Road Tips

Arris' Bistro - Jefferson City, MO

I was in Jefferson City, MO earlier this summer calling on one of my dealers.  It was getting to be around 2 p.m. and my dealer said that he hadn't had lunch yet.  I hadn't either, so I suggested we go somewhere for a bite to eat.  He immediately said, "Let's go to the Bistro."  We got into my car and he directed me to a small strip mall near the downtown area of Jeff City.  When we pulled up in front of the place, I exclaimed, "Oh!  This is Arris' Bistro!"  I was familiar with the place as it is owned by the same people who owns the very good Arris' Pizza Palace across from the Missouri State Capitol building.  (Click here to see my entry on Arris' Pizza Palace.)  I was eager to go inside and give the place a try.  

Arris Pardalos is the "Arris" name associated with both the Arris' Bistro and Arris' Pizza Palace.  A Greek immigrant, Arris opened his first pizza place in Jefferson City in the early 1960's.  He was helped initially by his brother George, but the two split up when George went off to open a steakhouse.  A little over 10 years ago, Arris Pardalos was joined by his son, George in Arris' Pizza Palace.  George and his wife, Olga, eventually bought Arris' from his dad.  

George and Olga wanted to bring a bit of southern Europe to Jefferson City in the style of a bistro that featured Mediterranean cuisine, primarily Greek and Italian dishes.  In March of 2009, the Pardalos' opened Arris' Bistro.  It quickly became a favorite for the locals to get a quality and unique meal for lunch and dinner.  

Arris' Bistro is located in the corner of a small strip mall on a frontage road on the west side of U.S. Highway 50, just north of Broadway near the downtown area of Jeff City.  (see map)  We easily found a parking spot in front as it was well after the noontime rush.   

The restaurant is very hip-looking with LED lighting, modern-style tables and chairs, contemporary artwork and sort of a big-city lounge vibe to the place.  There was hardly anyone in Arris' Bistro when we walked in, so the hostess told us we could sit anywhere.  Our server, Floriana, came over to greet us and dropped off a couple menus.  She asked if we wanted anything to drink and we both thought a beer would be good with lunch.  She didn't have a beer list handy, so I walked over to the bar to see what they had on tap.  One of the beers they had was the Piney River Missouri Mule IPA from a relatively new, but quickly growing microbrewery in southern Missouri.  I got one of those and my dealer followed suit.  

The menu at Arris' Bistro is a cross between Greek and Italian fare with probably more of a Greek take on the appetizers, while most of the lunch time entrees have a decided Italian flair to them.  They have a dozen different types of salads on the menu, along with a number of pita bread pizzas merging Greek and Italian food into one.  But my dealer was raving about the sandwiches at Arris' Bistro - they have pita sandwiches and wraps, burgers and panini sandwiches.  After 5 p.m. the menu expands into steak, seafood and chicken entrees.

My dealer absolutely swore by the BLT that Arris' Bistro had on the menu.  It's a regular bacon/lettuce/tomato sandwich where they've also added fresh mozzarella cheese, except that he's come up with a couple of different twists - he asked Floriana to use French bread for the sandwich and to also put avocado slices on top.  He says that those are the two keys making it an excellent sandwich from merely a great one.  He got a side of the broccoli salad to go with the sandwich.  

I got the classic gyro - I love a good gyro and I was certain that they'd have a good one at Arris' Bistro.  And I was right.  The gyro meat was tasty and not all that salty, the sliced onions and the chopped tomatoes were very fresh.  Along with the tangy house-made tzatziki, this was a very good gyro.  

Floriana also did a good job of taking care of us.  She had a thick Eastern-European accent and my dealer asked her where she was from.  "Romania," she said.  Other than the thick accent, she spoke English very well.  She was pleasant and quickly accommodating with our requests.

I sort of figured that Arris' Bistro was going to be good and it didn't disappoint.   The gyro was very good, but I was also intrigued by the BLT with avocado on French bread that my dealer had.  Floriana's service was very good and the place had a unique and comfortable vibe.  As much as I liked Arris' Pizza Palace on my visit there, I equally enjoyed the meal I had at Arris' Bistro.   

Cosmos Cafe - Milwaukee, WI

I stopped by one of my dealers in Milwaukee, Ultra Fidelis, in the early afternoon on a recent trip to the area and they were getting ready to have lunch.  They asked me if I'd like to get something with them and I said, "Sure!", joking that I knew they waited for me to show up so I could pay.  One of the guys suggested getting burgers at a place called Cosmos Cafe.  When I asked where it was, he said it was just up the street.  I said, "Is that the little place back off the street up at the corner?"  He said it was.  I have walked past that place a number of times walking to Ono Kine Grindz, a Hawaiian market/cafe that I like to go to when I stop at Ultra Fidelis (click here to see my entry on Ono Kine Grindz) and the aromas from the grill emanating from the little place has always been excruciatingly enticing.  They told me they have great burgers at Cosmos Cafe, so they called an order in for us for me to go pick up and bring back.   

The owners, Theo and Helen Tselentis, got their start in the business by running the Friday night fish fry's at a local Greek Orthodox Church.  People told them all the time that the fish was so good that they needed to open their own place.  Finally in 2009, the couple opened Cosmos Cafe specializing in Greek food, burgers, and kept the tradition of their own Friday night fish fries.  Initially, they had breakfast on weekends, but they discontinued it after awhile after sales began to decline.  However, people kept asking about their breakfasts and the Tselentis' decided to start up serving weekend breakfasts again a couple years ago.

Cosmos Cafe is technically located in Wauwatosa along North Ave. (see map)  It's set back from the street with a parking lot out front and shares the building with a tax service company.  About 15 minutes after we placed the order by phone, I walked up the street from the store to get our lunch.  

The dining area isn't all that large and all orders are placed at the front counter.  The menu is located on a board above the counter.  In addition to Greek specialties (gyros, Mediterranean salad, saganaki), they also feature sandwiches such as a Jamaican jerk chicken sandwich, a shrimp po' boy pita, and a beef tenderloin sandwich.  They also have platters with your choice of chicken or gyro meat along with rice, chopped tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese and pepperoncini with pita bread.  

Behind the counter was Tina, a family member with an outgoing personality and a great sense of humor.  She knew the guys from Ultra Fidelis well and when I told her I was there to pick up the order she said, "Oh, they have YOU doing their work for them!"  When I explained that I was picking up the tab for lunch, she said, "Well, of course!  That figures..."  Theo Tselentis was finishing up our burgers and a couple orders of Cosmos Cafe's Greek fries - French fries topped with Greek herbs, lemon juice and feta cheese.  

Now, I was just going to have water to drink with my burger, but the guys at the store told me to pick up a couple bottles of Dang root beer at Cosmos Cafe.  (They also sell regular beer there, too.)   I wasn't familiar with Dang and one of the guys told me that it was made locally in Milwaukee and was the best root beer they've ever had.  To me, that was saying a lot because I've always liked the root beer from the Sprecher Brewery in Milwaukee.  When I told them that I didn't drink pop any longer, one of the guys said, "I don't either.  But the only time I do drink pop is when I have a Dang root beer."  

Butterscotch was his favorite.  "Butterscotch," I asked incredulously.  "I love butterscotch!"  

He was talking it up so much that I damned near got one for myself.  I haven't had a pop in over five years, but I came very close that day.  In addition to the butterscotch root beer, Dang (as in "Dang, that's good root beer!") also features a regular root beer, a red creme soda and an Italian cherry soda that mimics the taste of maraschino cherries.  For the fun-haters, there's also a diet regular and a diet butterscotch root beer from Dang. 

