This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2009, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thirty five gyros and who knows how many pounds later -- I refuse to get on a scale -- I'm confident I've found the valley's best gyros. A gyro (pronounced YEE-roh) is made of five fundamental elements: pita bread, gyro meat, onions, tomatoes and tzatziki, a cucumber sauce. Creating a balance or symmetry of flavors is what made the Top 5 stand out from the rest.
Here are some discoveries I made along the way:
Pita
Puffy, Wonder Bread-like pita bread will not do. It ruins the ingredients ratio. Same goes for soggy pita. Pita should be warm and thin, but not too thin that it breaks under the weight of its contents.
Meat
Gyro meat is a mixture of ground lamb and beef and myriad spices that is compressed into usually a cylindrical shape, cooked and then sliced. Maybe on one occasion I saw someone cut the rotating meat to order. Usually, it had been precut and was then warmed on the flat-top alongside the pita. The quality of meat varied incredibly. From spongy to sausagelike, from thin and dry to thick and moist, I tasted the gamut.
Onions
Giant slices of raw onions were not well received. I appreciated those who took the effort to mince onions or slice paper-thin tangles of onions, dispersed them throughout the gyro, so you got a bit of onion in every bite.
Tomatoes
Why just one thick slice for an entire gyro? That's almost an insult. How about thinly slicing them, halving them or better still, chop them. Diversify and use heirlooms or cherry tomatoes, especially now during prime tomato season. (See City Greek Express.)
Tzatziki
Made of strained Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice or vinegar and sometimes herbs such as dill, tzatziki differ greatly. Some were as thick as cream cheese, others were watery and bland. The best sauces were inherently tangy from the Greek yogurt and a hit of acid, contained fresh cucumber, garlic and perhaps a hint of herbs. Again, balance is key as the amount of tzatziki on the gyro went from smothering all the other ingredients to not having enough for the last bite.
The Top 5 constructed their gyros with care, used quality ingredients and paid attention to each detail that makes a great gyro. I've scored the gyros from one to five stars, with five being the best.
Would I ever eat another gyro again? You betcha. See you at the http://www.saltlakegreekfestival.com" Target="_BLANK">Greek Festival.
E-mail Lesli J. Neilson at lneilson@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">lneilson@sltrib.com.
The best of the best
1. Dasks » 6522 S. Cottonwood Canyon Road, Cottonwood Heights; 801-733-5010
2. Greek City Grill » 6165 S. Highland Dr., Holladay; 801-277-2355
3. City Greek Express » 660 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-364-3140
4. Nick's Greek Café » 1600 Snow Creek Drive, Park City; 435-658-2267
5. Best Chicken & Ribs » 111 E. 2700 South, Salt Lake City; 801-466-8311
Five-star gyros
Dasks » 6522 S. Cottonwood Canyon Road, Cottonwood Heights; 801-733-5010. ($6.95). Soft, warm pita filled with copious amounts of well-seasoned meat, small onion squares, liberal saucing of tangy, great-tastking tzatziki. Glorious garlic breath afterwards...in a good way. Can't ask for better.
Greek City Grill » 6165 S. Highland Dr., Holladay; 801-277-2355. ($4.75) Everything you want in a gyro: warm, thin pita, oodles of moist meat, diced onions and sliced tomatoes. Lovely yogurt sauce is sour and creamy.
City Greek Express » 660 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-364-3140. (7-inch, $6.45/4-inch, $2.95). This place specializes in gyros. Thin pita was a perfect base for well-seasoned meat, quartered cherry tomatoes, minced red onion and tzatziki. After a whole one, I could have had another...a 4-inch, that is.
Nick's Greek Café » 1600 Snow Creek Drive, Park City; 435-658-2267. ($6.95). Tangles of onion, tomato cubes, moist meat and garlicky, spot-on tzatziki tucked into a warm puffy pita. Mmmm.
Best Chicken & Ribs » 111 E. 2700 South, Salt Lake City; 801-466-8311. ($5.49 with rice or fries). A gigantic amount of deliciously seasoned meat, onion and tomato slices, lettuce and tzatziki fill a soft warm pita. Strangely, the unconventional lettuce gives it a nice crunch.
