Popular Gaston County restaurant expands again and has plans for more around Charlotte

Pita Wheel is on a roll, and is opening its third restaurant in Belmont with plans to bring its take on the pita sandwich to more places around the Charlotte region.

Pita Wheel is open at 55 Glenway St., in the former Glenway Premium Pub that closed in June. It’s the third Pita Wheel location in Gaston County.

“We’re known for our pita first, beer second,” Pita Wheel Belmont general manager Ashley Alleman told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.

Pita Wheel adds a “fun and eclectic” vibe to downtown with bright colors and its indoor dining room wall mural of comic great Lucille Ball, Alleman said. The mural was painted by Belmont artist Erin Albertson.

Pita Wheel started as a food truck by Christopher Davis. “There’s nothing out there like (Pita Wheel) right now,” Alleman said. “He took the gyro and he really expanded on it.”

Pita Wheel’s menu

Pita Wheel’s menu offers pita favorites like the gyro, burgers, wraps and salads, plus appetizers like wings and fried pickles and milkshakes. The pita, sauces and most sides are made in-house, Alleman said.

The Grecian Pita is made with chicken tips marinated in Pita Wheel’s Greek dressing, charred onions, lettuce, tomato and cucumber tzatziki sauce.

The California Philly has shaved sirloin with grilled mushrooms and onion topped with melted provolone cheese, avocado and ranch drizzle on a warm grilled pita.

Every month a new pita is tested and if it’s a hit with customers, it could be added to the menu, Alleman said.

Nothing on the menu is more than $13. And Pita Wheel Belmont has 16 taps with mostly local craft beers, plus cocktails and wine.

Pita Wheel’s vibe

Pita Wheel remodeled the Belmont site — tearing out booths, laying new floors and adding vibrant paint colors.

An original surfboard table remains in the middle of the dining room, Alleman said. A new focal point is the tap system hooked up to a fully restored front of a Volkswagen bus.

Each Pita Wheel features outdoor dining area that is family-friendly and dog friendly.

The Belmont side deck also has been upgraded, including touch-ups to the exterior wall mural — another piece of history of a city parade, Alleman said.

Pita Wheel has a seating capacity for 140 people, including eight “authentic beer garden tables from Germany” on the deck.

Alleman said the restaurant has about 30 full- and part-time workers.

The Belmont location has limited hours as more employees are hired. Hours are 4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 4-10 p.m. Sunday. Pita Wheel expects to eventually be open daily and add lunch service.

Pita Wheel’s backstory

In 2014, Davis started Pita Wheel as a food truck.

Three years later, Pita Wheel debuted its first permanent location in downtown Dallas, N.C. The restaurant briefly closed but reopened in 2021.

In 2020, Pita Wheel expanded, opening in downtown Gastonia, about 10 miles east of the new Belmont spot. A Lucille Ball wall mural was painted there by Andy Rocco.

And Pita Wheel is already planning to open more locations in the Charlotte region, possibly in Matthews, Concord or Huntersville, Davis told The Gaston Gazette.

“Chris really likes the small, downtown areas,” Alleman said. “As soon as one opens he’s looking for a new location.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2023 at 6:40 AM.