Getting the burgers and the fries back to the store, the smell of the flat grilled burger was making my stomach do jumping-jacks.  Opening the styrofoam container, I found a 1/2 pound hand-pattied burger with the melted cheese still bubbling on the top.  Fresh onions (Greek restaurants always have the freshest raw white onions), dill pickles, tomato slices and lettuce came with the burger.  The taste was, well, outstanding.  It was one of those burgers where you first bite into it and go, "Mmmmm...."  The bun was soft and airy, the cheese just dripped off the top of the burger and coagulated with the juices from the beef in the bottom of the container.  When asked how I liked it, I said, "This burger is unbelievable."  Even though it was less than five minutes after it was taken off the grill, I couldn't help but think how much better it would taste if you bit into it seconds after it was served in the cafe.  

The fries were plentiful in the container, topped with the feta cheese, the herbs and lemon juice.  They, too, were excellent fries.  The potato taste inside the crunchy shell came through fine and mixed favorably with the cheese, herbs and lemon juice.  I ended up eating more of the fries than I originally thought I would.  They were very good.  

There are a number of very good burger joints in the greater Milwaukee area.  I think that you have to put Cosmos Cafe in the mix when you discuss the best burgers in Milwaukee.  The burger was simply outstanding and the Greek fries were very good on their own.  This is a family business - the kind I like to support when I can.  However, the next time I get a burger at Cosmos Cafe I'm going to eat it there.  I can almost imagine how good that will given how good it was with take out.     

Tuscano's - Schiller Park, IL

Sitting in the flight path of O'Hare International Airport along River Road in western suburban Schiller Park is an Italian restaurant that I've driven past a few times when I stay at a hotel in Rosemont - Tuscano's.  Their sign out front says that they're a Greek and Italian restaurant, a nice Mediterranean combination.  It was a cool rainy night when I checked into my hotel just up River Road in Rosemont and I decided to go down to Tuscano's for dinner.

For years, Giannotti's Italian Steak House was *THE* place in the near northwest suburbs for a great meal for families celebrating birthdays or anniversaries, for a guy trying to impress his date, or for a high-powered business lunch.  In the fall of 2009, Giannotti's suddenly closed "for remodeling".  That's usually the kiss of death for fine restaurants that had gone out of business.  The owner of the building, Sam Zarcone, had leased the space in a small strip mall along River Road to the Giannotti family.   After they went out of business, he decided to take over the space with his own Italian restaurant.  He partnered with Peter Jovanovic and rehired many of the staff of Gianotti's - including chef Javiel Villalobos.  They reopened as Tuscano's in early 2010.  

On weekends, Tuscano's can get packed.  They feature a piano player in the lounge area early in the evening.  Then after 9 p.m., they have everything from small bands to a singer who performs with a karaoke machine on a small stage with a dance floor in another part of the restaurant.  Tuscano's is one of those neighborhood places where regulars show up each weekend for food and dancing.  

It was a weeknight when I pulled into Tuscano's, just south of the Stephens Convention Center. (see map)  They have a sort of open dining area with low walls that allows a bit of privacy in some areas, but you can see across the room when you stand up.  The lounge area features a large bar and a number of tables with flat screen televisions on the wall.  The lights are very low in the lounge area and I took two or three pictures of the room with my camera on my smartphone, but none of them came out.  

A hostess asked me if I wanted to sit in the dining room or in the lounge.  They had basketball games on the flat screens in the lounge and I decided to go with that.  She dropped off a dinner menu and I waited for my server to show up.  

The bartender/server that night, Lisa, came over to greet me.  She asked me what I wanted to drink and I took a quick look at the taps behind the bar.  The lights were so low that I was having trouble making out what they had.  Finally, I saw the familiar Samuel Adams logo and I ordered one of those.  She came back out with the Sam Adams poured into one of the special Samuel Adams beer glasses that are supposed to be used to drink their beer.  I thought it was a petty nice touch and something that I've rarely seen at a bar or restaurant.  (Click here to learn more about the Samuel Adams beer glass.)

The dinner menu at Tuscano's features a long list of Italian favorites, Greek specialties, wood-fired ribs and pizza, veal, chicken and pasta dishes, steaks, lamb chops and seafood.  I'm always a little leery of places like this who have a large menu because while they can usually do everything just all right, they can't do it all very well.  

The veal picante - lightly breaded veal sauteed in lemon juice and white wine - sounded pretty good to me.  A choice of soup or salad and a side pasta dish came with the entree.  I thought a bit about the homemade fettuccine alfredo, but that seemed a little boring to me.  The linguine with clams in a white sauce was another thing that caught my eye.  But nothing really jumped out at me.  

I looked long and hard at their wood-fired pizza.  They had a basic margarita pizza with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.  They also had the Diavola - spicy pepperoni, fresh mozzarella, black olives and red pepper flakes.  Suddenly, pizza sounded real good to me.  I hadn't had a good pizza in a while and I ended up getting the Rustica - Italian sausage and pepperoni along with fresh mozzarella, sliced mushrooms, housemade tomato sauce, onions and sweet peppers.   

While I waited for my pizza to show up, another waiter brought out a basket of warm bread slices.  Olive oil and parmesan cheese were on the table.  The bread was soft and flavorful, and dipping it into a combination of the olive oil, parmesan and black pepper was a great taste sensation.  It went well with the beer.  

I had finished my first beer and was looking for a second one when another server brought my pizza out to me.  Lisa was busy behind the bar and having to wait on patrons in the lounge area.  But after she got my pizza order, she just forgot about me.  I looked over and it appeared that she was talking with a couple guys who were probably regulars at the bar.  She just completely forgot about me.  I had water with my pizza.

The pizza was about 10" in size and the crust looked like it was pre-formed and not hand tossed.  The crust was thick toward the edge and thin in the middle.  

The toppings were a little disappointing.  There was little Italian sausage on the pizza, as well as only a few slices of pepperoni.  Strips of sweet red pepper were on the top of the pizza - a plus in my book.  Small slices of onion were prevalent, but not numerous.  Same with the mushrooms.  I could taste some of the fresh mozzarella, but overall I was disappointed in the pizza.  The crust did taste like a preformed crust - sort of lifeless and hard to chew.  This was a pizza that had a lot of promise, but didn't live up to the billing of a good wood-fired pizza.  I only ate 4 of the six slices before I called it quits. 

On top of all that, Lisa completely forgot about me.  She was still paying attention to people sitting at the bar so much that I thought I should go over with my pizza and just sit at the bar.  When the server who brought me my pizza came back to inquire if I wanted the rest boxed up, I declined and told him I'd just take my check.  I sat an waited for another five minutes or so and no one brought me that check.  I finally had to go up to the bar, interrupt Lisa and ask for my check.  I almost gave her a bad tip and with a note on the receipt "Don't forget your customers."  (I've done that a few times in the past.)  But I gave her what was basically a ten percent tip and called it good.

I do want to go back and try Tuscano's again at some point.  Everything started out so nice, but went downhill after the basket of fresh bread came out.  I'd probably go with my first instinct and get the veal picante or a pasta dish, but I was far from impressed with my pizza at Tuscano's.  I couldn't even give you an answer if it passed my "Does it taste good with beer" test because I didn't have any beer with the pizza thanks to Lisa forgetting about me.  Sitting in the dining room may be a better plan if I do make it back at some point.  I just hope the rest of the food is better than the pizza.

Michael's Bar and Grill - St. Louis

One of my dealers in St. Louis was telling me about a place that has a pretty good burger, as well as some very good Greek food - Michael's Bar and Grill.  Michael's has been a fixture in the Maplewood neighborhood on Manchester Road for nearly 30 years.  For lunch one day on a recent visit to St. Louis, I sought out Michael's. 

