Fans of Uncle Gussy’s Truck know to stalk the Twitter Tracker to see what special owners Nick and Franky’s mom has made for the day. Lamb chops and pork chops are popular in the rotation (it’s hard to beat mom’s oven roasted lemon potatoes), but keep your eyes peeled for Pastistio.

Made of layers of macaroni, seasoned ground meat and béchamel sauce then baked together in a casserole, this dish reminds me of Cincinnati chili meets lasagna. For $10 you get a generous hunk of Pastistio and a Greek salad on the side with plenty sharp, real deal Greek feta cheese. I’ll be keeping my eyes out for the next time this makes an appearance on the menu.

Uncle Gussy parks every day on 51st & Park Avenue.  Check for specials on their Twitter Account.

Poseidon Bakery, the truly “old school” Greek spot on 9th ave btw. 44+45th is primarily known for their sweets. I love baklava but I’m rarely craving dessert on my lunch hour. I was a bit more interested in Poseidon’s savory pastries (like their spanakopita) and was curious if they were worth trekking one avenue out of bounds for.

Poseidon offers four different savory pastries: spanakopita (spinach pie), tiropita (cheese pie), kreatopita (meat pie) and menina mash (vegetable pie). They are all $4 except for the kreatopita which is $4.50. I thought getting three of them would give me a comprehensive survey of the menu and was probably all I could handle for lunch (plus it’s already over the $10 limit. I’ll give you one guess as to which I didn’t get.

The pies are stored cold, but I wouldn’t recommend eating them that way. I lugged them back to my office to microwave them (my requests for a toaster oven in the office kitchen have gone ignored and, in some cases, openly ridiculed). I didn’t think to ask the folks at Poseidon to heat them up for me, but I bet they would. Luckily, the pastries survived the nuking pretty well, maintaining a flaky though somewhat soggy-on-the-bottom phylo dough shell.

First up is the kreatopita, made with ground beef, leek, dill, onion and scallion. It tastes kind of like a meatball wrapped in phylo dough, which is fine by me. I was especially happy that I could taste the dill but I think I might have enjoyed it more if the meat was seasoned just a bit more. It was still really good though.

Next up was the tiropita, a mixture of feta, ricotta and cream cheese with a hint of mint. Just a solid block of dough-encased cheese. The texture was very creamy but luckily the flavor wasn’t too rich. As I discovered during a week of eating calzones every day, there is such a thing as too much cheese, but that’s definitely not the case here. I really liked this one. It’s worth mentioning that this was the most grease soaked of the three after microwaving (and not surprisingly the most filling). I think I would rank this one slightly ahead of the kreatopita.

I finished things off with the spanakopita, spinach mixed with feta, leek, dill, onion and scallion. Unlike the other two pastries I tried, I am very familiar with spanakopita and I was thrilled to find that Poseidon’s is probably as good as any I’ve ever had. There’s nothing revelatory about it, but it seems to have just the right mix of ingredients. A strong spinach flavor (I hate when you can’t taste the spinach in spinach pies) brightened up by dill with everything held together by the feta. This was my favorite.

Three of these things left me plenty full and feeling like a bit of a pig. They’re not huge (the hypotenuse measures 6 inches and they stand about an inch tall), but they are densely packed pockets of delicious. Two would probably make a good lunch, especially if you supplement them with something sweet for dessert.

I will definitely go back for these again and look forward to trying the menina (spinach, carrot, potato, leek, onion and dill). Poseidon may be known primarily for their sweets but their savory pies are every bit as delicious, satisfying and “old school.”

Poseidon Greek Bakery, 629 9th Ave (btw. 44+45th), 212-757-6173

When the Souvlaki GR truck took home Rookie of the Year honors at this year’s Vendy Awards, they were still in their infancy, but I was really looking forward to them eventually serving lunch in Midtown. Unfortunately, they seem to be getting very cozy in a regular noon-9pm spot at 21st and 6th. Hopefully, they will still make it to Midtown eventually, but why wait? A few weeks ago, I took a (temporary) break from mourning Midtown’s loss to celebrate Flatiron’s gain (it’s still better than trekking to Astoria, right?). I can now say that wherever they park, Souvlaki GR is a great addition to the NYC food truck scene (and it’s just a few F stops away).