American Burger »
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Main St., Tooele; 435-882-3608. ($4.99) Pita holds up well filled with thinly sliced peppery meat, cubed tomatoes and cucumber-flecked tzatziki. This is a decent gyro.
Apollo Burger »
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2254 E. Murray-Holladay Rd., Holladay; 801-272-8400. Ten other locations. ($4.35). Extremely dried-out meat along with watery white sauce that tastes only of dried dill. Mealy sliced tomatoes and diced onions are packed into the flecked pita. Not a good day for Apollo.
Aristo's »
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224 S. 1300 East, Salt Lake City; 801-581-0888 ($10.95 with roasted potatoes, lemon rice or french fries). Pita was soggy by the time I got to the end. Nicely peppery gyro meat. Chunky, thick tzatziki has shreds of cucumber and serious garlic. Thin strips of red onion, slices of tomatoes.
Astro Burgers »
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3877 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-266-1900. Three other locations in Midvale, South Jordan and Draper. ($4.75). Overly-browned pita, dry, jerkylike meat though chopped tomatoes and onions are decent. No love went in to making this gyro.
B.C. Chicken »
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380 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-355-8866. ($6.49 with rice). Gigantic gyro. Soft warm pita, rings of Roma tomatoes, chopped onions and copious amounts of semi-dry meat, all on a bed of iceberg lettuce. Lettuce and tzatziki make up for some of the meat's dryness.
Café Med »
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420 E. 3300 South, Salt Lake City; 801-493-0100. ($7.99 with rice, fries, salad or soup). A slick of dripping oil marred an otherwise great gyro. Thinly cut meat is really good. Tangy tzatziki with a hint of dill. Sweet, round Roma slices and chopped onions.
Chicken Express »
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3440 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-487-7373. ($3.95). Meat has good flavor but it's dried out. Nice warm pita. Tzatziki is cold and the consistency of cream cheese with some dried seasonings mixed in. Tomato wedges with onion slices and romaine lettuce. Not a good gyro candidate.
Crown Burger »
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3190 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City; 801-532-1155. Six other locations. ($4.95). Soft, warm pita, copious amounts of sliced meat, paper-thin, half-moon tomatoes and onions. Good-tasting tzatziki sauce. This gyro was a multi-napkin affair.
Dimitri's »
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76 W. Vine, Tooele; 435-882-4203. ($6.99 with fries and avgolemono soup). Meat tastes funky. Tzatziki has loads of dried dill flavor and not much else. Onion slices and two half-moon slices of tomato tucked into a doughy pita.
Greek Broiler »
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6913 S. 1300 East, Midvale; 801-563-7578 ($4.99). Gyro was on the smallish side. Sliced tomatoes, onion ringlets. An abundance of meat and thin tzatziki. The white sauce lacked lemon and tasted of dried herbs. Monday is buy one gyro, get the second for 1/2 off.
Greek Kabob »
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3601 S. 2700 West (inside Valley Fair Mall), West Valley City; 801-966-5877. ($4.29) Meat is searing hot with two tomato slices and strips of white onion. Dried herbs in the tzatziki gave it an artificial taste. Decent but nothing special.
Greek Market »
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3205 S. State St., Salt Lake City; 801-485-9365. ($4.75) Warm pita. Meat is too compressed and sliced too thin. Onions are diced, tomatoes are whole slices. The best part about this gyro is the fantastic tzatziki, rich with julienned cucumbers.
Greek Souvlaki »
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404 E. 300 South, Salt Lake City; 801-322-2062. Other locations in Murray and West Valley City. ($4.75). Meat has lots of spice. Onions are largely diced and overpowering. Tomatoes are sliced irregularly. Runny yogurt sauce. Heaping mound of meat. Pita bread just so-so.
Jim's Family Restaurant »
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894 E. 3900 South, Salt Lake City; 801-747-1102. Seven other locations. ($6.99 with choice of soup, salad or french fries). Pita bread is slightly doughy. Lots of chopped tomatoes, sliced onions, thinnish tzatziki, nicely seasoned meat, though dry and crisp around the edges.