Michael Malliotakis opened his eponymous bar and grill in 1985 serving a mixture of American and Greek food. It has been a favorite place for diners for both business lunches and casual dinners.  There is a basement that can also be used as an overflow room, as it usually is on a Friday or Saturday night.  

I pulled up to Michael's Bar and Grill on Manchester (see map) just before the noon hour.  I parked my car on the street just a half block up the way, but I found that you can also use the parking lot across the street that is shared by a Dollar General store and an O'Reilly Auto Parts store. I walked into the restaurant (past the deserted outdoor dining area that seems rather close to busy Manchester) and the lunch crowd was just getting going.  The bar area had a few tables and some booths along the window.  There was a dining area off to the east side of the building that was about 3/4's full.  The tables were all excruciatingly close to one another, not the kind of floor plan I like at restaurants when you're literally elbow to elbow with the diners at the table next to you.

I was greeted by a gentleman with a thick accent (possibly Michael himself?) who showed me to a small two-seat table near the fireplace in the bar area.  It was cramped and I just felt that other people were literally on top of me.  He dropped off a menu for me.     

Looking through the menu, it was a mixture of Greek and American classics - gyros, burgers, lamb, steaks, kebobs and seafood.  They had a number of appetizers on the menu including the St. Louis-staple toasted ravioli, saganaki (Greek fried cheese), spicy chicken wings and the Greek delicacy taramasalata - salted and cured cod roe mixed with bread crumbs, vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil and used as a dip.  

Michael's also features their house-signature soup - chicken avgolemono, a lemon and egg based soup - and two sizes of their Greek salad.  You can also order a Greek salad with either grilled chicken or gyro meat.  

Since I'd heard about the burger, I decided to get that.  When my server, Sophia, came by to get my order, I went with the Michael burger - a 10 oz. blended-chopped beef burger.  She asked me if I wanted any cheese on it and I got mine with pepper jack cheese.  I also ordered a small Greek salad to go with the burger.  

It wasn't long with Sophia came out with my Greek salad.  It was a heaping plate of lettuce greens topped with pepperocini, Greek olives, chopped red onions and copious amounts of feta cheese.  The Greek vinaigrette had a nice tart taste to it and it was a very good salad.   

 
The burger came as I was still working on my salad.  It was served open faced with a two slices of pepper jack cheese on the top of the huge burger.  Steak fries came with the burger along with a tomato and lettuce garnish.     

From the first bite, I could tell that it was a good burger.  It was cooked medium with a hint of pink in the middle.  It had a good juicy consistency to the burger patty, but it didn't fall apart very easily.  The bun was lightly toasted and also held together very well with the burger.   The only problem is that I couldn't eat the whole thing.  After blasting through a good portion of the Greek salad, I was getting stuffed.  I could only eat 3/4's of the burger and it was far from an indictment of the overall taste of burger.  I was getting full and I had to push away.  

Michael's Bar and Grill is one of those nice little neighborhood places that keeps people coming back.  About the only thing I had a problem with at Michael's were the close proximity of tables.  I just felt a little claustrophobic and somewhat cramped when I was eating.  The burger was very good, however.  Since I'd heard it was a good burger, I wasn't disappointed in the least.  The Greek salad was very good, as well.  Even though it was busy and she was busy waiting on tables, Sophia's service was friendly and personable.   The menu was interesting enough to keep Michael's on my "Restaurants to Visit" list when I get back to St. Louis.  I'm always up for a good gyro and I'm guessing that Michael's has a pretty good one.  I'll have to see on my next visit. 

Dr. Gyros - Rock Island, IL

A place over in Rock Island that I've been wanting to try for a number of years and finally got around to going there recently is Dr. Gyros.  I'm fond of a good gyro and we're starting to find some pretty good places that have gyros in the Quad Cities.  For lunch one day a while back, I ventured across the river to have a gyro at Dr. Gyros.

Actually, I've wanted to try Dr. Gyros even before I found out it was connected with The Doc's Inn restaurant in East Moline.  (Click here to see the entry on The Doc's Inn.)  While my wife and I weren't too thrilled with the food at The Doc's Inn, I've heard nothing but good things about Dr. Gyros and their gyros.  

The connection between Dr. Gyros and The Doc's Inn is owner John Stopoulos and his wife, MaryBeth.  The two opened Dr. Gyros ten years ago and then they opened The Doc's Inn in March of last year.  In addition to  their primary food option of gyros - including chicken gyros - Dr. Gyro's menu also features Italian beef sandwiches, burgers, pita sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads.  Actually, there's some cross-pollination between The Doc's Inn and Dr. Gyros with menu items.  The biggest difference I see is that The Doc's Inn sells beer while Dr. Gyros does not.

Dr. Gyros is located on 18th Avenue in Rock Island, south and west of Augustana College. (see map)  There is a Hungry Hobo sandwich shop and a Whitey's Ice Cream store directly across the street.  I walked into the restaurant and was met by a young lady standing behind the small counter up front.  The menu was above and behind her on the wall and the kitchen area was to her right and my left.  I ordered up a traditional gyro ($5.39) and then saw that I could get additional gyro meat on it for another $1.99.  I went with the additional meat and got some water to go with it..  I was going to eat in and she gave me an order number.  I didn't know the drill, however, and was standing around the counter area waiting for my gyro to show up.  She said, "Uh, you're eating in, right?  You can have a seat and I'll bring it out to you."  

Oh!  All right! Sure!  I found an open booth the wall of windows and waited for my gyro.  The dining room was bright with a lot of natural light coming in.  It was after the lunch rush, so there were only a handful of people in the place.  (Picture of Dr. Gyros dining area at right courtesy Trip Advisor.)

On the wall near the pop dispensers was the picture of a young guy who conquered Dr. Gyros' "Man vs. Food"-style challenge - he ate the Mount Olympus gyro.  The Mount Olympus challenge starts with a pita that is supposedly the size of a large pizza, then they top it with 3 1/2 pounds of gyro meat, then they add chopped onions, tomatoes and tzatiki sauce.  To make it even more interesting, they add Greek seasoned French fries to the Mount Olympus.  The competitor has to finish the Mount Olympus and fries, AND a Greek dessert in less than one hour.  Only one person has done it - the guy in the picture on the wall at Dr. Gyros - Alfredo Villareal of Rock Island.  While these "Man vs. Food" contests were sort of the rage four or five years ago, I find them to be boring and somewhat obscenely gluttonous in nature.  "Man vs. Food" inspired too many restaurants to come up with their own "challenge", hoping they'd be featured by the show at some point.  But Adam Richman has sort of gotten away from doing these challenges himself and that's why his "Man vs. Food Nation" show only highlights the big food challenges that other people participate in. 

About 10 minutes after I ordered, one of the guys in the back brought out my gyro wrapped in aluminum foil.  Now, my gold standard for gyros in the Quad Cities is Uncle Pete's.  (Click here to see my entry on Uncle Pete's.)  The pita was smaller than the pita they use at Uncle Pete's.  And there didn't seem to be as much gyro meat as they put on the Super Gyro at Uncle Pete's.  Large chunks of fresh onions and tomatoes were added.  The other small quibble I have with the gyro at Dr. Gyros is that they spread a thin layer of tzatiki sauce on the pita before adding the meat and veggies.  They're much more generous with the very good tzatiki sauce at Uncle Pete's with their Super Gyro, even giving an extra tub of sauce to go along with it.  

The taste of the pita on the gyro at Dr. Gyros was very good.  It was fresh and had somewhat of a wheat taste to it.  Actually, I liked it better than the pita at Uncle Pete's.  

The other thing that I liked at Dr. Gyros was the gyro meat.  It was less salty than the gyro meat at Uncle Pete's.  (I'm always drinking a couple glasses of water a couple hours after having one of the gyros at Uncle Pete's to combat the salt.)   Once again, the quibble I had was that for nearly the same money the traditional gyro with extra gyro meat still wasn't as big as the Super Gyro at Uncle Pete's.

