TAFKASS

TAFKASS:  An acronym for "The Area Formerly Known As South Square."  South Square was a mall at the southern confluence of 15-501 Business and Bypass.  The mall proper was demolished and replaced with a number of big-box retailers.  A number of ancillary strip malls and other conglomerations of stores encircle the site.  I refer to the entirety of the mess -- the new stores and environs -- as TAFKASS.

TAFKASS is on the Ethnic Grocery Store Trail, a.k.a the Silk Road. 

References:

South Square Mall at Wikipedia
South Square Mall at deadmalls.com
Inspiration for "TAFKASS"

Comments

[Stew]

I take it people were wondering what it meant? I knew immediately. Except I'd challenge you about the "formerly" part of your alphabet soup. I still call it South Square.

[Joe Eater]

Stewie: It's just another part of my commitment to customer service here at Eat at Joe's!. :)

[Kira]

Wow...it's gone? The whole mall? I missed the boat on that one as I didn't know. Then again, I haven't looked for it since I left Durham.

[Joe]

Yeah. The whole damn thing was torn down about 5 years ago. Then they built another big pile of stores there, and everything is ok now, or something. (Actually, unless you like big-box places like Ross and Sam's Club, chain restaurants, and stupid tiny stores that you'd probably never go to otherwise, you're SOL.)

[Fritz]

When I think of the Tafkass region of Durham's Silk road the first thing that comes to mind is having a Gyro sandwich with rice at Spartacus.
I have never tried anything else on their menu since I only go there when I've got a serious Jones for a yeeerozz.

[LBR]

Thanks for that! It may be an easy acronym to parse if you've been around for a while, but for those of us who moved here within the past 2-3 years, it's not nearly as intuitive.

[Joe]

Fritz: Spartacus is good. It's probably not so good as Taverna Nikos was in its prime, but it's better than TN was at its worst; it's definitely better now, since AFAIK, Taverna Nikos is still closed. :(

LBR: I try to use an acronym html tag when I can, but occasionally I forget. The tag will typically cause the browser to render tagged text differently, and in some cases will display a "title" attribute that the auther can set to the actual term used. But since I made the acronym up, I thought it deserved explanation. :) Some software doesn't handle the tag correctly anyway, or strips it out, like this comment form (I can enter it through an admin interface, but I can't just stick it in the comment form).

I also got a hit the other day from a search for the string 'tafkass.' It turns out there's some German band or the like using the word for something (I'm not going to look again right now), so I had more impetus to put up the definition.

[durhamfood]

I like the desserts at Spartacus, but could take or leave the rest of their food.

[Fritz]

They seem to be othe only ones capable of making a good gyro.

Is there anywhwere else in Durham that makes them decently?

[Joe]

Have you tried the ones at Satisfaction? I don't claim to be an expert on the subject though, and I haven't had one there for a year or two. Perhaps International Delights on 9th St.?

[miles]

I'm a fan of the gyros at Papa's Grill in the shopping center on Hillandale just north of 85.

I also found it very funny that the South Square entry on Deadmalls.com described Durham as a suburb of the RTP. Did anyone else find that funny?

[Joe]

Yeah, I caught that. Had it been on Wikipedia I would have tried to change it. :)

[durhamfood]

Good gyros...good luck. My standards for Mediterranean food are pretty absurdly high, so I haven't found anywhere good enough for the snack and snack-like stuff in the area.

[Fritz]

The one thing about the Gyros at Spartacus at least they make their Tzatziki from scratch the rest of the places use some commercial concoction that sends the entire sandwich straight to hell. That place on Ninth street uses it also the place on Franklin St in Chaple Hill. Bleeech
The summer months are the best times for Tzatziki when the cukes are in season.

[Valerie]

The fire at the original Hector's on Franklin Street left a gaping hole in the local gyro universe. It's just not the same when the grill and the spit are all shiny and new. Mall gyros, yuk.

Yeah, I still say South Square. I suppose the name might be puzzling for anyone who doesn't know there was a mall there.

[Joe Eater]

There used to be this little chunk of office buildings to the east of South Square called "South Square II." They're still there, but they removed the "II" from their sign. Go figure.

[Susan]

My personal renaming of the area is "South Pit" denoting the big hole that tearing down the mall left. I keep hoping this will catch on - but I like your's too. I find it very ironic that they rebuilt short squat buildings in the hole and are going to build 4 story condos on top of the nearby hill. Maybe they'll make the blue tower feel not so alone. LOL

[Joe Eater]

S: South Pit is good. Maybe I'll start saying that. It's easier to say, and doesn't require as much explanation. :)