Niro’s House Mediterranean Kitchen — Restaurant in Mesa

I'm not sure what everyone's raving about with this place. My husband and I went to have dinner there based on all the great reviews here. Before I start, I'll say that I'm Greek/Turkish and I know my Mediterranean food and there's nothing more I love then good Mediterranean food. To start the place is a little like a diner, you order at the counter and they bring you your food. The woman at the counter was nice, but a little flaky it seemed. My husband asked her what was on the Greek pizza and she didn't know. Ok.... I ordered the lamb and chicken kabob plate with rice and hummus. My husband ordered the Greek fries and Greek salad. The place was totally empty when we walked in so we figured it wouldn't take that long to get our dinner. Another couple walked in a few minutes after us and also ordered. We ended up waiting about twenty minutes for our dinner and the other couple got their food first. The food was served and the portions were large and the food looked fresh so we were hopeful. I tasted my rice. It had a mild flavor like Ajax cleaning powder. Other then that, no flavor. I tasted a piece of lamb kabob. Same Ajax flavor, no other flavor, totally bland. No garlic, no marinade, nothing. Same with the chicken. I tasted the hummus. No flavor. No garlic, no lemon juice, nothing. Just ground chick peas and tahini. To their credit though, they did serve it with hot homemade pita bread. They also liberally sprinkled some red stuff on top of all the food, possibly paprika.It was all atop a bed of lettuce with some onions, both charred and raw. There was a heavy char on the kabobs as well. It came with tzatziki sauce with a lot of dill in it and even though I don't like dill I had to dip my meat into the sauce to have any flavor at all. My husband said his salad was "average" as were his Greek fries. He did like the amount of feta cheese on the fries and said the salad dressing on the fries wasn't bad. (I tasted one and I wasn't impressed). Aside from the totally bland food, in the middle of our meal, the flaky woman taking orders at the front took a mop and bucket and began mopping the floor next to our table despite the fact that the place was totally clean (which is actually why I'm giving it one of two stars, for cleanliness). That's a total turnoff. Don't mop with a dirty mop next to where people are having dinner unless there's a spill. It made me lose my appetite. The second start I'm giving this restaurant is for the large portions and fresh food. However, if they'd actually put some flavor in the fresh food, they might get more stars. Totally disappointed with this place. Terribly bland food. We won't be back. We'll continue to go to what we think is the best Mediterranean restaurant in Mesa, MVPita on Power Rd. They know how to cook there and it's much less expensive, the food is great, huge portions and very friendly people own it. If you want GREAT Mediterranean food, that's where...

Ate here once before, thought it was okay... But wife hated it, sooo...

Today I was on my own and I was really hungry so I looked for the closest gyro place and this one came up so I decided to go there.

I walked in and there were customers, mostly waiting, but a couple served. Someone was ordering when I went to order at the counter so I waited and looked at the board behind the big man at the cash register. I looked at the pictures and decided to try the Gyros salad.

The first thing he did was correct my pronunciation of Gyros. He then took my order and ran my credit card. I didn't notice till later but he did not give me a receipt.

I had to wait and wait some more. After about a half-hour he brings my food out, still no receipt, puts it on the table and leaves.

The salad looks okay. Then with a plastic fork the first bite reveals an entire layer of green bell peppers chopped medium fine. I don't eat green bell peppers. The salad is also very light on red onion and only has two olives.

I pick all the green bell pepper off and I'm amazed at how much there is, so I put it in a napkin and go back to the counter. I have to ring the bell to get the guy back to tell him I don't eat green peppers and ask him if he can replace them with red onion.

Guess who has an attitude? YEP. Acts like it's a big deal and huffs "We use green bell peppers on everything here. I tell him I've never been here before and the picture doesn't show a lot of green bell peppers or I wouldn't have ordered it. He looks at the picture and is semiglaring at me. I tell him all I want is to replace the bell pepper with red onions, so he huffs and goes back to the cook and tells him to fix me some onions. The cook puts some older, grayish, pre-sliced really fine red onion on a little side plate and the guy big guy brings it to me at the counter. He says you want all of it or just some of it? I take it all and go back to my seat.

So I'm eating and I am struck by just how tasteless this salad is; iceberg lettuce with a little cup of tzatziki sauce and the tomatoes have really no taste at all. The gyro meat is okay, but everything else is just so blah and tasteless, even with the onions. I eat it all, get up and leave.

I won't be back... especially to a place that wants to arm wrestle me over red onions and my not wanting a 2/3" layer of green bell peppers or any bell peppers. I've traveled the world and I have never been served gyros with bell peppers like that, ever. And now I have to wait and see what he charged...

Local guide note: Posted photos are removed by site owner. I am removing a star for this policy.

First impression is good as you walk in the door. The have Clean tables with bright surround windows. One visable employee at the order counter.

Pros.. Food quality and quantity. Very tasty and fresh. Food is delivered to the table by the one employee. Very friendly.

Cons.. Well here goes. I ordered 2 gyro platters with different sides on each. The advantage is you get double the gyro meat with the platter. First, the one employee mischarged and shorted register by $7. This was corrected as the the line was now 5 deep. 15 minutes later we got the food. It wasn't ours. We got chicken kabobs. I got up to find out about the order and the wife just started eating (Hungary I guess). The one employee caught the error and brought out the correct order for me but since wife had started the kabob plate, the one employee brought out a plate of gyro meat. This would have been OK but she brought out a single serving of gyro meat, not the double we had paid for. I wanted to make them aware of this, but I was not willing to sacrifice my good mood.

I don't know if they are under trained or under staffed but I was underwhelmed. I may give them another try because the food was very good. But if they mess up again I will not be as generous as I am with...