This should be relatively brief. A student mentioned they love the
gyros at the Western Fruit Basket in downtown Akron. I like gyros.
There are many horrible ones. I wanted a good one and off we go. The
place isn’t what I expected. With the name I imagined a small market
with a little counter and a couple of tables in the corner. The
market consists of a couple shelves with a dozen or so options and a
refrigerated case with a few others. |
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There were a couple of fruit baskets in the window; they wouldn’t inspire you to purchase one, the display models are not at the peak of freshness. The place is dingy and worn. Typically, I would consider that a move in the wrong direction but the place really has something going for it, gyros aside.
If you imagine the little storefront restaurants featured in mob
movies, gangsters sipping espresso while discussing the day’s
business, they may have been modeled after this place. I don’t know
if there is Greek organized crime in Akron, Ohio. If there is I know
where they meet. The three gentlemen grousing over a spirited game
of backgammon may have been talking politics or talking about
rubbing out a problematic politician, I don’t know, my Greek is
fabulously rusty. The owners are adorably doddering and friendly but
difficult to understand through the heavy accent, so we had some
difficulty ordering. There isn’t a menu, we were told they had lamb
or chicken gyros and salad. There were other things listed on their
website, we didn’t ask. |
If You're Up For Backgammon, They Are Good To Go |
It Was Salad, If Not For Feta Would Be A Definite Pass |
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The salad was plain but it did come with a frighteningly salty feta cheese, we should have bought a tub of cheese out of the case. My favorite gyro ever, from Bill’s in Atlantic City, is available with a handful of similar feta as an upgrade worth every cent. I wish I had added it to our sandwiches but at this point we were lucky to have ordered anything. One of each gyro arrived in foil. The chicken was fine, the lamb wasn’t, it was better. The chicken misses out due to the absence of that seasoning profile inherent in good gyro meat. The pita was warm and soft with thin crispy edges. A healthy pile of gyro meat blend, also with crispy edges but warm and juicy throughout. Fresh veggies and just enough tzatziki sauce to hold it all together makes for a well done sandwich. Next time I will see if I can get some cheese layered into there. |
Chicken Was A Little Boring |
Lamb Much Better |
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There’s no way we were leaving without baklava. When he was grabbing
some from the case I noticed some cookies which I think are called
Koulourakia. Dry but soft and lightly sweet cookies with a few
sesame seeds pasted to the top. The owner was right, they would be
good with coffee. We took the sweet stuff home and were initially
worried in regard to the moisture level of the baklava. After the
horrifying soupy mess we had at Kiflis we
have been trending towards a much dryer treat. These were just about
oozing. Oozing with awesome. They were messy but in a lightly sweet
and nutty way with just enough crisp and crunch. It might be easier
to dine here if you are a regular or are fluent in Greek, but even
newbies can get some well done classics. Next time more feta and
we’ll see if we can get some moustaka or pastitsio as well. |
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Lightly Sweet Koulourakia |
Damn Good Baklava |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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B | C | B | A | D | B- | ||
Baklava | Boring UnGreek Salad |