seen in public with the opposite sex without fear of retribution or persecution.

After the 1979 Revolution during which our President Jimmy Carter helped de-throne the Shah and usher in the era of the Ayatollahs and Mullahs, Josef found life in Iran increasingly intolerable. We in the United States cannot imagine what it is like to have government and religion one and the same…run by the same group of select people eager to dominate and to trample on the freedoms of its people…freedoms that we in the US take for granted. The militant clergy in Iran do not acknowledge what we see as self-evident “God given rights… of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. Concepts and expressions like “power to the people”, “the right to choose”, freedom of speech, of assembly and the right to bear arms are unknown in Iranian society. Fear, intimidation, terror and suppression are concepts embraced and used by the Iranian government against its people. This is why Josef came to America.

So it was ironic that Josef would be given the green light to come here at a time when our own freedom and way of life was under attack on that horrific day in September, 2001. After smuggling his family out of Iran five years earlier, he fled to Germany which has a fair number of Iranian citizens already residing there. As refugees they could not be turned away and the German government let them stay while they waited to find sponsors and make the necessary arrangements to come to the U.S. When they arrived in New York in mid-September of 2001 the Twin Towers site was still smoldering.

Although his family was sponsored by a family and a church based around the Oshkosh/Ripon area Josef still had to make his own way to find work. As an engineer in Iran he was able to provide quite well for his family. But those skills did not translate into the U.S. with all its requirements for licensing, certification, professional association and the like. Feeling he was too old to start over again trying to fit his knowledge of engineering into our way of doing things, he decided to start over with something entirely new. After being introduced to other Iranian people in the area and using the little bit of capital he still had left, he and a friend found an opportunity in Appleton on Soldiers Square.

It was a tiny little shop that had been many things… a shoe repair shop, a sandwich shop, and a computer store. After a considerable investment in equipment and a desire to offer gyro sandwiches and kabobs as he had known them in Europe and the Middle East, Josef went to work with hope that he could succeed in his new homeland.

Four months into it, his friend left him for more steady and “reliable” work elsewhere. Never one to fear uncertainty, and despite his self-proclaimed “language problem”, Josef ran the restaurant alone and started building clientele from those first days in April 2003.

I have worked with Josef since May 2004 and have never seen such energy in a person that has been through so much. I have never seen such energy and hard work in people half or even one third his age. Every day he is filled with hope that the next day will be better. He has a genuine love of people and an openness and willingness to serve them the best he can possibly offer. It is difficult to work with him and not be energized by his fervor and love of life. Josef worked with Americans in Iran during the time of the Shah when construction was booming and people worked hard and were happy. He says he had American friends and liked them all and was very sad after the Revolution when they were forced to leave. Now that he lives in America he cannot believe how hard we all work and, for some, how simply we have to live. “Americans pay too much taxes” he says as he writes another check to the government for his own share. I tell him “Josef, freedom is not free”….. he grumbles but goes on. Knowing America while living here is different than “knowing” it while living in another culture thousands of miles away. Still, for a man who speaks 5 languages, he obviously has learned to adapt and remains undaunted. I believe that Josef, no matter where he is or what he is doing, will do it well and succeed due to sheer determination and a spirit of adventure.

In the summer of 2006 Josef stopped operating his business on Soldiers Square and moved it to 205 W. College Avenue … fulfilling another dream… to have a bigger place so his customers could sit and eat in comfort. It was sad to leave the place on Soldiers Square. Many customers liked the ambiance and said it reminded them of a big city deli or tiny “mom and pop” restaurant where good food is more important than decor. But, as any of our old customers could confirm, the heat radiating off of three grills would not be missed…. especially on hot summer days.

Four years of doing business on College Avenue presented its own set of challenges. The biggest complaint from our customers was the parking situation on the Avenue. Some found it frustrating (and we agreed) but there was nothing we could do about that. For us it was putting up with a smaller kitchen. We had to give up serving kabobs after trying to fit the kabob grill into an already cramped space. In the ongoing fight between the deep fryer and the kabob grill … the deep fryer won.

Now… with the economic downturn, we are lucky to still be going strong and making new customers every day. But despite our best efforts, adjustments had to be made yet again, difficult choices taken to save the investment. After watching two different ventures come and go out of our original location, the opportunity presented itself to move back…. “back to home” as Josef would say….back to “the hood” I say… the big exhaust hood that Josef installed seven years before that would enable us again to spread our wings and run a more comfortable kitchen.

And so … we moved back to Soldier’s Square in July of 2010. We loved the trees, the relaxed atmosphere, the quiet cobblestone street. And thanks to some remodeling done by the building’s owner, we had a dining space to the right of the old kitchen doorway.

The College Avenue site was good for us in some ways…but the time had come to move on to the next chapter of the adventure.

We remain convinced that even with a small specialized menu you can make people happy…and happy customers are the best salespeople any business can have.

So, please come and visit us at Gyros Kabob on Soldiers Square for the most delicious gyro sandwich you've tasted in a long time…maybe ever. Take the time to engage Josef in conversation…he is full of stories. And besides, what better way for him to practice his English skills than with all of his new-found American friends.

Hope to see you soon...

Thanks to all of our old and new customers for making success a reality for Josef.
It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Claire (partner and friend)
Summer, 2010

March 2011, we said goodbye to Soldiers Square for the second and the last time.
Josef promised me no more moving after this.

Our dreams and wishes aside the reality IS that for most people, coming to downtown Appleton means coming to College Avenue. On Soldiers Square we were out of the loop. Soldiers Square is not included as a part of the Farmer’s Market. It is not a part of the layout for Oktoberfest weekend. It is often referred to as an alley, and favored only by people who are perhaps too shy to attempt parallel parking, or intimidated by the parking ramps.

In Appleton it is hard to get some people to venture off the beaten path even if it is only a half a block. After we moved back to our old (original) location we found that there are still people who live in the area and don’t know where Soldiers Square is or find it troublesome negotiating the one-way streets: Lawrence St. and Morrison by the YMCA and Soldiers Square itself are all one-way.

Many customers asked when the front door of our building would be opened. They wanted to come in the front door on College Avenue. Unfortunately our door was at the back of College Avenue, in the Soldiers Square alley. The front of the building was closed for over a year because the previous tenant vacated and because resolving the complications of a business that has gone out of business is well complicated. Although seeing vacant buildings around town is nothing new it was a complication for us for eight months, and we could not wait any longer.

But we persist in trying to do business downtown. We are determined to adapt once again to a new environment. We have a client base we want to serve and give them what they want good food at a reasonable price in a pleasant setting.

So, 119 Soldiers Square is vacant again hopefully not too long, for the owner’s sake.

The building we are in now (100 East College Ave) has a history [one of the oldest, if not the oldest on the Avenue]
It has ghosts [or so we were told by someone who used to work there]

I can’t wait to meet them.

Having done business at 205 West College I am familiar with ghosts and had developed a good rapport with one in particular. We did okay at that location (although the kitchen was not a good fit for us), and I credit her friendly presence.

Life is a series of adventures with high points and lows.

Please join us at our newest home (100 East)

The gyros and extras will still be the same, with some new additions coming soon.

As long as Gyros Kabob is run by our JOSEF we will aim to please as always.
That is our promise to you.

Look for JOSEF’s GYROS right across from Joseph’s Shoes in the City Center Plaza where College meets Oneida.

The adventure is not over.

Claire / March 2011