Food truck that won Springfield taste competition is ‘Twisted’

The owner of a food truck that recently took top honors at the ninth annual Springfield Rotary Gourmet Food Truck Competition plans to expand its appearances throughout the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas.

The “Twisted Greek” food truck, which is based in Butler County, recently wowed judges and took home a gold medal along with top prize of $5,000.

That money, said owner Stephen Spyrou, will help the already popular rolling Greek restaurant eventually expand its appearances at local events and festivals, including some upcoming gatherings in Butler County.

For second generation Greek-American Spyrou, its all about taking a family love of their native homeland’s food and reaching more diners in southwest Ohio and beyond.

“I’m second generation Greek and my father immigrated to the states when he was 16,” said Spyrou.

“I jokingly call this business our Greek Empire.”

“The business began in 2020 making a mashup of baklava and cinnamon rolls. We call them ‘Baklabuns’ and they took off quicker than we thought they would.”

“My wife and I talked about expanding it into a food truck that would do nontraditional Greek food. We opened the food truck in April of 2022 with a completely different menu than what we are doing now, and it has quickly evolved,” said Spyrou.

“The idea was mine. For better or for worse. I always joked with my parents that I would never own a Greek restaurant. Technically, I still don’t. We are still kind of nontraditional and a food truck, not a restaurant.”

It was Spyrou’s truck chefs’ unique combination of feta-stuffed lamb and wagyu beef in a tasty “slider” burger that wooed the food judges in the recent Springfield food truck contest that saw Twisted Greek best dozens of challengers.

The $5,000 grand prize was the largest the company has won to date in its short history.

“Our menu is like a choose your own adventure story where you pick your base, protein and toppings to create your own wrap or loaded tater tots. One of our most popular items on our menu is our Gyro.

“It’s loaded with tzatziki, feta, tomatoes, onions, cucumber and sweety drop peppers. People are always intrigued by the peppers and come back saying how amazing the sandwich is. One of my personal favorites is our Greek style sausage (Loukaniko). The sausage is a recipe I put a lot of time working on to get it just right. It’s a pork sausage with lots of leeks, orange zest and coriander. It’s absolutely delicious and you won’t find anything like it around town. And our tater tots with hot honey and feta makes for the perfect snack or compliment to one of our sandwiches.”

With upcoming appearances in Fairfield, Middletown, Hamilton and other area locations, the company’s tasty reputation is booming.

“We hit the road 3-4 days per week. A lot of our business is north of the Interstate 275 loop up north into the Dayton area, but you can find us throughout the greater Cincinnati area as well.”

For more information on the Twisted Greek food truck and its menu go online to twistedgreekbakery.com.

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