More snacks from the store.

By Henry Brost

It was a cloudy Saturday as Owen Lingerfelt (‘26) and I pulled into an uninviting shopping center on Staples Mill Road. Looking around, we saw run-down food places and trash on the ground. Lingerfelt said, “Are you sure we are in the right spot?” We saw a place in the back corner of the shopping center with a sign that read 2M Mediterranean Market and Deli. As we parked and walked up the market, we saw multiple people outside the store eating food and laughing, raising our hopes. 

Beef gyro with lettuce, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce.

As we entered the store, we were greeted by a welcoming man who said he was the manager. He asked what we wanted to do and gave us a brief history of the store: “We have been running for 21 years, and I have never had a person not enjoy the food. My favorite thing is the lamb gyro; the most popular is the beef gyro.” The market offers a variety of gyros and meal combos. 

Lamb gyro with lettuce, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce.

After hearing this, I decided to follow his suggestion and ordered the lamb gyro, and Lingerfelt ordered the beef. As we waited for our food, we looked around the store and saw an array of Mediterranean snacks and desserts, and Lingerfelt said, “We need to get some of these to try.” After looking for some time, I found a chocolate bar called Blok Cream, and, by the looks of it, it looked like a normal chocolate bar. Lingerfelt went with a wafer-type bar called a Napolitanke.

After waiting about 15 minutes, we got our food and paid. The price for each meal was around $18, which I think is a fair price for a gyro, fries, drink, and a snack. We sat down at one of the small tables in the store and proceeded to dig in. Lingerfelt’s first facial expressions were skeptical, but as he chewed and swallowed, he said, “This is fire.” For me, the warm lamb with the cold tzatziki sauce was like warm bread with butter. Along with the tomatoes and pita bread, it made the perfect gyro. We then cracked open the drinks, which were just glass bottles, with no labels or words. We had decided to choose these because of their bright colors. Lingerfelt’s was yellow, and mine was pink. As we had our first sips, mine tasted like pink lemonade. I looked over at Lingerfelt, and he said, “This is the best drink I’ve ever had.” 

Lingerfelt’s dessert.

After finishing the gyros, we dug into our desserts and opened the packaging. Lingerfelt’s looked like a chocolate wafer bar, and mine looked like a block of chocolate. As Lingerfelt took his first bite, his face squirmed in discomfort, and he said, “I’ve never had something like that, and it was terrible.” As I dug into mine, I got a sour taste from the chocolate bar, which was very discomforting. Lingerfelt and I agreed that the gyros were amazing, and as for the chocolates, Lingerfelt said, “Maybe we just got the wrong thing.” 

Before we left, we spoke with the manager again, and he said, “Mediterranean food is a key source of food that more people need to try.” Overall, the meals we had were an amazing experience, and I’m looking forward to visiting 2M Mediterranean Market and Deli again. 

All photos by Henry Brost.