JT Gyros — Restaurant in Phoenix

May 2033 Used to go here often with friends and family. The food was fantastic! The prices were very reasonable. But recently, the owner sold the business. The new owners are 2 brothers. I only had interactions with one of the brothers, but I'm told the other is his opposite. It's not often my husband and I treat ourselves to an evening out. We made the mistake of spending our hard earned money here that night. We walked in the door about an hour before they closed. Before we placed our order, we were told we would have to take it to-go. It seemed he had already cleaned the front and didn't want us messing up his clean tables. We weren't even allowed to sit while we waited our food.. This was not what I wanted for our night out,but my husband didn't like to be rude, so we went ahead and ordered our food. At this point, we didn't yet know of the sale. The prices had gone up a bit, but that didn't surprise us as everything has gone up. The customer behind us explained about the sale of the business. The old owner stayed on with the new owners for about a month, teaching them his recipes and how he ran the restaurant, where he got his ingredients and such. Well, my husband and I got our food and sat in our car for our rare night out. The food was just plain bad. The rice was bland, the meat was tough, the salad was warm, the pitas were brittle... just plain bad. We ended up throwing it out. We have not been back, but my morher-in-law got a hamburger there not long before our encounter. She said JT's Gyros burgers went from the best she'd ever had, to worse than fast food in just a couple of weeks. The old owner built a place you enjoyed going to, take out or eat in, it was a comfortable family atmosphere. They were there for my in-iaws when they were going through traumatic health issues. Even gave them free dinners on occasion. It breaks my heart to have to say I recommend spending your hard earned money ANYWHERE else, but...

I have no photos to share because it was so good and tasty, that I forgot to even snap a picture of all this delicious food! My MIL got the number 1 with lamb and she reports that her Gyro sandwich was incredible! My 5 yr old got the veggie pita and she absolutely loved it so much! I got the number 7 and husband got the number 14, and our food was so delicious! We use to go to a Greek place down town that was out of this world, and they closed a long time ago, and we thought we'd never find food that would be at that level of flavor, but here we are! All of the food was absolutely incredible! The flavor is spectacular, and you get a good amount of food for the price! Also everything was so juicy! We of course had to also get dessert, and this is the first Greek place that actually had the pistachios inside the baklava! Usually most places just use walnuts or a different nut instead, so that was so wonderful to have! The only downside is that we didn't find this place sooner!! Thank you for such a satisfying and wonderful meal! I also forgot to mention that even though we got a delivery order, it was super quick and they gave us their delish soup with each meal, we didn't expect this at all (since it was delivery) and it was so good as well! Now the lentils are cooked down, so if you have a texture issue (like my kiddo) it tastes great with a pita dipped in, or enjoy it with a spoon as normal, either way, you can't go wrong trying...

The restaurant is a bit dated and gives off a lonely vibe. Keep in mind I was in at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. Service was quick, but I was the one of two customers. Keep in mind the gentlemen in there was already on his way out.. The restaurant was very clean, as was the restroom. The service was dry and transactional. I felt as if I was bothering them.

On to the food. I ordered a Gyro pita. The women offered me the combo and I declined. For gyro meat it was a bit salty, that says a lot. Gyro meat is traditionally salty, but this meat was a bit over seasoned. It had onions, tomatoes and tazsiki. The Naan was a bit flat and dry, definitely not fresh. The same is said for the meat. It was pre sliced and dried out. The veggies were fresh, but they were not kept cold. The tasziki sauce was room temp. Not good for a yogurt based sauce.... But, the flavor was on par. Not the best, but not the worst.

It could be a 4 star with a little work. To be a 5 star, it needs a complete overhaul.

My final impression: This place is good, if you need a greek fix and do not have time to drive to a legit greek joint. Prices are fair for the quality.

This is a " I want greek now" kind of spot. Sometimes you gotta drive for...