SVL Souvlaki Bar - Astoria Blvd. — Restaurant in New York

First time visiting here this past weekend, and absolutely loved it!

I love the fast food style concept, the ability to build your plate/sandwich with the proteins/side dish dishes you like - and the cleanliness of the store. The young ladies at the counter were super friendly and helpful.

The place is very COVID focused. If you sit inside, as we did, (and there are very few seats to sit) they take your temperature, and ask you to fill out a form with your name and contact information. Very appropriate for these days and the pandemic reality we are living in. They also have some outdoor seating, and of course, have in store pickup.

Now to the food. We ordered the following:

Beef Gyro plate with Feta Stuffed Kebab, Greek Fries, Tyrokafteri sauce. The gyro and the kebab were GREAT! The Greek fries were perfectly seasoned and fried, and the Tyrokafteri sauce was super yummy. It is served with Salad (which was fresh and light) and warm pita.

Chicken Gyro with Rice, Tzatziki Sauce. Chicken was a little dry on the outside portion, but even with that was still super yummy. Rice was perfect. Tzatziki sauce was fresh and creamy. Served with salad and warm pita - which, as said above, were great.

Price can add up a bit if you add extra protein, choose different side dishes - however, the portions are excellent, so its totally worth it.

GREAT PLACE TO VISIT IF YOU ARE IN ASTORIA!

P.S. - the address is listed as Astoria Blvd, however the store is located on 31st Street - right next to Starbucks - right off...

Astoria has many Greek restaurants, but this is by far my favorite spot to go to for souvlaki and gyros. The restaurant is conveniently located near the Astoria Blvd stop of the N train. The vibe here is very relaxed, almost like a fast food restaurant but much, much nicer. You order from the counter and they bring the food to your table. There’s a soda fountain where you refill your drinks. And plenty of high top tables and seating. I love the way the food is presented. They use metal trays, bowls and scoops—very cute, modern and trendy looking.

The food here is absolutely fantastic! Meats are well seasoned and juicy. The food is on the pricy side, but portions are large, and the food is delicious. On our last visit here, we ordered:

Chicken gyro platter: with French fries, chipotle aioli, pita bread and salad. The chicken gyro was tender with just the right amount of fat to keep it moist. The fries were well seasoned and not too oily. The chipotle aioli had a nice spicy kick and was delicious with the fries.

Pork souvlaki platter: with lemon potatoes, tzatziki, pita bread and salad. It came with two skewers of pork souvlaki meat and couple of wedges of lemon. The lemon potatoes were very soft and had a nice olive oil/lemon sauce.

I’ve yet to try any of the desserts here as I tend to be too stuffed by the end of the meal. But I’ll be back soon and often. I highly...

I was so pleased by my visit here, for my whole experience. I came in very near close with no people left in the restaurant. Typically, this is when people behind the counter would rather clean up shop and get ready to take off for the night, yet even when I come in and start hemming and hawing about what I want because I was tired and not really sure, the person helping me (Gabriela) was incredibly nice, helpful, and was able to alter my order slightly out of their pricing structure just to make sure that I got what I was looking for.

The food. I had chicken gyro with hummus, tzatziki, tomatoes, red onions, and whole wheat pita on the side. The hummus was passable, but the chicken was moist and full of flavor while the tzatziki was smooth and richly imbued with garlic and cucumber. Further, the tomatoes were ripe and juicy (remarkable when tomatoes for inexpensive street food are firm, erring on green, and flavorless), the red onions were thinly sliced and fresh cut (also rare), and the pita was warm and soft with just a bit of bite, far more tasty than I would expect.

Moreover, I got more food than I wanted to eat (and I have an appetite), and it only came out to around $7.50!!! It was remarkable! Everything tasted wonderful, they people were so nice, and a terrific bargain. This is a place worth...