urbanSTL

ebo wrote:Drove by on the way home from work tonight and they are open for business.

Great! Thanks for posting.

^ Juice, in the meantime, I recommend trying South Grand Gyro Express if you're in need of a gyro fix.



If it were ever featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives", it would definitely fall into the third category. But damn, those are some of the best gyros in town.

I stopped in tonight. After all the doner kebab talk around here, I had to try one. My first doner kebab did not disappoint.

Went for lunch. Get there early, there were a lot of people and one guy (very slowly) making sandwiches. The Doner was good, but the only difference between it and the gyro was the bread and the sauce (which I am disappointed to say was, I think, Hidden Valley Ranch). On the up side, the meat was good and overall flavor very good. The standout for me was actually the bread that came with the doner. GREAT. Chewy, but yielding, exceptionally fresh. I am sure this place will do fine, but they need to get an assembly line going in the kitchen or they will lose people with time constraints, especially at lunch. Oh yeah, cash only at the moment.

TGE-ATW wrote:Went for lunch. Get there early, there were a lot of people and one guy (very slowly) making sandwiches.

Tonight there were 3 people making food, one taking orders and helping make food...still pretty slow.



We waited probably 10 mins for a turkey wrap and a gyro, and an additional 5-10 for our tzatziki which was supposed to be an appetizer.



Just for those who are curious, regular gyro is 5.75, make it a meal with drink and chips for about $1.89.



We got a gyro, chips, drink, tzatziki (pita bread with ranch), a turkey wrap, and a piece of chocolate-ish cake with a layer of cheesecake at the bottom. Wife wanted a grilled chicken wrap but they were out of chicken.



Gyro was not one of the best I've ever had but still decent - Pam's Chicago Style Dog and Michael's Bar & Grill do them better. Wife liked her turkey wrap - I had part of it but I'm just not a wrap guy. Tzatziki was decent but the pita bread just didn't do it for me, and like I said, waited a little too long for it considering it was supposed to be an appetizer.



Cake was good, it was $3.49 for a piece.



So yeah, I'll probably be back when I'm in the neighborhood - it's a nice space, too...but wouldn't be telling the whole truth if I didn't say I wasn't a bit disappointed.



Oh, and as far as the speed - for now we can attribute that to their only being open for 3 days.

It's like "nukular," willful ignorance. I noticed it too, annoying.

Actually, now that you mention it, I may need to re-evaluate my position on the proper pronunciation. I seem to remember the etymology of "gyro" as being related to the greek verb "to turn" referring to the turning meat on the spit. If we pronounce "gyroscope" the proper way for the same reason, I suppose that "gyro" (Jai Row) could indeed be correct. Damn. Oh well, too old to change.

Jeff707 wrote:that's how the people in Greece pronounced it when I was there.

They also used pork.



Anyway, I think yee-row comes from Americans trying to pronounce the unpronounceable.

JuiceInDogtown wrote:I hope that I'm wrong and they're right, honestly...because a gyro shop should pronounce gyro correctly. It's just that I was always made fun of when I called it a jai-row and assumed I was wrong.

I'm not saying that JAI ROW is correct. I'm saying I've heard it pronounced different ways depending on where I am. And that saying it like you're clearing your throat always worked for me.

A crystal clear explanation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.



All the Greek-speakers I know have always sounded like Luke's explanation: say yee-ros starting by clearing your throat (a la chutzpah, chanukah).

Just went there for a late lunch--didn't have to wait long at all. The doner was good. I'll be back.

My favorite place was the Middle Eastern Market on S Grand where TFA was most recently. I used to pick up lamb heads for my dogs and a gyro for me. Such a drag the place was firebombed in the late 90s.



I'll second Coffee Oasis.

I had a gyro here today and it was really good. I would recommend it to anyone that likes this type of food. Gives me another reason to not eat at Olympias.