Mr. Gyros

10901 North Military Trail
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
(561) 627-3979
Website

In my travels, I am always looking for a good hole-in-the-wall that has interesting food and that doesn't break the bank. When in the West Palm beach area of Florida, this can be quite a task. Luckily I got lost and ended up at Mr. Gyros.

I don't think they get many people taking pictures.

I would usually go with a lamb gyro, but the chicken on the spit was so crispy and delicious looking, I passed over the recently shorn gray variety for the poultry version. This gyro comes LOADED, has feta on it as a standard (not noted on the menu), and has tzatziki on the side. Big fan of the manual application of yogurt sauce, as it allows for controlling the slop factor when you get down to the foil parts. The Greek side salad was pretty great as well. Especially with the house dressing.

Probably my favorite part of the meal was that they have and sell their own hot sauce, which is basically the Mediterranean version of the hot pepper hoagie spread I love so much around here. One gripe is that the peppers themselves are tough to get out of the squirt bottle. Other than that, it added a nice vinegary zip to the sandwich (and salad). For the ritzy food and lifestyle synonymous with this area, Mr. Gyros was a great find for some reasonably priced "ethnic" food .

Nova Grill

817 West Lancaster Ave.
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
(610) 525-4745
Website

Nova Grill is the Chipotle of Mediterranean food. Which I think is something that would be a welcome addition to the current landscape of walk-up counter service for fresh, reasonably priced meals.

The setup is basically the same, pick a salad, sandwich, or platter and customize it however you like.

They offer gyro meat from the spit (shawarma) as well as skewered and grilled chicken, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that the they were lying when they told me that the chicken they were tonging out of a chafing tray was actually from the rotating spit in the background. Something about not seeing them actually do it is questionable.

The five free toppings stack up quickly, but there is a pretty decent variety of fresh ingredients and colorful salads/reslishes from which to choose.

I tried the chicken sandwich first. The meat was well seasoned, and placed on top of the ingredients, a departure from the standard meat-on-the-bottom.

I went for the cabbage slaw, seasoned feta, kalamata olives, pickled onions, and harissa. It was a solid sandwich, and definitely one I would likely eat on the regular if I were to find myself in or around Villanova for an extended period of time. The pita is served warm, and wrapped up right, tucking in all of the generous components.

As you can see, there was quite a bit going on with this sandwich, and it was more like eating a big Mediteranean-style salad with chicken than a standard chicken gyro, which I was okay with.

The vegetarian platter came with an abundance of sides, including chickpea salad, baba ghanoush, hummus, cucumber salad, rice, and cylindrical, torpedo-like falafel. Everything was pretty tasty, with nothing being mind-blowing, but a solid rendition of a veggie platter.

The falafel was also good, though not as crispy and hot as I would have wished, but not too bad either.

There was a healthy smattering of parsley in there to keep the flavor fresh.

The spreads and the salads were all about par for the course - hummus on the left and baba on the right. Even with all of the combined ingredients, there wasn't any bold stand-out flavor in any of the components, they all sort of ran together. Save for the hot sauces on the side (see below).

Speaking of hot sauce, their green harissa was insanely hot. I couldn’t get enough.

They also offer a bowl version of most items on the menu, which I (well, someone in the group) also ordered. Alas, as anticipated, I was not thrilled. It was all of the same ingredients, in a lackluster bowl format. You know what it was missing? Pita. I guess if you're still on Atkins, then this is the choice for you. Definitely not for me.

Props for doing their part in considering the environment.

The NOVA Grill is a pretty good place to great a healthy(ish) quick meal for a reasonable price. The variety of options they offer are greatly appreciated and I feel it is a quality meal for what it is. It was basically exactly what I was expecting, and there is comfort to be had in that.

Opa

1311 Sansom St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Website

I said I would be back to try the gyro, so when I heard they were offering a $5.95 lunch special, I had to make my way over.

Gyro (lamb or chicken), fries and a soda for six bucks? Done.

They also give you a side of their signature oregano fries, and if you ask politely, they will give you some of their harissa aioli to dip them in. I am a huge harissa fan, and and this stuff is addicting.

They throw french fries in the gyro, which is good because it's on the small side – which is to be expected when it's at a posh joint and at this price point.

The chicken was my favorite of the two, with nicely seasoned and charred chunks of tender meat. This was a pretty good gyro, but it's more of a value proposition than a destination gyro place.

The oregano fries are really tasty, especially with the harissa to dip into. The lamb gyro was a bit dry, but that was also taken care of with a quick spicy harissa bath. This deal goes through the end of the year, so be sure to take advantage of it for a nice lunch while you are out shopping for the holidays.

Halal Gyro King

12th and Chestnut

The lunch-cart search continues. After walking by the Gyro King in the past, and smelling the amazing spiced meat wafting out and over the sidewalk, I had it on my radar. Chicken gyro and a soda for $5, not too bad at all. I was going to go for the lamb, which is basically the usual processed gyro meat (which I love), but it is sliced about a half an inch thick. And fried. It looked good, but I also had to go back to a warm office, which would culminate in a perfect storm of drowsiness, and I was not about to go down that road. I opted for the chicken, and I was glad that I did.


The chicken was diced and grilled with onions, peppers, spices and served in a thick piece of pita. The sandwich was garnished with lettuce, a sad slice of tomato, yogurt sauce and, as requested, the "hot hot" sauce. What really pulled the whole deal together was the hot sauce. It was reminiscent of a Middle Eastern hot curry sauce. I loved it, and it had a medium heat, long burn that reminded you of what you just ate for the next ten minutes after devouring this sloppy, delicious mess. I will definitely be back to try the lamb, and want to go for the platter next time. For $5, you really can't go wrong. Just ask for extra napkins.