I ordered their bifteki (burger) pita combo ($5.00 not sure how much this is now, but separately bifteki is $4 and fries are $3) and a pork souvlaki pita ($3.50). The bifteki is less a burger and more like seasoned beef balls (like kofta). It comes in a pita with tomato, feta, red onion, tzatziki sauce and fries. All in all it was pretty good. The beef is flavorful and I really like their lemony tzatziki. I’m not used to tzatziki with such a strong citrus flavor, but it’s light and very good.

The combo also comes with fries. I ate the fries last and the wait rendered them a little soggy, but they were seasoned, and I have a lot of respect for seasoned fries. They’re a nice way to round out a meal but next time I’m more likely to just fill up on nice, charcoal grilled meat. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention they have something called Greek Fries, which I believe employs feta cheese.

Finally we have the pork souvlaki pita (they also have chicken). This is what the truck is named for so it had better be something special (I’m looking at you, My Biryani). I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint at all. My souvlaki pita was much simpler than the bifteki. Just meat, vegetables and tzatziki. No cheese or fries. I think that’s a good thing in this case. The pork was moist, had nice charring around the edges and was just all around delicious.

The main thing I didn’t try was the souvlaki stix. Skewers of pork or chicken served with a piece of fresh pita. They’re $1.50 a piece or 5 for $6. One of those sounds like a very smart way to top off a meal here.

I know some people were worried about size when they saw these low prices. I think the souvlaki pita is about the same amount of food as a kati roll from the Biryani Cart. The bifteki is a little bit bigger. It’s not dirt cheap for sure (and prices don’t include tax), but I think it’s pretty reasonable for what you get. And the prices and smaller items allow you to try a few different things and still stay under $10. All in all the prices fall somewhere in between the tremendous value of some old school carts and the more expensive new school, gourmet carts.

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Delicious Greek food from a truck is a rarity in Manhattan
• You can try a few things and still keep it under $10
• Awesome lemon-y tzatziki
• It’s mouth-watering, charcoal grilled meat on a stick. What’s not to love?

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• It’s hard to fill up without getting close to the $10 mark
• I don’t like souvlaki and they don’t have a whole lot else
• Why would I want to eat mouth-watering, charcoal grilled meat on a stick when I can just go to Subway… again.

Souvlaki GR, They’ve been parking at 21st and 6th, but follow them on Twitter (or the ML Twitter Tracker) to be sure.

I am eagerly anticipating the Midtown debut of the Souvlaki GR truck, this year’s Vendy Rookie of the Year winner. It seems like something truly unique in an increasingly varied Midtown street food scene. As it turns out though, someone is already serving up Greek pork souvlaki right here in Midtown… the old school, new look Uncle Gussy’s (on 51st and Park Ave.) As you know from the letter they sent us last week, Uncle Gussy’s has been in business for 39 years (Nick, the owner, took it over from his uncle- natch), and recently they upgraded to a truck that makes them look more new school.  Gussy’s chicken and lamb over rice failed to distinguish itself in Street Meat Palooza 3 (their first appearance) with a 12th place finish, but what we didn’t realize is they also serve souvlaki comparable to what you can get from the fabled Astoria vendors (his cousin Frank actually runs the famous souvlaki cart on Steinway).

Astoria style souvlaki, on the streets of Midtown?!  This is pretty huge news indeed.

When I showed up yesterday there was a line of roughly 20 people, which Nick said has been pretty standard since a few weeks after they switched to a truck. They’ve also created a Twitter account (just like all the new schoolers), and the truck upgrade has allowed them to start serving specials made by the owner’s mom (how cool is that!?  Today she made spanakopita.)

Daily specials aside, Gussy’s has a somewhat typical street meat vendor menu, but with a decidedly Greek slant. Most notable to me was that they serve some kind of sausage and that you can get any of their sandwiches on pita or Italian bread. I’d love to try a sausage or gyro on Italian bread at some point, but this trip was all about pork souvlaki.