But, overall, the taste of the gyro at Dr. Gyros was pretty good.  There's not much difference in the taste of the gyro meat from place to place - save for the less salt in the meat at Dr. Gyros vs. Uncle Pete's.  I would have liked to have gotten some more tzatiki sauce on the gyro, but it was fine for what I had.  The gyro at Dr. Gyros got a "thumbs up" from me.

There's a couple other places around the Quad Cities where we really like the gyros - Olympic Gyros in Davenport (click here to see my entry on Olympic), and Sultan Mediterranean Restaurant in Rock Island (click here to see my entry on Sultan).  Uncle Pete's still probably has my heart more than Dr. Gyros, but only because Uncle Pete's has been around so long and is probably a little better value.  Still, Dr. Gyros does a good job with their gyros and I'd have no problem giving them a good recommendation on their gyros.  (Photo at right courtesy Quad City Times.) 

Olympic Gyros - Davenport, IA

Cindy found a little place on 53rd Ave. on the north side of Davenport that she likes to go to for lunch from time to time - Olympic Gyros.  Sometimes, I'll meet her over there for a quick bite and just to get out of the office for a bit when I'm not on the road.  Although it's probably not as good as a couple of other gyro places around the Quad Cities, we think it's a pretty good value.  

Olympic Gyros opened in late 2010 and is owned by Andy and Pete Hasakis.  The Hasakis family also owns the Family Restaurant near North Park Mall.  In addition to gyros, the menu at Olympic Gyros includes burgers, Italian beef sandwiches, breaded pork tenderloins, chicken sandwiches, hot dogs and chili dogs.  They also have fresh cut French fries in addition to onion rings and mozzarella sticks.  Oh, and by the way, you can also get grilled chicken gyros, if you like.  

We've gone to Olympic Gyros about a half dozen times together - Cindy goes there on a regular basis just to get out of her office a few blocks to the north of the restaurant.  We usually meet up sometime around 1:30 pulling into the parking lot off 53rd Ave. near Menard's. (see map)  Well, that is until Menard's moves to their new location in far northern Davenport.    

The interior of Olympic Gyros is pretty simple.  There are a number of booths and tables in the small, well-lit place.  A television that is perpetually tuned to CNN is on in one corner.  Pictures of Grecian landmarks are on the walls with multi-colored Olympic rings as the center piece on the long wall of the restaurant.

 
The menu board is above the counter and our orders are usually pretty simple - a gyro and water.  Although, I have to admit - the flat-grilled burgers smell pretty good.  You place your order at the counter, pay, and then find a seat.  

There always seems to be a group of mailmen that are in there when we're there.  In fact, we see a number of the same guys in the place when we go in.  We're far from regulars in the place, but we seem to see a lot of mailmen in there about the same time we're in.  In fact, the staff seems to be on a first name, "flip-'em-shit" basis with the mailmen.  

It usually takes less than 10 minutes for them to bring out the gyros to us.  And there's a lot of gyro meat on the pita bread each time we've gone there. Chopped onions and bits of tomatoes accompany the gyro meat.  About the only thing that they need is more tzatiki sauce on the gyros.  But for an additional .69 cents you can get a tub of the sauce.  We usually do that.  

The meat is a little salty, but it isn't bad.  For a gyro, it's pretty damned good.  And for $5.95, it's damned good deal.  

There's not much to Olympic Gyros - gyros, burgers, a few sandwiches and salads.  And that's all right.  They've got a nice little niche, a nice little following and a nice little place.  It's clean, the food is good and it's one of our favorite little places.  

The Doc's Inn - Silvis, IL

We've been in the market for a new car for the wife and we were out on a recent Saturday afternoon over on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities looking for cars at some of the car dealerships along John Deere Road.  Looking for a car for Cindy makes her stressed and since it was around lunch she thought she needed something to eat.  She had been hearing ads on the radio for a place over in Silvis by the name of The Doc's Inn.  She sort of directed me to where the place was, the only problem is that I passed it and had to go back around. Once we got situated and found the parking lot we pulled up in front of The Doc's Inn.

The unique name of the place suggests there's a doctor involved in the business, but it's a take off of another business that owner John Stoupulos and his wife, MaryBeth, owns in Rock Island - Dr. Gyros.  While Dr. Gyros is more of a gyros/sandwich shop, The Doc's Inn features a lot of the same items on their menu, only serving beer and liquor at The Doc's Inn location.  

The Stopoulos' opened The Doc's Inn in mid-March of 2012 in a small strip mall on the Avenue of the Cities at 10th St. in Silvis. (see map)  Already, the Stopoulos' are looking to expand the restaurant, putting in an addition that would add 70 seats in a room that would be used for private parties and overflow in the restaurant. It would also feature an outdoor patio area with a permanent stage for bands to play.  John Stopoulos told the Quad City Times earlier this year that he hoped to have the additions in place by September. 

As I said, if you come from the east on Avenue of the Cities, you're likely to pass the place and you have to double back on 7th St.  Also, the parking lot is a little funky.  There's no drive around lane on the far side of the parking lot in front of The Doc's Inn, so if you think there's an open spot at the end - like I did - and there isn't, you've got to back up and manuever to find an open spot.  It was a little confusing on our first visit.

Walking into The Doc's Inn, we found a brightly lit small bar/restaurant with a number of flat screen televisions throughout the place.  A bar that seated about a dozen people was on the right with an open kitchen to the side of the bar.  High top tables were in the middle of the dining area with booths along the wall.  We waited for a booth to open up while one of the waitresses wiped a table down for us.

Quite actually, I didn't know there was a connection between The Doc's Inn and Dr. Gyros until I did some research into the background of the new restaurant.  I've always wanted to try Dr. Gyros and had I known there was a connection I would have gotten the gyro at The Doc's Inn.  But I concentrated on the burger part of the menu that featured a number of different types of burgers.  They also had a Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich on the menu that sort of caught my eye.  

I ended up getting the breakfast burger that was topped with a fried egg, bacon and cheddar cheese.  For sides, I got their seasoned French fries and cottage cheese.  Cindy went with the chicken caesar wrap.  I asked if I could get my burger medium and our server said that would be no problem.

The only problem is that is wasn't medium.  It wasn't even medium-well.  It was well done and all the life had been cooked out of the burger when I took a bite of it.  And it looked like the burger had the possibilities of being very good, too.  There were chunks of bacon on top of the cheddar cheese melted over the hard fried egg laying on the burger patty.  It had a good bun, light and chewy, which helped the overall taste of the burger.  But the overcooked patty was hard, tough to chew and lacking of flavor and juiciness that I like in my burgers. 

 
Cindy said her chicken caesar wrap was just "OK".  She said there wasn't a lot of caesar dressing taste to the wrap and the chicken was a little rubbery and tough to chew.  She said it was disappointing.  

Actually, the seasoned fries had a good taste to them.  They could have been a little more warm when they were delivered to the table.  But I did dig the taste of the seasoning on the fries.  It's too bad they were the highlight of the meal.   

 
We really wanted to like the food at The Doc's Inn because it looked like a pretty cool place.  With all the televisions in the place, it could be a fun place to come and watch some games.  If we were to come back, I'd probably stay away from the burger and go with the gyro since that's sort of the signature item of The Doc's Inn and Dr. Gyros.  But since it's so far away from our house, I just can't see us making a specific trip back to The Doc's Inn for food or drinks.  It's too bad the burger and wrap were so disappointing.  

