It's Greek To Me: Great gyros, wacky onions

[Robin Garr]

I just finished a takeout gyros from It's Greek To Me for lunch. It was excellent overall, containing a huge, generous pile of quality gyros meat (so big I almost wonder if they recognized Mary as the critic's bride) and creamy tzatziki, but it also had an abundant amount of some of the hottest raw onions I've ever tasted. You'd think they would taste this stuff before handing it out to an unsuspecting public ...

I haven't been to All Greek To Me, but in my experience every gyro in town has paled in comparison to Al Watan's version.

Are they still using the microwave to heat up the gyros meat? That was biggest complaint the last time I went there. I agree its hard to beat Al Watan...but Bosna Mak and the Serbian Bakery by the Kenwood drive in make equally good gyros.

[Robin Garr]

Are they still using the microwave to heat up the gyros meat? That was biggest complaint the last time I went there. I agree its hard to beat Al Watan...but Bosna Mak and the Serbian Bakery by the Kenwood drive in make equally good gyros.

Good question. I don't know. (Mary picked it up and brought it home while I was writing a wine column.) The meat was fine, though. It was the super-hot chunks of raw onion that took the edge off it for me.

Last time I was there (a while ago) she took the meat out of a clear acrylic tub, weighed out a portion and then heated it up in the micro. The meat had a decent flavor but that process ,compared to watching a guy shave it off the rotisserie,left something to be desired. As I recall I had sweet onions and pretty good tomatoes. Our other issue was the very oily and cold pitas. In their defense our visit was not long after they opened on Frankfort, so it might have been just some "new to open" kinks.

[Robin Garr]

Last time I was there (a while ago) she took the meat out of a clear acrylic tub, weighed out a portion and then heated it up in the micro. The meat had a decent flavor but that process ,compared to watching a guy shave it off the rotisserie,left something to be desired. As I recall I had sweet onions and pretty good tomatoes. Our other issue was the very oily and cold pitas. In their defense our visit was not long after they opened on Frankfort, so it might have been just some "new to open" kinks.

Yeah, we live around the corner from there and watched the opening process fairly closely. I got the distinct impression that they were supposed to be offering takeout but were operating under the radar as a restaurant. In fairness, what I think you saw was meat that had been made the Greek way at their facilities in Radcliff, brought up here in a cooler and reheated to order in the nuke oven.

I think they've had proper kitchen equipment installed since then, but whether they've got the standard gyros cone and vertical spit beats me. Again, though, I really didn't have any complaints about the meat, which seemed to be quality stuff.

Yes, I enjoyed my gyro from Greek to Me as well, after taking off some of the onions (Bosna Mak does make an excellent kebab too!)

One thing that I wondered about was that, when I went in, they have food on an open, shallow case facing the public. I walked up the the counter, and, because of my vision, I didn't know that I was as close to the food as I was The man behind the counter said, "You can't do that" and I was like , "huh?" I told him I didn't know I was that close to the food, and he seemed to understand. Have they changed that arrangement of food? If not, you might want to keep an eye on kids or on someone who can't see there's open containers of food there.

We went several weeks ago and though we enjoyed the gyros (the quality of meat) they were almost overwhelming in size. My biggest beef is the fact that you cannot order single items after 5 pm. After 5 you must order the entree size. So what would have been a reasonable price for a gyros now became 4 bucks more for the additional side, which in our case was a fairly bland order of string beans and tomatoes. They are really missing out on the quick snack crowd. The menu is fairly elegant but doesn't match the service or the paper napkins, etc... Its like they don't really know what they want to be. I think I did see the cook shaving our meat.. but I'm not positive. I didn't have Robins problem with the onions, but some bags, batches, are just over the top in heat and the next ones fine.

William Smith (Bill)
Shady Lane Cafe

If you want real gyros, try the new Istanbul Palace restaurant at 2840 Goose Creek Road. They have the authentic gyro (they're Turkish and they call it "doner," but it's the same thing--- lamb roasted on a vertical rotisserie that's sliced when you order it.) Offered both as a sandwich and as an entree.

I don’t eat red meat, but my wife says the seasoning in their gyro is the best she’s had.

Al Watan!!

This thread feels a little bit like a political rally with audience members calling out their candidates name for the sake of making sure it's not lost in the commotion...

...so, in that spirit....

ZAYTUN!

[Robin Garr]

I'm just saying two things:

* Gyros is Greek. I think it's fine if Iranian, Palestinian or Lebanese restaurants want to make it, but probably it's best to start with the ethnic original. (As for gyros vs doner, I'm not *about* to get in between Greeks and Turks.

* Gyros is a singular noun. One gyros, many gyros. A gyro is a sort of helicopter.

Robin, unless I am missing something, I think your response was more directed - in a friendly way - at B. Morris' post. No harm, no foul - just wanted to clarify (unless I am missing something?).

[Robin Garr]

Robin, unless I am missing something, I think your response was more directed - in a friendly way - at B. Morris' post. No harm, no foul - just wanted to clarify (unless I am missing something?).

Yeah, you're missing my "D'oh!" That was meant to be a reply to the group, not a specific reply to your post, Matthew. I'm not sure why I hit "Quote" and will go edit.

ZAYTUN!

Seconded.

Also, I've found, at least from limited experiences (largely, donor kebabs in France vs. gyros in the states) that they differ some. The bread seems a little different, and gyros seem to always come with tzatziki while donor kebabs usually have the choice of an herbed dairy sauce that's a little thinner than tzatziki, and a red, very hot sauce. They are very similar, but something is different that I can't really put my finger on, and I slightly prefer donor kebabs to gyros.