Critic's Review
I was driving north on 95 trying to figure out where to get lunch, and I saw a billboard for Miami Subs advertising Gyros, and I thought to myself "Ya, that's were I'd go for a Gyro". Then I thought of It's All Greek to Me! Grill. I'd found the place while purely by accident when they'd first opened and I'd wanted to get a Gyro there. So the plan was set.
They've remodeled since I was here last; it used to be a deli-like counter with some modest tables and chairs; not it looks more like an eat-in pizzeria with lots of small tables suitable for 1 or 2.
They have a lunch special where you can get "any pita sandwich" and a salad for $8.99, but it's a "smaller", regular greek salad. I was afraid I'd get small everything, so I went with my original plan; a greek "village" salad and a Gyro with everything, Tzatziki sauce on the side. She repeated the order so I was sure she got it right, and I took a seat. It was ready in less than 10 minutes.
I had to stop at Winn-Dixie next door, and when I got back into the car, it was filled with the aroma of Gyro. Wow, was this going to be good. You can't eat a Gyro in the car, so I sped home, anticipating the impossible.
Unlike most people, before I eat I photograph the food. I opened the salad first. The bag was kind of oily; the container they use isn't sealed and it's not very good for a salad. The pita had also found their way into the oil, causing me to quickly throw them in the garbage.
The salad looked good; not too many olives and nice ripe tomatoes. One and a half wedges of feta. They could have put a few more cukes in there, but it looked good. I pulled the Gyro out of the bag and opened it up. Again, nice ripe tomatoes and not too many onions; some places really load up the Gyro with onions, mainly because they're a cheap ingredient. This looked good.
It was then that to my utter horror I realized that they didn't put the Tzatziki in the bag. I'm sure they heard me scream "Noooooo!" in Pompano; I was beyond ticked. You can't eat a Gyro without Tzatziki. It's like a salad without dressing, or a burger without cheese or ketchup. My dream of eating a big Gyro was shattered. There would be no Gyro eating this afternoon.
While I had the ingredients to make a decent Tzatziki, you can't make it in 5 minutes. You have to drain the sour cream (I didn't have greek yogurt), and it takes a few hours for the flavors to develop, otherwise you're just eating sour cream with bits of garlic and cucumber in it. I re-wrapped the Gyro and put it in the fridge; the Gyro eating would have to wait.
Making The Tzatziki
While nibbling on the salad, I made the Tzatziki sauce for later. First, I put up some sour cream to drain; a big tablespoon in a coffee filter in a strainer works. I had the Breakstone low-fat (which tastes exactly like the full-fat), which separates a bit so pouring off the liquid from the container is half the job. I peeled a piece of cucumber, dug out the seeds, and grated it. I peeled a clove of garlic and mashed it with a mortar and pestle with a few grains of course sea salt. I threw it all into a little pyrex container with some dill and freshly ground pepper.
Mix it all up and put it in the fridge for a few hours to meld. The difference in taste when you first mix it and 4 hours later is amazingly different. This came out really good.
I had the Gyro as a late night snack; I sprayed a 10" frying pan with Pam/Olive Oil and heated the meat, and then warmed the pita slightly and spooned on the sauce.
Now after a couple of glasses of wine, there's nothing like a Gyro. This was as good as I'd imagined 9 hours earlier. It just took a lot more work than I'd hoped.
Good food, bad packaging. Make sure you check your take-out order.
Review 11/14/11
Off in the Northwest corner of Pompano beach, not far from the Casino, there's a little Greek place. I'd spotted the place by accident when I took a detour one day a few months ago. Some of the reviews indicated that it might be worth a try. So on the way to Cheetah, I picked up some take out.
The first impression is that the place is cheap. I ordered a small salad and a "Loukaniko On Pita", which is greek sausage. I didn't want to get a Gyro, because I would have eaten the whole thing and my diet would be ruined for the week.
When I opened the salad, I was surprised at the size of it. This was a very good portion for a small salad.
The salad had a mild dressing that was good; the lettuce was green and there was plenty of feta cheese.
The sausage pita was tightly packed; I usually order the Tzatziki on the side to control the portion, but I forgot to mention it when I ordered.
The sausage was unexpectedly sliced; I've never had a greek sausage pita before but all of the pictures I saw had the sausages whole or split. Loukaniko is a beef and pork sausage flavored with anise and orange peel; I have to say that I didn't care for it. It wasn't as good as a Gyro, but I can tell from this sandwich that their gyro is probably very good. The Tzatziki was excellent and the balance of ingredients was just right.
When you walk into a greek place and all of the people working there are speaking greek (and they know how to pronounce the dishes correctly), you know you've made a find. It's All Greek to Me Grill is certainly a find. The next time I'm in the area I'm getting a Gyro here.