King Kong - Omaha

I had gotten into Omaha early one afternoon and was sort of hungry.  I had to do a training meeting that evening and knew I wouldn't be eating dinner until later on.  I tried to think of someplace that I hadn't been to in sometime and finally it hit me - King Kong!  King Kong is a burger/gyro place on Dodge St. in Omaha (see map).  I decided to go there for a gyro for lunch.  

King Kong's name is interesting enough, but how it came to be is pretty interesting in its own right.  It begins with a young Nick Triantafillou growing up on a Greek island, working almost since he was able to walk.  Growing up, Nick dreamt about going to the United States to join up with his uncle who had a restaurant in Omaha, NE.  Nick left home in his early 20's joining a commercial shipping company where he sailed the seas and worked as the waiter for the ship's captain.  

On a particularly rough journey in 1973 from the United Kingdom to Texas to pick up a boat load of sugar, the young Triantafillou knew he'd had enough of the sea life.  After docking in Galveston, TX, knowing no English and armed only with his uncle's telephone number in Omaha, Nick jumped ship.  He made his way to some friendly Greek locals in Texas who put him on a plane to Omaha to join up with his uncle who ran a gyro shop in town.

Getting a foothold in the restaurant business, the young Triantafillou opened his first restaurant across the river in Council Bluffs, IA - Nick's Sirloin House.  He eventually sold the steakhouse and opened a diner in a small town near Omaha.  Triantafillou then opened a fine dining restaurant - Nick and Diana's - in suburban Bellevue, NE.  None of the restaurants did particulary well, but Triantafillou kept trying.  

Now fully immersed in the restaurant culture, Triantafillou eventually opened a chain of gyro/burger joints across Nebraska called Nick's Gyros.  He had locations in Kearney, Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha.  He eventually sold off all the locations, but kept the one location at 44th and Dodge in the heart of Omaha's midtown area.  

One of Nick's signature meals was a 1/2 pound burger that he wanted to name after something big.  Getting the inspiration from the original King Kong movie that he saw as a young man in Greece, Triantafillou named his burger the "King Kong".  Not only did King Kong signify the size of his burgers, but also the size of his dinner entrees, including gyros, that Nick's served.  And all at a good value price.  

In 1994, Triantafillou decided to change the name of his restaurant to King Kong and had his lawyer look into whether he'd be infringing on any trademarks.  It turned out that a federal court in the 1970's had ruled that the original King Kong story had become public domain since there were a handful of books and serial articles that had been published about the time the original movie came out in 1933, but it was unclear who actually wrote the first story on King Kong.  

And, amazingly, Triantafillou's lawyer also found out that no one owned the trademark on either the King Kong name or the King Kong gorilla image.  None of the movie companies or publishing houses had trademarked King Kong since it became public domain 20 years prior.  Triantafillou bought the King Kong trademark, the gorilla image trademark, as well as trademarking the "Double Kong" and "Triple Kong" burgers.  That's right - a small restaurant owner in Omaha, NE owns King Kong.  

In 2001, Triantafillou opened a second location in south Omaha, and subsequently opened two other locations including one in Lincoln.  There had been talk of King Kong expanding into Missouri with locations in St. Joseph and Independence, but I don't think those locations have ever opened. 

(Pictured left - The Triple Kong 1 1/2 lb. burger.  Photo courtesy justjdm.com)

King Kong is on the south side of Dodge, just after 42nd St. and before Saddle Creek.  If you're heading west bound on Dodge St. coming out of the downtown Omaha area, you'll have to take the southbound Saddle Creek exit on the right just before King Kong as there's no left turns into businesses along Dodge St.  Get in the far right lane of Saddle Creek and take the eastbound Dodge Street exit.  It cloverleafs up and around to eastbound Dodge just before the entrance to King Kong on the right.  It was around 1:30 p.m. when I pulled into the parking lot of King Kong, well after the noon time lunch rush.  But it was still busy enough where there was a fair sized crowd inside the dining room when I went in.

The menu is located on on a lighted marquee board behind the counter.  In addition to gyros and burgers, King Kong also features steak and dinner entrees, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, salads, as well as a number of Kid-sized meals for the youngsters.  They also have daily specials through the week.  I was going to get one of their gyros since it had been a long time since I last had one from King Kong - probably more than 10 years ago.  A young lady with an Eastern European accent took my order for a gyro.  Within a minute it was up on the counter waiting for me to pick it up.

I found a seat in the back corner of the dining area.  There are a series of white-topped tables with matching ice cream parlor-styled chairs throughout the place.  The dining room decor sort of has a faux jungle/tropical color and kitschy feeling to the room.  It also feels a little more cramped than cozy in the dining area as the tables are close together.  

The gyro, itself, was huge (above right).  It was piled with gyro meat, fresh onions and tomatoes all swarming in King Kong's homemade tzatziki sauce.  Even with a fork, it's a messy delight.  The gyro meat was flavorful and tender.  Oh, there were a couple pieces of the gyro meat where it was a little more done than others, but it was still edible.  The onions were overly fresh and somewhat powerful.  Given that it was early spring, the tomatoes were surprisingly fresh.  And the homemade tzatziki sauce was a great complement for the whole gyro.  The pita bread was soft, pliable and chewy.  The gyro at King Kong was exactly as I remembered it to be from the last time I had one a number of years ago.  

True to its name, King Kong gives you a lot of food at a great value.  My very large gyro cost $5.99 and it was more than a regular lunch meal for me.  I was stuffed after I left King Kong.  I've never tried one of their burgers so I may have to go back at some point and get one.  I doubt if it will be either the Double or Triple Kong burgers (they even have a "Super Kong" 2 lb. burger on the menu), but the 1/2 pound King Kong burger should be able to work for me.  But the gyro at King Kong is still worth going there to get one.  It's no wonder all four King Kong locations in Omaha and Lincoln are a favorite with the locals.     

Anthonino's Taverna - St. Louis

 
A shout out today to an old friend, Tim Lake, who used to live in St. Louis years ago and who now lives just outside of Birmingham, AL.  He's a regular reader of Road Tips and we had a back and forth about my post on Amaghetti's (see that post here) a while back.   I was trying to remember the name of the little place where I got a sandwich similar to Amaghetti's "Special" sandwich.  I finally remembered  the place - Mama Toscana's.  Tim was telling me of a place on the Hill that had good sandwiches and an "out of sight" gyro - Anthonino's Taverna.  I told him I didn't know where it was.  He said, "Oh, man!  As much as you're on The Hill, you've had to drive right by it." 

Turns out that I have driven past Anthonino's many times, but never stopped in.  On a recent trip to St. Louis I stopped in for lunch one day. 

Anthonino's Taverna is what you'd call an Italian/Greek restaurant and that's a reflection on the owners, Rosario and Anthony Scarato.  Their father is Italian, while their mother is Greek.  Both Scarato boys grew up in the restaurant business as their father, Bob, owned his own restaurant - Athen's Cafe - for 20 years.  Anthonino's (which is "Little Anthony" in Italian) began in 2004, housed in a building that was built back in the 1930's.  The Scarato's are on hand all the time and their father, sometimes helps out as the host. 

Anthonino's Taverna has a great neighborhood tavern feel to the place.  While it's not overly huge, there's a large bar as you come walking in with a number of tables along the big window up front.  The "L"-shaped dining room allows for small groups to push tables together, or for a quick bite for two on a date night.   The place is bright with a lot of festive paint colors on the walls. 

It was just after noon when I walked into Anthonino's.  One of the waitresses greeted me up front.  I told her it was just me and she said, "Would you like to sit at the bar?"  Well, sure!  That definitely worked for me.  50's and 60's - era  jazz was playing on the sound system in the place.