Their pork souvlaki pita is $4. I tried to add extra meat for $1 and get a side of pita for another $1, which I planned to later turn into a second, stripped down sandwich, but I guess he misunderstood and gave me a separate souvlaki on a stick.  (It all came to $8.)

The full sandwich is a lot like what you can get at any vendor, but some small things make a big difference. The meat is big, moist chunks of pork with a very slight char around the edges. Most of them were pretty lean, but a few were rife with pork fat deliciousness. The grilled pita was also a nice touch. It was perfectly warmed, fluffy and tastier all by itself than I’ve come to expect from cheap pita sandwiches. I’m always happy to get some tzatziki instead of white sauce. Gussy’s version is pretty good, although not particularly flavorful (letting the meat shine!)

This was my “extra meat” and while it doesn’t look like much, it was all I really needed (although I wish I’d managed to save some tzatziki). The meat and pita were each wrapped in their own tin foil and they were both still piping hot when I got to them even though I ate the sandwich first (in fact they were hotter than in the sandwich, which gets cooled down by the sauce and vegetables).

The pita was already cut into quarters and I had five chunks of pork, making it very easy to use the pita to simply slide the meat off the stick (and leaving me one bonus piece of pork). The meat and pita were my favorite part of the sandwich anyway, and here their flavors seemed were more pronounced, unencumbered by lettuce, tomatoes and tzatziki. Call it addition by subtraction.

All in all, it was a very satisfying lunch. I’ve never been to those legendary Astoria vendors, so I have no idea if this is as good.  But it definitely stands out from all the other kebab and pita vendors here in the city, and I’m overjoyed I didn’t have to trek out to Queens for it.

Uncle Gussy’s, SE Corner of 51st+Park, Follow them on Twitter (or the ML Twitter Tracker, of course) for specials

From Lunch’er Jason:

Dear Midtown Lunch, I have been a loyal reader for the better part of the last 5 or 6 months, and this has been the tastiest half year of my life. I work at 51st and Park Ave, and today I saw a new truck on the corner of 50th and Park. It seemed to be a Greek style chicken/lamb and rice truck that also offered souvlaki. All of their dishes seem to come in the form of sandwiches too. I would have stopped for lunch had I not already mentally committed to a huarache from El Rey del Sabor. The attached picture is the truck in question. I’ve never seen it before and I was wondering if [anybody] may have additional information about this mysterious blue Greek truck.

We’re on the case Jason. In the meantime, has anybody already tried this cart? Let us know how it is in the comments. Turns out this truck is an oldie but goodie…

From hey_melanie in the comments:

It’s the same guys who used to have the cart on that corner – Uncle Gussey’s I think is the name. The owners just upgraded to a truck for more room and better mobility he told me, but I think the food is the same.

I guess he didn’t hear what the city council is trying to do to food trucks! (You can read more about Uncle Gussy’s on our Street Meat Palooza 3 post.)

You all know that Midtown Lunch has a love affair with the gyro, whether being served chopped up as the “lamb” portion of a halal platter, or patiently cooked and sliced correctly to be served in a real gyro (like they do at the Famous Chicken Place or at Uncle Nick’s on 9th Ave.)  But ever wonder about the origin of this mystery meat on a spit?  If you answered yes, than you have to read the gyro article in this morning’s food section of the New York Times. It traces the first mass produced gyro to a Jewish (?!?) owned business in Chicago, and even has a video of the gyro making process, which “starts with boxes of raw beef and lamb trimmings, and ends with what looks like oversized Popsicles the shade of a Band-Aid.”  I even recognized Gyro II (on 7th Ave. btw. 33+34th) as the footage they used at the very beginning of the video! (Although if you are a little squeamish when it comes to raw meat, I would skip the video.  It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.)  Check it out>>

Related:
Is Gyro II The Best Gyro Midtown Has to Offer?
Uncle Nick’s and Poseidon Bakery Make 9th Ave the Ultimate Greek Lunch Spot

“Why don’t you write about the places on 9th Ave.!?!” is a question I get a lot.  My reply is usually some form of “Well then I have to go to 2nd Ave., and 26th street, and 65th Street… and then it never ends.”  Essentially, you have to have boundaries or else it’s complete chaos.  And while there are people who work on the outskirts who will travel to 2nd Ave. or 9th Ave. for lunch, most Midtown Lunch’ers will not… unless there is something that is going to make everyone say “oh man… I need that now.” Like banh mi, or tacos, or thai food, or $1 fried chicken.  Or gyros (and Greek pastries!)

