There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.

Location:

The Gyro Shoppe

2061 Henderson Rd

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 442-1200‎

Located on Henderson Road in Upper Arlington, just down the street from Neighbor’s Deli, is a sweet little gem of a place located in an old Taco Bell.  The Gyro Shoppe has been on this corner for as long as I can remember, and I’ve been getting their amazing gyros and fries for at least ten years.  Finally, I decided to give them a shout-out on the blog.

 

To be generic, everything they serve is delicious… I’ve had the gyros, the Greek salads, the baklava, stuffed grape leaves (see photo above), you name it.  But my favorite meal is a super gyro and fries (and pop).  The gyro meat (lamb, traditionally) is tender and peppery, and cooked on a vertical spit to ensure maximum deliciousness.  A nice amount of meat is stuffed into a pita and topped with onion, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce.  Oh, the tzatziki sauce – a yogurt based cream sauce involving cucumber, dill, garlic, and lemon juice (among other ingredients) – is to die for.  I’m not sure what they do to make it so tasty but the creamy zing of the tzatziki cuts through the density of the lamb-pita combo perfectly.

The fries, which I believe are fried in peanut oil, are breathtaking.  They come in a little wax bag, always overflowing and leaving those renegade fries at the bottom of your brown paper bag.  I love those renegade fries.  But I digress… the Gyro Shoppe’s fries are thick cut, but not steak fries, giving them a super-crispy outside and perfectly potatoey inside.  They offer “Greek seasoning” to shake on them, but I don’t think it’s necessary, and besides I’m pretty sure the “Greek seasoning” is really just Lawry’s seasoning salt.

All in all, a spectacular place for Greek food.  The service is fast, the prices are cheap, and now you can even find another Gyro Shoppe in Dublin on Woerner Temple Road!  The only downside to the Gyro Shoppe is that they close kinda early, so if you get a late-night craving for lamb, you’re s.o.l… at least if you want good lamb!  I used to be a big Yanni’s fan, and then I moved on to loving Gyro Express.  Now that I’m a grown-up, I love the Gyro Shoppe and that is where my devotion will remain!

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 5

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5

The Little House

Location:

La Casita

1355 Bethel Rd

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 457-0823

Another Mexican Restaurant?! Is this girl crazy?!  No, folks, I’m just in love with Mexican food.

In the style of Mi Mexico, El Vaquero, and other popular chain restaurants, La Casita provides a fairly accurate representation of Mexican food.  The servers are mostly Hispanics, the décor is sunsets and palm trees and large colorful birds, and the beer selection includes both Dos Equis and Negro Modelo.  It’s the food, albeit an almost line-by-line recreation of any other menu, that sets it apart from those chain restaurants.

La Casita is a small place with limited parking.  It’s best to go around three in the afternoon to ensure you get a parking spot and a table with no wait.  The best thing about La Casita is that aside from Fiesta Jalisco, they have the best English-speaking staff I’ve encountered. And they’re friendly!  When I went the last time with a friend of mine, we got there when it was a peak time, but our waiter was still attentive.  I ordered the chimichanga (of course) and he got a seafood burrito of some sort.  Most entrees come with beans and rice, and they start you off with chips and salsa.  My favorite part about La Casita is that if you ask, they will give you the spicy super hot salsa.  Mix this with their house salsa and yum yum yum you’ve got yourself a winner.  I enjoy their chimichangas more than most other places because they make two mini chimichangas and serve them side by side on a bed of lettuce and drench them with queso blanco.  There’s nothing like cutting through a film of melted cheese into the crisp shell and releasing the flavorful meat on the inside of a La Casita chimichanga.

In general, La Casita is a nice place to go if you’re tasting for some Mexican food on a Tuesday night.  The prices are fair, the atmosphere is nice, and the food is great.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 4

Value: 4

Accessibility: 4

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 3

iMe encanta este lugar!

Location:

La Michoacana Market & Restaurant

Corner of Bethel & Sawmill Roads, next to J. Lindsay’s

Columbus, OH 43235

Being a chef, I am very interested in trying new cuisines from different cultures.  If you couldn’t already tell from previous posts on this blog, Mexican/Hispanic food happens to be my favorite.  One day I decided to go into La Michoacana and check out their grocery selections, and I was pleasantly surprised by what awaited me inside.

When you walk into La Michoacana, you are instantly transported to a different space, a different time, a different world.  There are piles of fresh produce to the right, and aisles upon aisles of Hispanic foodstuffs to the left.  I had to walk through twice just to look at everything before I even started to consider what I might buy.  They have spices, candles, statues, cheeses, a meat counter complete with pig and chicken feet, funky pops and candies… simply amazing.  In the corner near the front is the jewel of La Michoacana – the restaurant or “taqueria”.  I didn’t try it that day, but I took my boyfriend back later that week to see what it was all about.

 

We were clearly the minority here, even though there was only one other couple in the tiny restaurant.  There was one waitress to serve the 15 tables, and I’m pretty sure she only spoke enough English to get by.  I ordered a chimicanga, of course, and he ordered the quesadilla.  Oh my god, were we in for a treat!  The food was ever so marvelous, and for once I was at a loss for words.  They served us chips and salsa, but not salsa like you would think of – it was actual salsa (most restaurants serve “salsa” that is actually a juicier form of pico de gallo).  There was a green flavor and an orange flavor, and honestly, despite my super tasting powers, I could not decipher the main ingredients in either sauce.  Either way, they were freakin’ delicious.  My chimichanga was covered in green chile sauce, grated queso blanco, and sour cream and served with a side of rice and beans.  The quesadilla, which was enormous, was served plain, also with a side of rice and beans.  As you can see from the pictures, my poor boyfriend struggled to get the last bite of his quesadilla down the hatch… but he triumphed finally and we asked for our check.

All this deliciousness only cost $15, and along with the bill came two Mexican suckers!  Awesome!  Overall, I would say that if you are looking for a truly authentic Hispanic meal, La Michoacana is the place to go.  Obviously I feel that other restaurants offer a bona fide experience, but La Michoacana is run by Hispanics for Hispanics and that means they don’t change anything up for the gringos!  Go here as soon as possible.

Overall Scores: (1-5, 1 being lowest, 5 highest)           

Cleanliness: 3

Value: 5

Accessibility: 5

Friendliness: 5

Menu: 5