Anthonino's menu reflects the wide and varied recipes the two brothers bring to the table.  Their appetizer menu is deep with Italian staples like toasted ravioli, calimari and antipasti, but they also feature a number of Greek appetizers such as spanakopita - feta cheese and spinach wrapped in phyllo dough, slices of gyro meat with homemade tzatziki sauce, and baby dalmathes - grape leaves stuffed with seasoned rice along with feta, peppers and pita.  

Their salad menu features a house salad that is similar to those you'll find at many other Hill area restaurants, only they use a Greek dressing to top it off.  They also have a Caesar Salad and your choice of toppings for any of the salads including gyro meat, chicken or sauteed portabella mushrooms.  

Anthonino's has a full dinner menu consisting of both Italian and Greek specialties.  In fact, the readers of River Front Times in St. Louis voted Antonino's the best Greek restaurant in the St. Louis area for 2010.  But they also have a very large selection of Italian pasta specialties such as Tutti Mare, beef tortellini in both a marinara or a cream sauce with peas and capocola, and something called Pasta Puttanesca - pasta topped with tomatoes, capers, onions, kalamata olives, anchovies and oregano with garlic olive oil.  Oh, man!  My stomach is doing back flips as I'm writing this. 

As a surprise to me, Anthonino's also features hand-tossed pizzas on their menu including a number of specialty pizzas with a little Greek flair to them.  A larger group seated at a larger table back toward the restrooms had a couple pizzas on their tables for lunch.  While Anthonino's pizza isn't the thin crust like a St. Louis-style pizza, it's definitely not overly thick.  It looked delicious.

But I was after a gyro.  My friend, Tim, moved from St. Louis to near Cincinnati about five years ago before moving on to Birmingham.  His wife's family still lives in the St. Louis area and he told me, "Anthonino's has the best gyro I've ever had.  I have to stop each time we're back in St. Louis to get one."  He said he became hooked on them just after Anthonino's opened up over six years ago and said he's found nothing like them anywhere.

Anthonino's gyros are part of a lengthy sandwich menu featuring burgers, Italian and Greek sandwiches, fish sandwiches, and their own take on the submarine sandwich.  One thing Tim told me to do was to order the gyro with feta cheese.  And that's exactly what I ordered.  I had my choice of a side and I saw that for a $2.50 up-charge I could get one of Anthonino's house salad.  I took that instead of fries. 

The salad was, in a word, wonderful.  It had fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives, pepperocini and sweet red onions with fresh lettuce topped with a creamy feta cheese dressing.  I would have been happy just to get a large house salad it was so good.

 
Less than 10 minutes after I finished my salad, my gyro was brought out to me wrapped in foil and topped with a generous amount of feta cheese and tzatziki sauce with large slices of tomatoes and red onions mixed in.  It was huge!  I had to make cuts and eat the first part of it with my fork and knife.  But even after that I was having to take big bites just to get into the heart of the gyro. 

I wasn't overly enthused about the feta cheese on my gyro, however.  Too much feta can be overpowering and this was a little too much for me.  And some of the meat slices were a little charred like they had been left on the spit too long.  But the meat that was not overcooked was moist and tender and had a really good flavor to it.  And the pita bread shell they used at Anthonino's was also very good - great flavor and not too chewy. 

Was it the best gyro I've ever had?  Probably not - but, then again, it may be one of the most authentic gyros I've ever had.   Next time I go and get a gyro at Anthonino's I'll probably ask for a little bit of feta - that was almost too much for me. 

But overall, I really liked Anthonino's.  Not only for the gyro, but for the ambiance, the service and the overall neighborhood feel to the place.  From the moment I stepped into the place, I liked the warmness of the place.  It made me wish that I had a neighborhood bar/restaurant like Anthonino's within walking distance of where I live - or even just a short drive from my home.   There's a lot of great little bars and restaurants on the Hill, but Anthonino's Taverna has suddenly shot to the top of my list of the place I'd most like to get a beer and sandwich. 

Uncle Pete's - Moline, IL

One of the first people I met after I moved to the Quad Cities nearly 20 years ago turned me onto a little Greek gyro place in Moline called Uncle Pete's. He told me, "They have the best gyro's in the Quad City." Quite honestly, I haven't found another place that sells gyros that even comes close - even the Greek guys who come in for the annual street fest in downtown Davenport don't come close to Uncle Pete's. Over the years, Uncle Pete's has turned into a favorite dining spot of ours.

Uncle Pete's is named after Pete Panouses (below left), a big bear of a guy who was the original owner since 1982. Originally at South Park Mall, Pete and his wife, Kathy, operated a little 32-seat "hole-in-the-wall" location on the Avenue of the Cities in Moline. It could get crowded in Uncle Pete's with people waiting for in-house and to-go orders. But the food was always good. We always used Uncle Pete's as the measuring stick against any other gyros we'd encounter during our travels. And we've found time and time again that Uncle Pete's is hard to beat.

                                   
Just after Christmas in 2006, Pete Panouses passed away. His son, Chris (above right), had been working in the family business and had been in managing the place while Pete held court at a little table near the cash register talking to longtime friends and customers when they came in. Other than a large picture of Pete on the wall and his obituary hanging next to it, you couldn't tell if there were any changes going on with the restaurant. Uncle Pete's gyros continued to be the best in town.

Last year, ALDI grocery stores bought the little strip mall that Uncle Pete's was housed in. They were going to tear down the strip mall and put up a grocery store. Chris Panouses had to scramble and find a new place. He wanted to stay within a mile of the original Uncle Pete's location and found some land just up the road a bit (closer for us, actually, from our home in Davenport). It was there he built the new and improved Uncle Pete's restaurant, nearly tripling the seating to 80 in the process. He had hoped to be open by February 1 as they had to vacate the old place by the first of March. But delays in the building of the new restaurant forced him to shut down operations for seven weeks before he was finally able to re-open in the new location in late April.

Not only has the seating increased, but it allowed Panouses to increase the number of items on his menu. He's introduced Italian beef sandwiches, a reuben sandwich and a steak sandwich to the menu. The prices on the gyros have gone up modestly since the move, but they pack them with so much gyro meat it's still a great value.

Cindy and I were over in Moline one Saturday earlier this summer and we had passed the new location of Uncle Pete's (see map). It had been early February since I'd been in - Cindy had been over to the new location a couple of times when I would be on the road. While the old location was sort of recessed and off the street - it was tough to see if you didn't know it was there - the new building stands much closer to the street and the signage is large and easy to see. And Uncle Pete's has a large parking lot that they don't have to share as they had to with two or three other businesses in the old strip mall.

As we walked in, the first thing I noticed was how large the dining room was. There were a number of tables and booths throughout the place - a lot nicer tables and chairs, I might add, than what the Panouses family had at the old location. But that also helped with the ambiance of the old place. The new and improved Uncle Pete's was very nice.

And just like at the old place, you place your orders at Uncle Pete's at the counter - although the counter at the new location is just as you walk in the door from the parking lot. The counter of the old place was in the back of the restaurant and you had to walk through diners just to get your order place. Once again, it was one of those things you just did to get a good gyro from Uncle Pete's.

The menu is located behind the counter, even helping with the correct pronunciation of gyros (YEE-roes). They have two sizes of gyros at Uncle Pete's - the regular and the super. The super comes with an extra container of tzatziki sauce, which, I was told, comes from a family recipe handed down through Kathy Panouses' family. The super gyro is my usual order at Uncle Pete's. While they do have good french fries, a super gyro is usually the only thing I need when I'm there.

Cindy ordered up a regular gyro and an order of Uncle Pete's fries which are more like steak fries than thin French fries. Uncle Pete's slathers on the tzatziki sauce on the regular gyro and you usually don't need to get another container. But if you do want one, it's 50 cents extra.

