The Ultimate Pleasure of "Greek Gyros"!

Gyros along with souvlaki are the number one fast food in Greece. It is a really delicious food, extremely cheap for its size and very easy to find and taste it, indeed you can find it everywhere in Thessaloniki, and when I say everywhere I truly mean in almost every corner. The place where it is being sold is called a gyradiko (literally place that sells gyros ) and as I said before is in every single corner in this city.

How gyros is made?

Gyros is mostly made of meat which is being cooked on a vertical rotisserie. The meat that is being used is usually pork or chicken, but in some parts of Greece where there is a big community of Muslims, you can find also gyros made of lamb meat. It is generally served inside an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita (a kind of bread) and is served with fried potatoes, onion, salad and sauces like the most famous one, tzatziki.

Gyros with pork meat and tzatziki (Photo source)

A brief history of gyros

The name "gyros" comes from the Greek word "γύρος" and is translated as "turn", which is exactly like the Turkish "doner", which also means "turn". This delicious dish has its roots in the refugees from Smyrna and Istanbul between 1922 - 1923. After that, the recipe of gyros conquered every corner of Greece. Additionally, the greek gyros has been spread to whole Europe, United States and Australia through the immigration flow. Today it is considered to be an international dish but without a doubt it is strongly connected to Greece.

Gyros while it is being cooked (Photo Source)

Where to eat gyros in Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki is considered to be the greek capital of gyros and that is why there are plenty of options to choose!

Here I can tell you some of my suggestions:

• At the heart of the city and its most famous square, the Aristotelous square, there are two options to choose from: one place is called "Solomonidis" (Σολομωνίδης) and the other one is called "Gyros stin Aristotelous" (Γύρος στην Αριστοτέλους). The gyros in these two fast - food places is well-cooked, a little bit spicy and the meat that is being used is of a very good quality.
• Not very far from the city center, at the east part of the city (almost 15 to 20 minutes by public transportation), there are another two places that sell gyros and it is worth visiting them.

To get there you can take buses 5, 6, 8 or 33 and get down at the station Martiou, then on your right hand, you will find a big street named indeed "Martiou", you follow this street until there's a crossroad between his street and another big street called "Vassilis Olgas", you turn right on this street, walk for about for 5 minutes and you will see both of them!

The first one is called "Devido" and the second one is called "Gyros tis Ellados" (Γύρος της Ελλάδος). Beside the tasty food they provide, they are also very cosy and well-designed taverns, so you have the opportunity to hang out there with your friends and drink some retsina (cheap white wine) or a beer.

Inside view of "Devido" (Photo Source)

Outside view of "Gyros tis Ellados" (Photo Source)

Gyros prices

The price of gyros ranges from 2, 80 to 3, 50 euros. If you choose to enjoy your gyros with some extra sauce (I strongly recommend tzatziki which is yogurt with garlic and cucumbers or tirokafteri which is a spicy sauce made of traditional feta cheese ), you have to pay an extra from 0, 30 to 0, 50 euros. Without a doubt, that is a very affordable price considering the size of your pita - gyros, since it is extremely big and hearty.

Conclusions

To conclude, in my point of view, it is worth tasting this traditional dish everywhere in Greece but especially here in my hometown, Thessaloniki. It is one of the most famous, cheapest, tastiest and filling food solutions and an ideal lunch or dinner for students or tourists.

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