Mad Greek’s Pizza
703 Goldstream Avenue
Langford, BC
(250) 478-6112

Making one’s way home in a wind storm with lightning zipping over my head wasn’t one of my better ideas. A cab could’ve easily carry me to mi casa without any threat of becoming lost in the dark or crisped by a well placed bolt. But I am sure Ed would weep at my funeral and recite, “In life, he was a great friend but in death he was a great entrée.”

But the fickle finger of fate wasn’t going to touch me this night. Instead I made my way in the darkness without lamp nor stars until, from a distance, I saw a beacon of magnificent blue. A Mad Greek’s Pizza sign perched high above to attract weary travelers like myself and possibly drunks at 2 AM.

By the time I reached their door, I was hungry enough to make a meal out of some wild animal. But considering the wildest animal I could find in the Western Communities is a customer from the Six Mile Pub on a Saturday night, I’ll settle for a donair ($7.95) instead.

And what a whopper it was! It took two hands to deal with this Greek weapon of mass destruction. Hopefully the only thing it’ll kill is my hunger hiding in that bunker I call a stomach.

If you believe anything you read from the Internet then the donair was a Canadian invention.

During the 70’s in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a little shop called King of Donair took the idea of a Greek gyro and changed some things around.

KoD became even more popular by the hit Canadian TV series Trailer Park Boys. In it, the character Randy (Patrick Roach) sells his body in order to satisfy his pizza fetish. The earliest references I could find of the donair existing in Canada were from the late 70’s with chain restaurants like Greco-Donair and Abba Donair selling this new invention.

Abba included parsley with their version and hopefully I can find a restaurant that does the same thing so I can try it.

What Mad Greeks offers in theirs is a simple spread of just the basics. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less delicious.

The tzatziki was plentiful; It was hard to keep the sauce from oozing down my hand and I savoured every tangy taste of the sauce as it complimented the soft beef.

One of the problems some establishments have in selling donairs is the lack of onions or tomatoes. In Mad Greek’s, both were plentiful. With healthy portions, this was a big mouth’s wet dream come true.

I don’t think I uttered a word as I chewed my way from one end to the other. When I was through, I still had my marinated fingers to look forward to.

Over at Mad Greek’s, what I ate wasn’t the best donair in the world, but it’s a nice evening treat. If you find yourself out in the Western Communities—hungry and lost—you may want to make a quick stop here to get your bearings.

And for those people who prefer something else, they also make pizzas and deliver.

When I get a chance to hit the East Coast, I’ll be sure to hit the King of Donair to see where they rank. I just hope I don’t have to sell my body to afford their prices.

2½ Blokes out of 5