Chester, PA – It may be festival season for the Greek community outside, but inside at Harrah’s Casino this past week, some 140 vendors from across North America showed off their stuff. It was all about fast food.

Sponsored by Kast Distributors Food Inc of Carneys Point, NJ,and hosted at Harrah’s Casino in Chester, the event gave folks a fun filled day of restaurant style food sampling and allowed vendors to see what the latest industry feature was. From cheese filled meatballs, to gyros and everything in between, the tastes and scents filled the air and had you sampling whatever you could grab for.

The Greek owned company also had many family run Greek businesses on hand, including Philly’s Best Steaks Company Inc.  Of course, we had to try a cheese steak. It’s a Philly tradition and the Greek community has taken it to a whole other level. Zafeiris Akranis of Philly’s Best, gave us a sample of Halal lamb made cheesesteak. Camera man, Vasilis Keisoglou smiled and licked his fingers as he gave a Cosmos Philly thumbs up approval.

Based in Yeadon, PA. and founded in 1995, the family run distributors have been on the fast track with their product line. It’s a perfect match for Kast Distributors, who work closely with their fellow Hellenes in the  food distribution industry.

Another staple product for Hellenes, especially during Greek Festival season, is the now famous, gyro. How can anyone go to a Greek festival and not try one. It’s become so popular, that it’s now on the menu at fast food restaurants both Greek and in national chains.  Michael Pittas of Olympic Foods featured the best gyro, hands down at the event. The Chicago based gyro had the perfect blend of lamb and beef. Low in fat and cut to perfection, the gyro also came in traditional form, on the gyro wheel.

But the one vendor that came in and broke from the rest, was Sweet Note Bagels bakery from Manayunk. It  was a presence that stood out from the rest. It was fast health food, if I can call it that. For those healthy conscious gluten free bagel lovers , this was a treat. The New York style bagels were a wonderful surprise. What was more surprising was the fact that the fast food start up was run by three young entrepreneurs. Let’s not mention their ages, but they are noticeable young. Sweet Note founder Michelle MacDonald,  along with Brittany Nettles, and Alison Vandermay are the backbone of Sweet Note Bagels.