NATCHEZ — For the past three weeks Natchez has had a little more of an international flavor. Thanks to Peter Hamezobpoulos and his restaurant Mr. Gyros, someone looking for a quick meal has one more option.

Hamezobpoulos already owned and operated Center City Bistro in downtown Natchez when he decided to open the Greek fast food restaurant also in Natchez.

Hamezobpoulos brought the Mr. Gyros franchise to Natchez from New Orleans where he operated several restaurants before Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When the hurricane forced him out of New Orleans he relocated to Natchez and opened Center City Bistro. Since opening that restaurant he said he has been looking for a location to open a Mr. Gyros.

“It is all about location,” he said. “If I find a good location I’m going to use it.”

And although the first Mr. Gyros he opened in New Orleans was a total loss because of the flood, that doesn’t mean everything was left behind in The Big Easy.

Now hanging on the wall inside Mr. Gyros is a painting that a New Orleans customer did shortly after Hamezobpoulos opened his first restaurant.

“It was under water for 30 days in New Orleans but it survived,” he said.

The restaurants namesake — the gyro — is like a Greek version of the American hamburger. The gyro sandwich is a combination of ground meats, onions, tomatoes and topped with a cucumber and sour cream sauce piled into pita.

The meat for the gyro is roasted on a special vertical rotisserie machine that spins in front of the heat source.

The restaurant is at 104 Martin Luther King St. in Natchez. The location, Hamezobpoulos said, will be the key to the success of the restaurant.

“The location is perfect. I always like to find a high traffic area,” he said. “If you are going anywhere you have to go through here.”

Soon after starting the renovations to the building, Hamezobpoulos put the sign on the building to draw interest to the formerly vacant building.

“People would look at (the sign) and think ‘what,’” he said.

Hamezobpoulos said it took him about three months to renovate the former Church’s Chicken location into a useable space for Mr. Gyros. And since the doors have opened, Hamezobpoulos said business has been “surprisingly good.”

“We’ve had a good many customers who have come back several times,” he said.

Also on the menu is a Greek salad, a selection of appetizers that include hummus, baba ghanoush, jajiki and dolmades, all served with pita bread.

Just like he did at Center City Bistro, Hamezobpoulos is sprinkling in a few American favorites to compliment his Greek menu. At Mr. Gyros, patrons can pick up a plate of fried chicken, chicken tenders or fried catfish if they aren’t quite ready to sample Greek cuisine.

But Hamezobpoulos encourages his patrons to at least sample the Greek offerings.

“I like to introduce Greek food to people.”

He even has a special chicken selection that he thinks his fried chicken eating customers will like.

“It is a Greek style chicken. It has garlic, olive oil and Greek spices,” Hamezobpoulos said. “I think if they try it then they will like it like they like the fried chicken.”

Because of the response during the first three weeks of business, Hamezobpoulos is optimistic about his future in Natchez.

“I’m already looking at options to open others,” Hamezobpoulos said. “If I find another location like this one, I’ll use it.”

Mr. Gyros serves a full menu from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.