Niko's Gyros Beacon Hill — Restaurant in Seattle

First I want to share I love the food, little restaurant environment and staff - well until tonight. I live close by and have 2 to 3 meals at Nikos wkly. Food soooo good. Staff just amazing. And for me it is just 2 blocks away and a nice place to eat good food. Let me share about tonight, it was poor service from the women at the cashier from the start to the finish. First I ordered my meal and attempted to pay cash however, they had already closed the till, this is just after 7:30pm likely a little later than that. So I shared no problem and attempted to pay with credit card then informed I would need to pay in cash due to the order already being placed. No problem. Order was placed as a sit in and I sat down. My salad arrived at light speed by a very nice man, with a big happy smile. Then he brought me the rest of my meal. I had informed the new girl I want to salad and fry's to go but it was over looked but I was okay with that. At 7:50 or so, likely earlier than that the seemingly more experience cashier informed me they needed to start preparing to close needing to put the chairs up on the tables around me. I indicated I understood however becoming a little irritated with the service I was receiving by this cashier. Letting it roll of my shoulder I continued with my meal. At maybe 7:55 the same staff member informed me they close at 8pm, with my mouth full of food I nodded again indicating I understood. At 7:59 and that is accurate because I was looking at my phone the same time the cashier informed me they were closing and gave me a look that made me feel like I was trespassing-seriously, I felt uncomfortable and was feeling sorry she had little compassion and patients that goes with the line of work she is working. I had only a few bites of my meal left at that very moment. I finished up like a private in basic training, promptly put my dishes and recycling in their place and made my way to the door. As I was leaving I expressed gratitude to the cashier that had seemly ruined my dinner, by sharing with her "thank you for ruining the last of my meal". I will continue to visit Nikos, I love that place however, if she is there I will do an about face and take my business next door or down the street. ...

Gyros are my favorite food in the world. I wanted this place to be the best. It’s just a few blocks from me. I’ve tried so many everywhere I go and these were just okay. Unfortunately this is an example of a Google over-rating. Nikos is good enough to satisfy a craving, but not something that would you would crave. I tried additional menu items as well.

Gyro: 3/5 I’m not sure why they need so many options other than lamb/ beef and a falafel. I think it’s better to perfect just a few items and then have a ton of different ones.

-The bread on the gyro is great and the falafel‘s are flavorful. Unfortunately the lamb is not the spicket sort where it is shaved and has a delicious char. It’s mixed with beef into a small patty formations and a few were put on each sandwich. The meat looks like it was made somewhere else and then sold here to be put on your sandwich, not very authentic.

-Tzatziki sauce was decent but kind of bland no cucumber, dill or lemon flavor. I like my tzatziki when I make it at home to have a ton flavor with plenty of dill and lemon zest and juice.

-The positive of the gyro is that it had no french fries or hot sauce but it was missing red onion.

Greek fries: 0/5 Only bland soft fries w feta. Would not order again.

Falafel: 4/5 if I go back I would probably order this gyro instead they had more flavor than the meat.

Spanakopita: 1/5 Sorry, but hell to the no. Was not layered w phyllo dough. I had one piece of dough at top and one piece of dough with the bottom and some half inch of cheese and spinach in between. Not crunchy, not flaky, not well seasoned, or full of herbs. I’m not even Greek and when I make this from scratch at home it looks and tastes much better.

Still on my hunt for great Seattle Greek food. If you have any recommendations...

like the other reviews say, the gyro doesn't come with lettuce which felt strange compared to gyros I've had from other places, but it does still have plenty of the meat, red onion, tomato, and tzatziki. I got the roasted lamb option, which I was happy with! I got the gyro as part of the combo, which came with fries and salad, so lettuce was still in the mix lol. the salad wasn't my favorite, but not mad at it

no claim to have expertise on greek food at all, but we liked the fries a lot! some other reviews weren't happy with the fries, which I understand if you're expecting fries loaded up with tzatziki, feta, and everything, which they're not. these fries looked like they just had some feta sprinkled on top, but they were also really well seasoned, like kinda tangy? crispy and super flavorful! (ate most of em during the car ride before taking the photo)

the roasted lamb bowl has a lot of roasted veggie and maybe not quite not enough lamb for our taste.

loukaniko skewers were good! sausages on a yummy pita with tasty tzatziki

ordered in person for takeout (tried to call to place order, but they didn't pick up so maybe they were busy): left side: roasted lamb gyro combo aka gyro, salad, fries (ate most of em during the car ride before taking the photo) top right: loukaniko skewers on pita with tzatziki bottom right:...