Gyros & More in West Melbourne, FL

Gyros & More is a Greek/Middle Eastern fast food restaurant that has a couple locations around Melbourne. While the other locations are stand alone, potentially the most well known Gyros & More is located in the food court of the Melbourne Square Mall. A few different people each told me to try the falafel at Gyros & More the next time I visited the mall.

That visit to the mall food court happened eventually. I followed everyone's recommendation and ordered a falafel sandwich combo, which came with a side and a drink. The sandwiches were made very quickly, and soon enough it was time to eat.

The falafel pita from Gyros & More was decent, but I've definitely found better elsewhere. The pita was filled with falafel, lettuce, onions, tomato, and tahini, but yet I found it to be on the dry side. The sandwich tasted good, but a little more moisture in the pita would have been better. Still good, but not the best. I had stuffed grape leaves as my side. No complaints about these.

Although the falafel was a little dry, it was still tasty. This was also way above most of the other choices in the mall food court. I'd get food here again, although next time I think I'll try a gyro.

Weekend Trip: Greek Salad from Stop 20 Diner

I ate at Stop 20 Diner in Elmont, NY. I was with a very large group of people so that resulted in the service being a bit sub-par, but regardless, this eating experience was better than my last visit here.

The meal started out with a basket of really good challah and assorted crackers.

The plates of coleslaw and half sour pickles came out next.

For the main course, I ordered a Greek Salad. This was a good example of what I want in a Greek Salad, complete with stuffed grape leaves and anchovies. The only thing that was missing was kalamata olives. Besides from the olives, I had no complaints.

Stop 20 got it's name from the days when trolleys/streetcars ran along Hempstead Turnpike. The trains were eventually replaced by buses, but throughout the changes in transportation, stop 20 along these routes has been on the corner in front of the diner, hence the name...

Altamonte Mall Hovan Falafel

I ate a falafel pita from the Hovan in the Altamonte Mall Food Court. It was filled with falafel, hummus, lettuce, and tomato and was served with a side of stuffed grape leaves. The falafel pita tasted good enough, but I've had much better. For example, as far as fast food Middle Eastern food goes, I liked my falafel from Mrs. Fields Cookies at UCF a whole lot better than this one from Hovan. One of the major issues that I had with Hovan wasn't necessary about the taste, but rather how the pita was wrapped. The pita was wrapped in aluminum foil, and then was cut in half. This left little shards of aluminum in the sandwich that I had to constantly pick out.

The grape leaves left a lot to be desired though. They tasted very bland and the rice mixture inside was very mushy.

Mrs. Field's Falafel

There is a Mrs. Fields & Pretzel Time store connected to one another in the UCF Student Union. I was going to get some sushi, but then noticed that along with the cookies and pretzels, this store also sold Middle Eastern food. It was a very strange combination, and I doubt it's approved by corporate, but it was definitely a combination that I liked. Not too many places in the Orlando area have a good falafel sandwich, and this one was pretty good. I had the falafel pita with a side Greek Salad and stuffed Grape Leaves.

Spinach Pie from the Capitol Diner

After spending an afternoon in Hershey, PA, I ate dinner at the Capitol Diner in Harrisburg, PA. I ordered one of their specials, which was the Spinach Pie. I ordered the Chicken Orzo as the included soup...

The spinach pie was good. It was served with a side Greek Salad, which lacked stuffed grape leaves and anchovies. I wish it had them like on a full sized Greek Salad...

Aside from the food, this old Cadillac was parked in front of the diner as I was going in. I took a picture...

Silver Star Diner

I ate lunch at the Silver Star Diner in Franklin Square, NY. It was in a cool building and I ordered a Greek Salad.

Greek style diners in the New York/New Jersey area tend to have very good Greek Salads, but certain ingredients are required in order to meet my specifications for a good Greek Salad. They should be large salads. The dressing should not come from a bottle or be something creamy like Ranch. Anchovies should be on the salad. Stuffed grape leaves should also be there. The salad from Silver Star met all of the qualifications except for the grape leaves, which are technically the best part in my opinion.

So I wouldn't necessarily get a Greek Salad from the Silver Star Diner again...