Gyros Town Mediterranean Food
Nestled in a corner shopping center, you can find some truly authentic cuisine. This week I want to tell you about such a place. On the North-West Corner of Happy Valley and Lake Pleasant Road there are a few different chain restaurants. Hidden amongst them is a truly authentic Mediterranean restaurant, that I highly recommend visiting. One of the things I enjoy about Mediterranean food is that they have a lot of options both for omnivores as well as for carnivores. I try to recommend to all people I meet to look past the name of some of these Mediterranean places and go in and smell the great aroma and look over the menu. Many people report back that they are so glad they followed the advice and now have a new style of food to enjoy.
The restaurant is set up with the traditional counter ordering system and then you can sit down and wait for your food. It is served as it becomes ready, so if you were looking to enjoy items as an appetizer first and then an entrée I would encourage you to mention it at ordering. There are quite a few tables and booths inside, as well as outdoor seating.
We decided to start with the Combo Appetizer ($8.75). This is a dish of four vegetarian items that would be easy to share with a group. It consists of Baba Ganoush, Hummus, Dolmas, and Falafel. It also comes served with pita bread. The Baba Ganoush is an Eggplant and Tahini mixture that has a very robust flavor. The hummus is smooth and perfectly flavored. The Falafel were small and easy to eat, especially when you add a little of the hummus to it. The Dolmas are served cold here, and the flavor of the lemon shines through the grape leaf wrapper. It could easily be an entrée if you are interested in staying vegetarian and not looking for too heavy of a meal.
We then ordered the Chicken Kabob plate ($11.49). This comes with a large amount of grilled chicken, a large scoop of rice, your choice of either Greek salad or soup, and pita. The chicken was seasoned and cooked magnificently. The rice had a nice rich flavor and was abundant. The Greek salad came with cucumbers, peppers, olives, and cucumbers while being finished off with Feta cheese and a green goddess dressing on the side. The star of the dish as it should be was the chicken. Large chunks of breast of chicken that had the touch of grill flavoring. It was not dry or overdone at all.
The next entrée was the Combination Plate ($14.49). It comes with all the item options as the Chicken Kabob, but you then get to pick any three of their meat options to fill your plate. I do mean fill your plate, as it is so much food that it is the value King of the menu. It would be an easy dish to share with two or maybe even three adults. We decided on the Gyro meat, the Chicken Shawarma, and Beef Kabob. The Gyro meat is thinly sliced off the spit upon ordering and is a delightfully tender blend of lamb and beef. The beef kabob is very similar to the chicken kabob in flavor as well as preparation, but with the added rich beef flavor. The Shawarma is served in a shredded or diced style and has an added strong garlic flavor.
The entire meal was delicious, but very filling. Be cognizant of the portion size when ordering. The staff, which looked to be comprised of a few family members, were super pleasant and eager to describe many items on the menu and to make recommendations. The entire experience was very pleasant and if you are in the area, I would recommend giving it a try. But I warn you when the plate gets served you may scream, Mamma Mia!
Location and Website – 9940 W Happy Valley Pkwy #1050, Peoria, AZ 85383 http://gyrostown.com