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

After posting that you really have to go to 9th Ave. for a decent Greek style gyro, Lunch’er Susan emailed me to ask about a gyro special she had seen in Midtown Proper: “Pronto on 48th btw 5+6th, near Indus Express and Hing Won, has a gyro combo. Gyro, fries, drink for $6. Could this possibly be any good? I suppose stranger things have happened.” There are actually *two* Pronto Pizzas on 48th btw. 5+6th, but the gyro deal is at the one closer to 6th Ave. I stopped by there the other day to check it out.

I suppose they get points for having a real gyro spit. Most pizza places serve their sandwiches made from those pre-cut pre-processed long oval shaped gyro pieces. Sadly though, Pronto doesn’t even turn the thing on, so there is no crust on the outside. They slice the meat off the log, and grill it on the flat top- before putting it in the sandwich. Thanks, but no thanks. $6 is a good deal for all that food, but I think I’d prefer to walk to 9th Ave. (or even Famous Chicken place on 3rd Ave.)

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

Back when I was on my quest for a real deal Greek gyro (not a Middle Eastern shawarma sandwich, or a chopped up gyro from a cart), a number of commenters mentioned Akdeniz.  Sure it’s Turkish, and not Greek, and the place is a sit down restaurant- but their gyro sandwich is under $10 (one of the few things on the menu that is) and came highly recommended.  Well I finally got around to trying the thing, which is only available during the day, and although it wasn’t what I initially was asking for, it is definitely a tasty sandwich.

I got it to go (so I didn’t have to pay tip, etc.. you know the drill), and opened the thing to find something more like a gyro burrito than a sandwich.  It is $7.50 and comes wrapped in a Turkish style of bread that is more similar to a tortilla than pita bread.

First bite in was mostly lettuce (very disappointing)

But after a few bites I hit pay dirt.  The gyro meat is a much higher quality than what you would get from a cart, or even one of the cheaper Middle Eastern places, which shouldn’t be a surprise.  Akdeniz is kind of a nice, sit down, Turkish restaurant.  The flavors were more like shawarma than a Greek gyro, but overall the “burrito” was a little dry.  It needed something…

And that’s when I realized I forgot the sauce!

Much, much better. The sauces took it from being mediocre to delicious! For some reason they do the sauces on the side here, and in my bag I had totally missed them: a white yogurt based sauce, and a vinegary hot sauce- which improved the gyro sandwich tenfold.  The fatty meat gets balanced out by the crisp lettuce and tomato, while the hot sauce gets cooled off by the creamy yogurt.  Delicious!  It took me long enough to take the suggestion, but I’m glad I did.  (Keep them coming!)

THE +

• Gyro meat is much higher quality than you find at most places in Midtown
• The two sauces are excellent, and balance each other out really nicely
• If eating a “gyro burrito” sounds good to you, this is probably your sandwich

THE -

• $7.50 is a lot for a gyro sandwich (although admittedly Akdeniz is a nice Turkish restaurant)
• If you are looking for a Greek style gyro this is not it
• There’s a lot of lettuce and tomato in the thing (which may or may not be a good thing)

Akdeniz, 19 W 46th St (btw. 5+6th), 212-575-2307

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