Olympian Grill »
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2181 S. 700 East, Salt Lake City; 801-487-1407. ($8.99 with soup, salad or fries). A very decent gyro. Killer tzatziki that's creamy, tangy and cucumbery. Rings of red onion were cut a bit too thick. Chopped tomato throughout. Gyro meat had good flavor, thinly sliced, could have been a bit thicker and more moist. Great, warm pita.
The Other Place »
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469 E. 300 South, Salt Lake City; 801-521-6567. ($8.95 with fries and salad). A decent, warm pita. Meat is thinly cut. Great tangy, cucumbery tzatziki though it smothers all the other ingredients, shredded onion and tomato slices throughout.
Outpost Café »
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7711 S. State St., Midvale; 801-561-2441. ($7.99 with fries or fruit, soup or salad). Meat was dry. Tzatziki had an artificial seasoning taste. Gyro size was decent. Chopped tomato and red onion throughout. A mediocre gyro.
Roula's Café »
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180 E. 100 South (in Questar building), Salt Lake City; 801-324-5900. ($4.29). Thin meat with dry edges. Pita is on the thick side. Tzatziki is average and could use more zing. One round tomato slice seems chintzy. Red onions are sliced. This gyro tastes better than it looks.
Roundhouse Café »
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1060 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City; 801-355-2662. ($6.25 with fries). Wow, talk about a lot of tzatziki. Rather than a creamy sauce, this version is more like a slaw or relish with tons of cucumbers and fresh dill. Though an unusual sauce, I liked the crunch from the cucumbers but it could have used more acid. Two meager slices of meat -- could have used another slice or two. Chopped tomato and onion throughout are a good thing.
Royal Eatery »
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379 Main St., Salt Lake City; 801-532-4301. ($4.19) Lots of meat, but it has a spongy, overprocessed texture. Pita is extremely soggy and falling apart. Tzatziki is tasteless. One tomato slice for the entire gyro. Not a pleasant gyro-eating experience.
Tickles Restaurant »
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3872 S. 900 East, Salt Lake City; 801-264-8100. ($4.58) The lot was smothered in runny tzatziki. Dry meat, tastes just OK, tomato half moons and tangles of thinly sliced onion. Overall, this gyro lacked flavor.
Woody's Drive-in »
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617 S. 1300 East, Murray; 801-266-6934. ($3.79) Gyro was smothered in tzatziki. Meat tasted gummy, overprocessed. Run-of-the-mill pita, though hot. Tzatziki tasted like ranch dressing. Spit it out.
Yianni's Greek Express »
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2761 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City; 801-466-6525. ($4.16) Gyro is on the small side. Pita is doughy but meat is moist, nicely seasoned and abundant. Tzatziki is runny and not very tangy. Shredded onions are hot and raw. One tomato slice is more like a garnish instead of an ingredient.
Z Best Greek/Mad Greek »
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50 E. 2100 South, Salt Lake City; 801-466-3822. Four other locations in Salt Lake City, Sandy and Taylorsville. ($4.35) Uniformly browned pita, subtle, moist meat -- could use a bit more seasoning. Nicely sliced red onions, thin tzatziki with lots of garlic.
Pita Pit with three locations in Provo and Ogden
New Ultimate Broiler in Orem
Atlantis Burger in Woods Cross and Magna
University Broiler & Grill in Ogden and Layton
Greek Garden in Ogden
Athenian in Ogden
Greek Villa in Layton
Greek Islands Broiler in Roy and Ogden
Got a favorite gyro place? E-mail us at food@sltrib.com.
Celebrate Greek food and culture Thursday through Sunday during the 2009 Salt Lake City Greek Festival at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, 279 S. 300 West. Admission is $3. A full menu of food and baked goods, along with church tours, cooking demonstrations and youth dance performances continue throughout the event. A portion of money raised during the event is donated to Utah charities. The festival runs Thursday from 5 to 11 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. For a full schedule visit http://www.saltlakegreekfestival.com" Target="_BLANK">http://www.saltlakegreekfestival.com.
- Kathy Stephenson