Craving Mediterranean food with a twist? Check out this restaurant in Columbus.
Growing up I had heard my father talk of the gyros he ate in college back in the 80s when Michael Jordan was just newly donning a Chicago Bulls uniform.
I always thought he was exaggerating how good they were until I tried my first gyro in college at Glorybound Gyro Co. in Tuscaloosa, AL.
The beef was so tender and juicy that if left me wondering what I had been missing my entire life. Moving to Columbus i hoped to find another gyro restaurant to fill my needs.
PITA Mediterranean Street Food on Whittlesey Boulevard is the one.
It has amazingly juicy gyro meat with just the right amount of kick for those who like to live life on the spicy side. I ordered the signature gyro filled with a base layer of crispy and shoestring-like fries topped with a mountain of meat and tzatziki sauce to add a little tang.
No place I’ve ever been has ever had french fries on their gyros but it is a welcome change that adds great flavor. This coming from a man who once ate a gyro that had Conecuh sausage on it before, so I’ve definitely had gyros with a twist in the past.
For those that like to sweat a little while they eat, I would suggest adding the spicy option onto your gyro. More than once in the past a tear has gently fallen down my face after taking a few bites of a gyro. If you’re looking for an amazing hot sauce, you can find it here as well.
The red sauce they gave me to go along with my meal would blow both my and our photographer Mike Haskey’s minds. As Mike would go on to say, “Oh dude, this is (expletive) good!”
The sauce had a gentle spiciness to it but didn’t overwhelm the taste of whatever you put it on it. In my case, I put it both on my fries and my gyro. It was spicy, a tiny bit sweet, and tangy all at the same time.
The sauce left me, someone who at one point had at least 10 different hot sauces in his refrigerator, stumped as to what might be in it. All I can say is, try it.
The meal was complimented nicely by super crispy and soft fries with a slight seasoning on top that complimented both the fries and the taste of the gyro well.
Mike got the Thursday special, a $9 rice bowl topped with gyro meat and the whole thing was gone before I got even halfway done with my gyro and fries. My meal with a drink, added spicy option, and a tip cost me just over $20.
I finished the meal off with a Coca-Cola and left a happy and satisfied customer.
I’ll be back to try new dishes as their Greek fries topped with crumbled feta cheese and their house and street sauces has caught my eye.
For those craving something a little lighter they also have salads with a variety of proteins from steak, gyro meat, seafood, shawarma, chicken and others.
This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 5:00 AM.