Showmars: A Staple in the Carolinas

“Everyone loves Showmars” is the fast casual restaurants slogan and seems to be an overall fact. I have never met anyone that didn’t love their food and service. Southern. Fresh. Greek. Three words that easily sum up this chain that has 30 locations throughout the Carolinas. Southern and Greek might sound like a head scratcher, but it works. “Mr. C”, George Couchell came to the US from Greece as a boy and worked in the family restaurant. After graduating from Duke University (and serving as a Naval Officer), Mr. C opened the first location in 1982.

Showmars is well known for their gyros and pitas. The menu is filled with a variety of other food such as seafood (I recommend the Calabash Shrimp platter if your stomach allows it), BBQ sandwiches, soups, and salads. Select locations also serve breakfast. For many of you here, you’ll need to peruse nutritional information for the important task of what you can eat. Unfortunately, it is not as sophisticated as the other menus I’ve covered in this blog. The information is broken down by breakfast, lunch & dinner, kid’s menu, soups, salads, desserts, and condiments. You’ll find standard info such as calories, carbs, sodium, and all of that fun stuff. The final row is a column letting you know if the food item is gluten-free. There is also the following disclaimer: “Item ingredients are gluten-free and remain gluten-free if prepared on separate cooking surfaces and in oils reserved for gluten-free preparation & cooking. However, unable to ensure that all ingredients originated from gluten-free manufacturing facilities.”

Sadly, no other allergens are listed.

[bctt tweet=”.@Showmars is a staple in the Carolinas. ” username=”gfspirit”]

Since we have a location near us, we have frequented Showmars for years. It’s also super convenient that they now have online ordering (as do 19 other locations) and a drive through window since we almost always order it as takeout. I’m a fan of their pitas, the aforementioned Calabash Shrimp platter, and a newer menu that I will reveal in the NSFDC section of this entry. Nikki is still pretty limited on menu options because of soy and dairy, however she really enjoys the food she can get. Her order is beef tips (no rice, onions, and peppers), salad, & fries. On our last trip, we asked what the fries are cooked in; the answer is vegetable oil. She ordered her salad plain so she could use Just Ranch.

 

Update 6/14/19:

Over the weekend, we went to Showmars & learned that they have removed the beef tips from their menu at all locations. New to the menu is the Beyond Burger Pita and Burger. The patty is plant based. Nikki asked if it contained soy, so the manager took a couple minutes to look it up. Luckily, it is soy-free. She decided to try the Beyond Vegan Pita minus hummus and onions. She scraped it off the pita, which she shared with our dad’s service dog. It didn’t taste too bad. Nikki said while she wouldn’t order it every time, it was nice to have another option. A gluten-free bun or pita would be preferred so she could eat that with her meal.

 

Vegan pita & fruit bowl
It’s always nice to have new options.

***NSFDC***

You have now reached the portion of the blog that contains #foodporn. Please look away from you screen in …3…

…2…

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Their pitas are SO good. Is your mouth watering? It’s okay because mine is too.

 

Original Pita from Showmars
The Original Pita is one of the signature items (mine has only the good stuff: cheese, ketchup, & pickles)

 

Ready to see the new menu item that I teased earlier?

It’s Chicken Mac & Cheese, topped with bacon and served on top of white pita bread (if you want to make this slightly healthier, you can choose wheat pita). This meal is SO delicious!

 

 

Chicken macaroni & cheese with bacon on a white pita.
This is as delicious as it looks!

 

Showmars Chicken Mac & Cheese with bacon on a pita
There’s so much food that I made this into two meals.

 

If you liked this article, you may also like to know what to order at Ruby TuesdayChili’sKickstand, and Texas Roadhouse.

[bctt tweet=”Find out what to order at #Showmars if you have #dietaryrestrictions” username=”gfspirit”]

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36 thoughts on “Showmars: A Staple in the Carolinas”

    • I hope you get to try Showmars whenever you come to the Carolinas! The original location is still open and not too far from me (I do have a closer location, so I usually have it from there).

  1. Oh my gosh! I want to travel across the vast amount of space to this amazing restaurant! That mac’n’cheese would be enough to pull me in. But I was salivating at the first picture. Maybe I’m just hungry, or maybe they should be on my bucket list…

    • LOL, Emily I hope that you get to go someday! The mac’n’cheese is an item they just added this year. I couldn’t believe how much food came with it! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it! lol

  2. Ahhhh I was hoping your were going to show the Calabash Shrimp platter, it sounds so intriguing. I would have to have seen a picture, although I must admit that the chicken and bacon loaded mac&cheese looks way yummy too

    • I thought I had a picture of the calabash shrimp, but couldn’t find it. I suspect I was too hungry to take a picture of it (though I’m usually in the habit of taking a picture first before I eat now)! The mac & cheese pita is SO good. I’ve gotten it a couple of times. I’m glad that it makes two meals because I can enjoy twice. 😀

  3. I love Greek food and gyros and pita is one of the most known dish from Greece. I like its fresh taste. I never had a pita without the tzatziki sauce on top but I’d like to try the one with cheese, pickles and ketchup. It sounds really good.

  4. My mouth WAS watering reading your post and seeing these pictures! I have never heard of Showmars before but I really really want it for dinner now. I am realising how boring the places are in my town, we need more fun places to eat!

  5. the showers its really amazing when i travel to usa i meat a lot of junk food but one guy show me a lot of products whit the similar aspect great taste more expense but delicious so i want to go to that city to probe this amazing product

  6. I love Greek food so much & pitas bread is one of my favorite. I am keeping this place on my list when I am going to the Carolinas

  7. This post just made me feel hungry, lol.. The food looks yum! I’ve never heard of the place but if I ever visit that area I’d be looking for it.

  8. It looks like so delicious and tempting dish. I would love to try those foods someday. You really got me with your dripping cheese.

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