Adam & Eats: Paizi’s Gyros

Editor’s note: Adam Brandt is a graduate from the Cobra Kai School of Culinary Callousness, where he received their highest award, the Red Apron of Merciless Eating. Aside from eating and talking about eating, he makes pots, paintings, prints, books, photographs, and generally, a big mess. He has been the studio assistant at Mudpuppy Pottery for almost nine years and is attending a local university in a desperate attempt to earn a biology degree. Feel free to give him a hard time.

Okay, this week we are going to do things a little differently. I thought we should start off with a little lesson about Greek food before dropping right into the Dionysian experience of eating at Paizi’s Gyros. So, without further ado, class is now in session.

It’s called a Gyro. It is pronounced about a thousand different ways depending on whom you talk to, but for our purposes, it is pronounced “Yee-ro.” So sayeth the Greek dictionary online and the woman inside of the Paizi’s Gyros cart. It is not a “Guy-ro,” a “Gee-ro,” or a “Jie-ro.” Sure gyro, as in gyroscope, comes from the same Greek root word meaning to spin, but it’s Greek food so let’s attempt to call it what they call it, please and thank you.

All right, now that we have that little lesson out of the way, we can begin to talk about food. I can honestly say that I am addicted to eating at Paizi’s.

“Hi, my name is Adam and I’m an addict.”

Paizi’s Gyros is located in the parking lot of Toys R Us on Rogers Avenue. You’ll know them when you see them. (Look for the big white cart with a giant red and white sign that reads “GYROS.” You can’t miss it.) They are here from roughly March to June every year and are open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Sure ordering food from a cart in a parking lot isn’t the most glamorous dining experience in town, but after you take the first bite you will start considering picking up a bottle of Ouzo (in a paper bag) and eating a hobo lunch there everyday for the rest of your life.

Everything at Paizi’s is spectacular. My personal favorite is the traditional Gyro. It consists of lamb and beef, slow roasted on a vertical electric broiler, topped with red onions, tomato, feta, spinach, lettuce, cilantro, hot sauce (optional), and tzatziki. Tzatziki is a traditional topping for Gyros. It is made from strained yogurt, cucumber, garlic, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, and sometimes mint and dill. It is what gives the Gyro that little bit of twang. In addition to the zip of the tzatziki, the savory meat is sliced thin and is so tender it melts in your mouth.

I have it on very good authority that the Black Angus is amazing as well. My source tells me that it is especially good when ordered “hot and sloppy,” meaning with extra toppings and smothered in hot sauce. It is not above me to point out that some people like their Gyro beef black, hot, and sloppy.

Although seating is limited to the few open-air picnic tables, and the drink selection is limited to one size, what Paizi’s lacks in the creature comforts of traditional dining experiences, they make up for in flavor and super friendly service. Between the succulent meat, the tart tzatziki, the sweet red onion and tomato, the bitter cilantro, and the salty feta, Paizi’s takes you on an odyssey through the flavor kingdoms and leaves you wanting more of this eating adventure.

Alas, our time this week is ended. I hear the lunch bell ringing. Until next time, class dismissed.

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Adam also has this thing called Sandwich Control.