We found a table and waited for our number to be called. When the girl called out our number, I went up and got our gyros and a ton of napkins as you'll usually need them when you eat an Uncle Pete's gyro. Wrapped in wax paper and served on a paper plate, Uncle Pete's gyros haven't changed since my first visit in 1991. Look at the amount of gyro meat they put on their super gyro. You have to use a fork and knife - plastic, naturally, at Uncle Pete's - to eat some of the gyro meat before you can pick up the pita shell and eat it.

The gyro meat at Uncle Pete's is always cooked just right - not too overdone or undercooked. Too many times at other gyro places they slice off the gyro meat from the spit and let it sit on a tray under a heat lamp, over cooking the strips. Uncle Pete's sort of does the same thing, but as quick as they go through gyros, the meat doesn't stay in the tray all that long. The onions on the gyros at Uncle Pete's are always fresh and strong, and while the tomatoes are of the common salad bar variety that you find in most restaurants, they still put a lot of slices on their gyros.

Since I didn't have any breakfast that day, I made short work of my super gyro. Thank God the taste and quality didn't change with the move to the new location. I helped Cindy with a few of her fries and they were the same as the old location. Many times when a restaurant has moved to a new location, there's something that changes in the quality of the food. Other than a lot more seating and a new building, I can't see much of anything that changed at the new Uncle Pete's.

Chris Panouses was quoted in a couple of the local papers as saying that it was a shock for him to have to leave the old location. They'd gotten into a comfort zone at the old place and leaving the old location was "really emotional." But as good as business has been for him at his new location, I'm sure he's not missing the old place one bit. Uncle Pete's is still closed on Sunday's, but the rest of the time you can find some of the best gyros you'll ever eat anywhere over in Moline. And even though I haven't had one yet, I understand Uncle Pete's has a good burger, too. I'll have to give that a try at some point, but it's certainly tough to go to Uncle Pete's and not order a gyro.

 

CND Gyros and Lounge - Chicago

A casual acquaintance of mine who I run into a couple three times a year in the Quad Cities - WQAD news anchor Jason Fechner - was telling me a while back about this hole-in-the-wall lounge in downtown Chicago that he's known about since his days in college.  The name - CND Gyros and Lounge - was intriguing enough.  What Jason stressed to me was that it was the quintessential dive bar with great gyros and burgers.  "This is the kind of place you'd love," he told me one evening over a couple beers during the Christmas holiday last December.  I made it my mission to give it a shot at some point.

I was in downtown Chicago one evening in late January, staying at the Hilton Garden Inn on East Grand at State.  Jason had told me that CND Gyros was on East Grand just east of Michigan Ave.  (East Grand goes underneath Michigan Ave.)  It was about a five minute walk on a cool night when I went there around 8:30 p.m.  It turned out that the lounge was open until 10 p.m., but I was told by the raspy-voiced lady behind the bar that when food orders are slow, they'll close the kitchen early sometimes.  Ohhh, OK.  I ended up walking back to the hotel and having dinner at the Weber Grill Restaurant, so the evening wasn't a total waste. 

I was back in Chicago in the Spring and happened to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn again.  This time, it was a warm evening as I walked down busy East Grand to CND Gyros and Lounge (see map).  The place is situated just to the east of the corner of N. St. Clair and East Grand, right next to the Volare Restaurant, an Italian restaurant that is favored by the local population.  (I really need to try Volare at some point.) 

  
CND Gyros and Lounge is owned and operated by John Xamplas, a Grecian immigrant who has run the place for years and years.  How the "CND" name came about borders on legend.   The story I got is that when Xamplas bought the business a guy by the name of Chris owned the building next door.  Xamplas couldn't come up with a name for his place, so he decided to call it "Chris Next Door" or shortened to CND.  I don't know if that's the true story, but that's the one I heard. 

The menu for the restaurant is located in the front window of the restaurant/lounge.  Not only is CND Gyros known for their gyros and burgers, they also have a homemade chili that is supposed to be pretty good.  "Behind our gyros, our chili is the second best seller on the menu," the same raspy-voiced bartender told me.  They also have something called a "Gyro Melt" - a Texas Toast sandwich with gyro meat topped with grilled cheese and cheddar cheese.  While the Gyro Melt sounded interesting, I wanted to give their regular gyro a try. 

I walked in and the kitchen was open this time.  Not knowing the drill at the place, I stepped up to the counter at the kitchen under the "Order Here" sign and ordered a gyro.  The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted a "gyro sandwich or a gyro platter."  The gyro platter basically came with french fries.  No, I'll just get the regular gyro. 

While he made up my gyro, an elderly guy came to take my money.  It turned out this was John Xamplas, the owner.  On the right is a picture of John behind the counter. 

What I really wanted was to have a beer in the lounge area of the restaurant.  I figured that they made the food up front and then you had to order the beer at the bar.  I got my gyro - it was in a plain brown paper bag - and I went to the bar to order an Old Style.  "Bottle or draw, darlin'," the raspy-voiced bartender asked.  I got it in a bottle.  It wasn't cheap - $3.50 a bottle.  Yow!  But, yes, I was in downtown Chicago and it certainly beat the $7.00 bottles of beer I was buying out in Hawaii. 

I found a table in the back of the place and sat down to eat my gyro.  Actually, instead of a gyro on a flat piece of pita, this was more of a pita pocket.  Two chunks of tomatoes were at the top and the tsaksiki sauce was served in a cup on the side.  The pita pocket was stuffed full of the gyro meat and I have to say it was very good.  The meat was a little salty, but the onions were fresh and forward tasting.  It was pretty damn good. 

Equally impressive was the cold beer.  Now, I like cold beer.  And the beer at CND Gyros was ice cold.  It was a great compliment to the very good gyro I finished in rather quickly. 

    
I decided to go back up to the bar and have another beer.  There weren't many people in the place, only a handful of people eating gyros.  I understand that it can get pretty packed during the lunch hour and later in the evening, especially on weekends when they have karaoke on Friday nights.  I ordered up another ice cold beer from the friendly bartender and took a good look around the place.  Even though there were pennants, team pictures and other sports memorabilia on the walls of CND Gyro and Lounge, they had a sitcom on a regular national network on the two televisions behind the bar.  I thought it was rather strange considering the Cubs were playing on television that evening. 

There was a great stained glass ceiling light above the bar area.  Behind the bar was cluttered with lottery tickets, signs and notices, liquor bottles and a line up of beer bottles of the brands they sold.  You could tell from conversations going on between the bartender and some of the people seated at the bar these were regulars who were there. 

Jason was right.  It was the exact kind of joint that I love - a homey, comfortable dive bar that just happened to have very good gyros.  It's far from fancy, but it's not a skid row slum bar, either.  I'm not certain they've changed the decor or many of the fixtures since when they first took over the place.  And that's helps add to the charm of CND Gyros and Lounge.  It's not a tourist destination by any stretch, but I can see why the locals in Chicago keep coming back for the great gyros and cold beer.  I may have to come back in the winter and try a bowl of chili with a cold beer.  Actually, that doesn't sound too bad in the middle of the summer. 

(Update - Jason went into Chicago on August 21 for one last meal at CND Gyros.  As his comment below states, the owner, John Xamplas decided 37 years was long enough.  It's not that he wanted to close, but his lease expired and the building had been sold to a new landlord - a new landlord who obviously saw the old building has being more of a liability than an asset.  Jason told me it was a bittersweet occasion - one that he'd remember for years.  I'm glad that I was able to, at least, have one experience at CND Gyros.)

