Greek

I have heard Gyro pronounced a ton of different ways in different cities: Year-oh, Jie-row, Jeer-row…  I really try not to dine at an ethnic restaurant and mispronounce their food. So, I finally looked it up in Webster’s Dictionary – “A gyro (pronounced ‘Year-Oh’) is skewered, marinated meat, a part of the cuisine of Greece. Gyros are often, but not always, eaten wrapped in pita bread.”

So now that we’ve established pronunciation, here’s a little background on the Gyro; as stated previously, it’s a Greek sandwich, consisting of tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce (sometimes called cucumber sauce), served on pita bread. It was first introduced in the United States through Chicago in the 1960′s and has since spread all around the country.

Gyro express is hidden in a little strip mall between a supermarket, some Chinese nail places, Kinko’s etc.. I wouldn’t say it’s a destination restaurant but probably gets its share of regular lunch visitors. I stopped in around the evening and made my way up to the counter. In hindsight I feel like I gave the kid at the counter a hard time, asking a lot of questions about the gyros, the cheesesteaks, the hotdogs, etc. I hate being that jerk at a restaurant… you know, the guy who is always in front of you in line who has to place an order more meticulously planned than a NASA space mission. I really wasn’t trying to be difficult, I just wanted some direction as to what I should order. He was probably thinking to himself, “I hope this jerk just orders something and gets the hell out of here.” In any case, I decided on the #1 gyroscope meal ($7.49) with a Greek salad. I’m a little stumped on the meat that is used in gyros. Does it MOO or does it BAH? And why the big cylinder to rotate and broil this mystery meat?

Anyway, the food arrived about 7 minutes after I ordered it. The Gyro was a solid portion of seasoned mystery meat cut up in slices and was served on a nice warm, soft pita. The tzatziki sauce and onions worked well together.

I’m usually not into salads too much, but for some reason I really wasn’t feeling like fries this evening. The alternative to the fries when ordering the #1 gyroscope is a small Greek salad. It was a standard Greek salad, everything was fresh and the Feta cheese and vinegar based dressing gave it a nice flavor. I liked the pepperoncinis mixed in the salad to give it that subtle bite.

I wouldn’t mind stopping back here to check out their hot dogs and cheesesteaks. Although I noticed on the menu that the cheesesteaks say “Philly Steaks” but are really not Philly cheesesteaks.. Why you ask? Because they are made with provolone, which breaks the cardinal rule of a Philly cheesesteak. It’s not a Philly unless it’s made “wit whiz.” That’s the law of the land. And so it goes, the verdict for riding the Gyro Express: Decent food. Reasonable prices. I rest my case.

Gyro Express
1900 W Chandler Blvd
Ste 15
Chandler, AZ 85224
(480) 963-7791
http://www.gyrosexpress.eu

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