GRDine

Amongst the urban sprawl on Lake Michigan Dr, in Standale, resides Mr. Gyro East Town Deli.  They are located at 3900 Lake Michigan Dr NW, and not even close to anywhere I would normally visit in the city of Grand Rapids as I live on the entirely opposite side of town.  Similar to 28^th Street or Alpine, they are packed between hundreds of small retail shops and fast food chains, and would be easy to miss unless you were looking specifically for the location.  I was with a few friends on the way to a softball game, and the usual chain options just didn’t strike any interest for a quick bite, and we stumbled across Mr. Gyro.

The Atmosphere

Mr Gyro is not very appeal from the outside or inside.  The outside is older and run down, and has a dozen different messages on the window ranging from their daily 99 cent hotdog deal to their lunchtime specials.  Upon entering, every seat in the house was empty.  The booths looked and felt ancient. The springs in the seats seemed to be sporadically placed as few have broken over the years (I had to position myself on one side of the bench to avoid the feeling of falling through the seat).  The walls were covered with “ethnic” posters, and the front counter was covered with self taken pictures of the food.  The menus were not only dirty and sticky, but also included the same not-so-fabulous images.  At this point I noticed a dozen or so awards they hproudly displayed on the wall where we were seated (At this point I wasn’t ready to entirely write them off).

Food

From the several signs on the outside windows, Mr. Gyro boasts Greek, Mediterranean and American food.  A very interesting combination as you could get a chili cheese dog with the lamb gyro.  On the American side of the cuisine offerings, they had a few burger and hotdog selections…all with the choice of cheese sauce.  Not being the biggest fan of Greek, I ordered a chicken ranch pita wrap with the “jumbo” upgrade, which I find out includes cheese fries and a larger drink.  My friend Neil opted for the same meal I ordered, and Brian went for the lamb gyro.

In Conclusion

The owners were friendly and the food turned out to be fantastic.  Perhaps my expectations were set so low based on initial appearance, that any degree of success came across as a huge win?  Next time I am driving past and need a quick dinner, I will consider this as an option.  The one piece of advice I would share with the owners: hire a professional food artist and photographer for the food images…that, and clean up those menus…So dirty.  -JD