Gyro guy lives up to reputation

Kim Zangger

Bonjour, friendly folks! I hope you are all enjoying your semester thus far.

As for me, this is my senior year, right, and there are still several things I want to do (like camping out in Parks Library, campaniling again and jumping in Lake Laverne) before graduating from this fine land-grant institution of ours.

Why am I telling you this? Because I thought I’d get busy this weekend and add another notch to my list … I bought a gyro from the gyro guy in Campustown.

But first, I needed some reinforcements. I stopped at Kum & Go (which I can’t help but subconsciously think of as Q.T.) for a Tropicana Twister cranberry punch. The 20-ouncer set me back $1.09.

OK, it was 10 p.m. Friday night — still pretty early for the weekend. Needless to say, Welch was pretty dead and the gyro guy was happy to have my company.

Gyros consist of pita bread covered with cucumber sauce, beef and lamb strips (ewe, sounds nasty), tomatoes, sour cream (gotta respect the sour cream), onions and cheese.

I generally shy away from the major condiments of the world, so I wasn’t too keen on having a sauce that looked suspiciously like mayonnaise all over my new sandwich.

However, my chef was so confident that I would love the cucumber sauce that he would gladly make me a new one if I wasn’t completely satisfied. An offer I couldn’t refuse….

Now, I’m not a sociology major (nor do I play one on TV) but the goings-on of Welch, particularly on a weekend, always fascinate me.

Gyro in hand, I made my way to one of the Campustown Cocktower (not a misprint) benches. No way around it, gyros are pretty messy to eat. You know you’re in for a chore if your food comes with directions.

How to Eat a Gyro Sandwich:

1. Keep the sandwich in the bag.

2. Tear the bag down as you eat.

In a brave break from my usual anal-retentive, rule-following ways, I (gasp) didn’t follow directions! Taking my gyro out of the wrapper immediately presented a problem; after one uncoordinated attempt at a bite, half of the stuffing fell out!

So what’s in a name, anyway? The guy at the stand said “year-o,” but I’ve heard other pronunciations.

I did a bit of research (hey, nothing but the best for my readers) and asked for an expert opinion.

A classical studies friend of mine went to Greece last winter and ate several “gear-o’s” while there.

You too can enjoy a delicious and fun-to-eat gyro for $3.00 at the stand by Do-Biz and the ATM machine in Campustown.

The gyro guy will be working Wednesday through Saturday nights as long as the temperature stays above 20 degrees.

Perhaps if I were drunk (which most of the customers are) I would have liked my gyro even better. Regardless of my sobriety, I still enjoyed my sandwich and the laid-back atmosphere of the gyro stand.

4 stars out of five.


Kim Zangger is a senior in advertising from Mt. Vernon.