The age old gyro question came up again last week, when Profiled Lunch’er Harry asked if there was a real Greek gyro to be had in Midtown.  Street carts, chop their gyro up and fry it on the griddle, rather than allowing it to fully cook on the spit, Gyro II leaves a lot to be desired, and while Famous Chicken Place does a bang up job- we still don’t have a real deal Greek gyro in the ML boundaries.  Unless you are willing to travel to 9th Avenue. Uncle Nick’s and Posiedon Bakery were (enthusiastically) recommended in the comments… and when commenters speak, I listen. And boy am I glad I did.

I live in Hell’s Kitchen, so I’ve been to Uncle Nick’s many times- and yet I’ve never had their lunchtime gyro sandwich. I’m guessing it is already a favorite of anyone who works in the area.  Uncle Nick’s is a sit down restaurant, so technically it doesn’t fit into the traditional Midtown Lunch mold, but it’s an easy thing to forget when you discover that the gyro sandwich is only $4.95.  (I honestly thought it was going to be at least $7.)  I ordered it to go and took it over to the outdoor seating area behind Worldwide Plaza (on 50th btw. 8+9th.)

The gyro was as perfect as can be.  The meat was dark and crispy on one side (from where they allowed it to cook for the proper amount of time) and light on the other side (from where they cut it off the spit.)  Lettuce, tomato, onions, and a proper tasting tzatziki (yogurt) sauce topped the thing, which was held together by a nicely grilled piece of fluffy pita bread.  I’ve never been to Greece for the real thing, but in the states Midtown this is about as good as a standard gyro gets. They also have a pork souvlaki sandwich (which I will definitely be trying on a return visit.)  (Update: I just re-read this and maybe I was being a little over zealous.  It’s not the greatest gyro you will ever eat in your life… but in gyro deprived Midtown, if you’re looking for a real greek Gyro, this is as good as it is going to get.)

It didn’t come with fries, so I got an order of fries ($4.50) which turned out to be fried sliced potatoes.  They were just fine (lack of salt being the main issue), so I would save your five bucks and head down the street to the Poseidon Bakery (on 9th Ave. btw. 44+45th.)

To call this place “old school” would be an understatement. If you are a fan of phyllo dough, and honey, and nuts, than this… uh… old school (shit, there is just no other word to describe it) Greek bakery will be your heaven on earth.

They make pretty much every Greek pastry imaginable, plus a few savory pies (like spanikopita.)

You can go with the industry standard baklava (very excellent), but my favorites are their flogera (a custard filled pastry) and their kataifi (a rolled almond pastry thing that is covered in shredded phyllo dough reminiscent of shredded wheat.)

This trip I went with the kataifi for $3.00 (keeping your gyro+pastry lunch under the $10 limit.) Sweet, gooey, nut filled, soaked in syrup, shredded dough topped goodness.

I could spend hours in this shop, which has somehow defied the onslaught of 9th Ave. gentrification (they probably own the building.) Order anything you see… you won’t be disappointed. I certainly wasn’t. Well worth traveling the extra avenue out of bounds.

No +/- for this one… because I can’t think of any reason not to like these two places.

Uncle Nick’s, 747 Ninth Avenue (btw. 50+51st), 212-245-7992

Poseidon Greek Bakery, 629 9th Ave (btw. 44+45th), 212-757-6173

After posting about the mediocre gyro at Gyro II, I complained that I couldn’t find a decent Greek version of the gyro sandwich in Midtown (my nit picky distinction between a “Greek” gyro, and what you get at street meat carts is in the original post). As always, the commenting faithful had some good suggestions, and while most of them were out of bounds (that’s where all the good stuff is), there were a few places I vowed to check out. Seeing as how I am already a big fan of the Famous Chicken Place on 3rd Ave. btw. 38+39th, I figured I’d start there.