Oakland Gyros - Milwaukee

A shout out to Bob and Kasey Kelly who gave me a number of suggestions of places to eat in Milwaukee.  Kasey, who is a Milwaukee native, and Bob came up with a suggestion sheet of places to eat when a number of out-of-towners came to the city for their wedding last May.  Even though I consider myself sort of well-versed with places to eat in Milwaukee, Bob and Kasey's list had a number of places that I'd never heard of before.  One of those places was Oakland Gyros at the corner of Locust and Oakland, near the campus of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee (see map).

Oakland Gyros is a favorite late night dining spot for young people who have been out partying earlier in the evening.  Lines form outside after 1 a.m. with people waiting to get in and have a gyro.  The portions that are served are big and the price is very cheap.  The menu features not only gyros, but burgers, beef and chicken shishkabobs, and moussaka - a Greek-style pot pie with lamb and egg plant.   

It wasn't much before noon when I got into Oakland Gyros.  There was a small line at the order counter and it was moving rather quickly.  I ordered up a gyro and a bottle of water.  It wasn't more than a minute later that I had my gyro and water on a platter.  But I didn't have any tzaziki sauce on the platter with the gyros.  I looked over at a counter top and saw a number of squeeze bottles of the stuff.  I was incredulous.  I've never - EVER - been in a Greek restaurant where they didn't charge you for extra tzaziki sauce on top of the little tub of sauce they give you for your gyro.  These guys give you your own 12 oz. squeeze bottle of the stuff!  And I LOVE tzaziki sauce. 

The lunch time crowd was coming in and I was able to find a small booth to sit and have my gyro.  And it was good - the pita bread was light and flavorful, the shaved gyro meat was also tasty.  But the tzaziki sauce was the key to the whole thing.  Before nearly every bite, I would squeeze a little more onto the gyro and chomp into it.

I had eaten about a third of the gyro and I had it sitting in the basket open faced.  I reached for the tzazaki sauce and accidentally knocked over my bottle of water.  Splash!  Right into the basket with the open gyro.  Oh man!  I just sort of folded the gyro up and let the water drip out of it onto the wax paper in the bottom of the basket.  I then took the basket over to the trash can and threw the water-filled paper out.  I then put the now soaked gyro back in the basket.  I considered getting another gyro, but then I thought it would be OK.  The pita bread was now sort of soggy, but the meat, onions and tomatoes were still good.  I just put more tzaziki sauce on it.   

 I can see why Oakland Gyros is one of Kasey Kelly's favorite spots to eat in Milwaukee.  As I said, the portions are huge - one gyro was a full meal in itself; and it was cheap - with a bottle of water, the total cost of the meal was under $6 bucks.  While the place isn't fancy, and the menu is pretty limited to basic Greek food, I thought Oakland Gyros to be a great value with good food.  I'm going to have to go back sometime in the future to get a gyro that I don't soak with water. 

The Greek Islands - Lombard, IL

On a recent visit to Chicago, I was in the mood for a good gyro.  Since I was staying out in the western suburbs, I wanted to find some place in the area for good Greek food.  One place I found was a place called the Greek Islands in suburban Lombard just north of Yorktown Center shopping mall.  (see map). 

Over 20 years ago, during my first trip ever to the Consumer Electronics Show when they held it in Chicago in the summertime, I was taken to the original Greek Islands restaurant in Greek Town near downtown Chicago.  This was my first meal with my new boss, Mike Cannady, and my new colleague, Kevin Leja.  I don't remember much about the evening because of all the Ouzo we were drinking.  But it was my first exposure to Greek food and I remember having a good time.  Too good of a time.  I also remember crawling up the stairs to our hotel rooms later that evening.   The best thing is that all three of us are still good friends to this day and we still have a good laugh when we reminisce about that evening.  

The Greek Islands in downtown Chicago (see map) is sort of an institution in the area.  It first opened in 1971 when Gus Couchell, Filandros Sguros, Apostolos Bournas and Michael Scafidi pooled their resources into the Greek Islands restaurant.  Today, Gus Couchell continues to be the managing partner.  The Greek Islands is famous bringing in many of their ingredients directly from Greece with Gus Couchell personally selecting some of the items to be shipped back to the U.S.  

The Greek Islands opened their Lombard location in 1984.  It is significantly more upscale in appearance than the original Greek Islands restaurant downtown.  The original Greek Islands looks a little more funky, sort of like an old fish shack or something along that line.  The Greek Islands in Lombard is very nice with a more ornate appearance.  

The place was nearly full when I went in about 7:30 one evening to get something to eat.  The very Greek host, sat me at a table in the loud dining room and handed me a menu.  A young man brought a basket of fresh bread and very fresh olive oil. 

While they had a lot to offer, quite honestly, about the only Greek food I really know is gyros.  Some of the seafood dishes looked tempting.  I almost ordered one of the chicken dishes on the menu.  But really, about the only thing I've ever had that was Greek has been gyros.  I don't even remember what I got for dinner for my first meal at the original Greek Islands.  I'm tellin' ya - Ouzo is powerful shit!  I think I saw Jesus that night.  

I looked through the menu and really the only thing that I really wanted was gyro meat - a combination of lamb and beef on a spit with the meat shaved off into thin slices.  And the cucumber sauce!  Gotta have the cucumber sauce.

By this time, I realized that I was not being noticed by any of the busy waiters in the restaurant.  It was like I didn't exist.  Five minutes goes by - no one stops to acknowledge me.  I sat and read my Chicago Tribune, waiting patiently for a waiter to even bring me a glass of water.  The bread was making me thirsty.  About 5 more minutes went by.  Nothing.  I decided not to try and stop someone just to see how long it would be.  I know quite well the hazards of dining alone in a busy restaurant.  I have gotten up and left before if no one waits on me.  It hasn't happened for quite sometime.  

This night it almost happened.  

Finally, a waiter came up and asked if I'd been helped.  I said, "I've been here almost 15 minutes and the only person I've talked to is the host who sat me.  I know you guys are busy, but this is ridiculous."

He half-heartedly apologized for my inconvenience and asked what he could bring me.  I told him I'd take the gyros platter and a Bud Light.  He clicked his pen, thanked me and off he went.  

I waited another five minutes before my lukewarm Bud Light showed up at the table.  I took a drink and the next thing I know, here's my gyros platter being laid in front of me.  It was a generous portion of gyro meat with sliced tomatoes and onions with a couple pieces of pita bread.  Oh, and of course, the sauce.   I really didn't need the pita bread, given that I ate some of the very good fresh baked bread earlier.  So I just started eating the meat as is.

Only the meat was over-cooked.  Way over-cooked.  As in almost inedible over-cooked.  It was dry and lifeless.  It was like someone had cut it off the spit, popped it in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, then pulled it out to serve it.  I sort of wondered if they just had the strips of gyro meat lying around in a pan under a hot light in the kitchen because it would have taken some time to slice off all that meat - a lot longer than what it took for the waiter to take my order, then come back with the food in well less than 10 minutes.   The only saving grace was that the tomatoes, onions and the sauce were fresh and added some flavor to the meat. 

Given that the service was bad, and now the gyro meat was severely over-done, I just chalked it up to one of those things you face on the road.  It was definitely not a good value, that's for sure.  They charged me $11.25 for the gyros plate.  We have a place in the Quad Cities called Uncle Pete's over in Moline that charges $6.25 for a gyro that has more meat than what I got on my plate at the Greek Islands, and it tastes infinitely better than what I had this particular evening.  (I need to do an entry on Uncle Pete's.  Their gyros really are tough to beat.)

Some places only get one shot with me.  Some of it is because I may not be traveling through there again, or I'm looking to try other places in the area.  But some are because of poor service, poor food and a poor experience.  I had all three at the Greek Islands in Lombard.  Although the place was packed with people, and they've been in business for 25 years at this location, my one and only time at this Greek Islands will regrettably be my last.  I'm sure they'll survive without me.