Mr. Gyros and Me

Here it is: My first Greenwood restaurant review. It was a gorgeous day yesterday, really much too warm and wonderful for February, but if this is the beginning of spring then I'm even more in love with Seattle weather. Lee and I decided to take a drive and do some typical Saturday errands, most of which are closer to our new hood which will make things more convenient in the future.

We needed our coffee-- in fact I think I've become one of those people I used to make fun of, you know the ones who get a caffeine headache when they skip their morning coffee? Yep, I'm one of them now. So we head on over to Neptune Coffee, right in the middle of Greenwood Ave, and I get my 'tester' order, the coffee I order whenever I try a new place just to see if the beans actually taste good. If I order something too frilly, I can't really taste the coffee so I don't really know if I like it. This system works well at Starbucks where a Frappuccino is great, but order a cup of drip and you'll be sorry. Yuck. Anyway, I got a double short nonfat latte and it was really good--not burnt, not bitter, but strong. What a relief, the more good independent coffee shops within walking distance, the better. Still haven't found my favorite, where they will know my name and ask how my day was, since I have to try them all out first.

Then we headed next door to Mr. Gyros. It's got a very New Yorkish, middle eastern, laid back, take-out place feel to it, complete with sports on the tv and a set of 20-something brothers who run the place. I thought they were twins, but upon *studying* them while they made our gyros, I realized there were some differences between the two (you may want to take a gander and check out the differences yourselves, ladies, if you know what I mean--they just might need a Mrs. Gyros if your lucky). The place was packed, the owners knew everyone's name and we were laughing at how open and well, very New Yorkish the people that came in behaved. I really like that attitude and honesty--I secretly always wanted to be a New Yorker so I'd have a good excuse to tell people off, and do it well. We ordered two lamb gyros, a side of hummus and a lamb kebab. All for under $22.00 and we were stuffed, plus we took some home. Was it the best gyro in the world? No. Would I go back? Yes, yes and hell yeah. It was fresh and tasty and really good, plus I loved the fact that they put hummus on my gyro since I typically end up ordering a side so I can spread it on myself. Plus the ambiance was sooo me. Casual, friendly, local, quick, cheap, and tasty (except I'm not quick and cheap). We are sort of spoiled in Greenwood with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food options, in fact I can name five places off the top of my head that are within walking distance of our new home, so I'm gonna be tough on them and expect the best since this in one of my favorite types of food. All in all, it's a good three and half out of five stars.

When we were leaving I mentioned that we were new to town and that they'll definitely be seeing us again, which probably wasn't the best thing to say since we aren't really new to town, we are new to the neighborhood. So when they asked where we were from and I said Queen Anne, which is a total of nine minutes down the road, all the guys laughed--pretty much at me, not with me. Okay, note to self, start telling people you are new to this neighborhood, not new to town. I still think it's funny though.