Now that’s what I like to see!  Notice the clearly visable line where they cut the meat off the spit?  That means they left it on long enough for it to get crispy and brown on the outside.  You’ll almost never see that at a street meat cart!  No need for extra sauteeing (what a crime), just throw the sliced meat into a warm piece of pita, top it with lettuce, tomato, onion and tzatziki sauce, (what they refer to as “everything”) and you’re golden.

Perfection.  Sure it could have been larger for $5.95, but considering this is the first good gyro I’ve had since starting Midtown Lunch, please don’t mistake that for complaining.  The only tough part?  Not ordering a plate of their amazing smelling grilled chicken… if only there was some sort of chicken & gyro platter/combo.  Now that would be truly perfect.

Famous Chicken Place, 592 3rd Ave. (btw. 38th & 39th), 212-687-1800

Since I started this site, I’ve been on a quest to find a *real* gyro sandwich in Midtown. And when I say ji-roh or yee-roh or however the hell you want to pronounce it, I mean the Greek inspired sandwich, featuring slices taken from those giant hunks of rotating meat you see on every street meat cart in Midtown, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce (the white yogurt sauce with shredded or sliced cucumbers). Not shawarma (which has a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor), not the pre-made gyro ovals they serve at diners, and not that chopped up stuff you see served off of every street meat cart in Midtown. I want a real Greek style gyro. (I say Greek style because I don’t actually know what an authentic gyro sandwich in Greece is all about… I just know what I ate at Greek festivals growing up as a kid, and I love it.)

I understand the economics of the situation. While most street meat carts have the generic lamb slab used by most Greek restaurants that serve gyro sandwiches, they don’t have the time to allow it to fully cook up on the spit. So what do they do? They cut it off before it has a chance to brown, chop it up into pieces, mix it with onions, peppers, and whatever else, and cook it on the flat top. Tasty… but not a gyro. I just want a simple sandwich, with gyro meat that has been given the chance to get crispy on the spit, sliced and put directly into a piece of soft pita, topped with onion, lettuce, tomato and Greek yogurt (not the street meat “white sauce”).

Last time I mentioned this on the site, the only in bounds recommendation I got was for Gyro II on 7th Ave. btw. 33+34th. I checked it out last week…

Gyro II is typical of most “Greek” take out in Manhattan, in that it also serves pizza. The gyro spit was probably the biggest I’ve ever seen, which was both exciting and scary all rolled into one. It also had this reddish tint, which I was not too excited about. They get busy during lunch, just like the carts, so they make your sandwich from meat that has already been sliced, and then stored below the oven, but that’s ok, because at least they allow it to fully cook on the spit before slicing. This sign was also slightly reassuring:

I should have been skeptical though because the gyro I’m looking for shouldn’t have a special “white sauce” worth mentioning, it should just have plain tzatziki, a simple yogurt sauce that matches perfectly with the gyro meat. Cool, and creamy it’s the perfect topping for a Greek style gyro. What you get at Gyro II is nothing like that. Incredibly watery, it had a overly sweet flavor that was more like cole slaw than tzatziki- and to make things worse, they cover the whole sandwich in it, rendering it the biggest mess of all time.

If the gyro meat had been standard, it may have cut the sweetness of the “special sauce”, but it wasn’t. It also was more sweet than salty, making the whole sandwich a sickly sweet mess of dashed hopes and dreams. I’m not saying it’s a terrible sandwich, and I know a lot of people are big fans, it’s just not the type of gyro I’m looking for. Growing up in Miami, if I could get a decent gyro at Miami Subs (back in the day, before they became an all out chain with the bologna of gyro meat,) then how hard can this really be?!?!

I’m guessing you could go to a cart, and ask them to make you a gyro the way you want it, but I’m thinking it still won’t be right, because it’s not what they do. Has anybody had the sandwich I’m describing? Cart or walk in… doesn’t matter to me. Got the perfect rec? Put it in the comments below…

Gyro II, 427 7th Ave (btw. 33+34th), 212-239-0646