The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill - Vestavia Hills, AL — Restaurant in Vestavia Hills

So I will have to break this down into two different experience. Sit in for dinner & Take out for lunch.

Came one night for dinner and sat in and ate. I got the Great Greek Gyro Plate with feta fries. It also came with a greek salad and Tzatziki sauce. Food was delicious and fresh and was one of the best gyros I've eaten anywhere. Salad was fresh and vibrant, wish they put a little more dressing on the salad but it was really good as well. The feta fries were surprisingly good. Wait time was about 10 mins but you can tell everything was made fresh and well.

Dinner Experience 10/10. If they could keep this level of quality up they'll become a staple.

Lunch Experience The day after my dinner experience I decided to come back because I was really excited about the food and quality and really wanted to try their Athenian Burger.

So I ordered the Athenian Burger cooked medium well with lemon potatoes and a side of Side Falafel. Starting with the burger it was way too overcooked and dry, no where near medium well. The lemon potatoes were good and the side falafel was ok, I've had much better falafel. The falafel was also very dry. I think it was supposed to come with some kind of dipping sauce, (at least that's how it's pictured on the menu) but I think they forgot the sauce. It needed something. Not even 24 hours apart and the experience is vastly different.

1st Lunch experience 4/10.

Decided to come one more because maybe their staple is Gyros and they're just bad with burgers.

For lunch this time I order: The Gyro Plate with rice pilaf, again comes with a greek salad and Tzatziki sauce. Also added a side of Tirokafteri, Melitzanosalata, and Hummus.

This time they left out all the sauces and dressings. No dressing for the salad, so just plain salad no dressing, healthy but not as tasty. No Tzatziki sauce, huge disappointment because dipping my gyro in that sauce is good. This time the gyro didn't taste nearly as fresh and just on sight alone it looked slight worse and it seems like I got less gyro. Luckily it still tasted as good but no longer the best gyro ever quality. The only side I liked was the Tirokafteri. The hummus is ok and I didn't care for the Melitzanosalata. I think had they remembered the dressing for the salad and the Tzatziki sauce that I would have enjoyed the food more. Rice pilaf was good. Nothing special though. I'll stick with the feta fries going forward.

Second Lunch 5/10.

Based on my dinner experience they are properly priced. Based on both of my lunch experiences they are over...

Been looking for our definitive gyro place in the Birmingham area for a while, and this place is now a serious contender! Went for lunch at noon on a Saturday and it wasn't busy at all, though a couple bigger groups wandered in around 12:30. A bit nicer atmosphere than a lot of fast casual places, and of course tables outside in the shared green/game/patio space. Incredibly friendly and helpful staff, and our food was not only ready very quickly but served considerately--they delayed our ice cream until we were done with our main dishes.

Ordered two Great Greek Gyros (one without tomatoes, one without tomatoes, onions, and feta), a side of fries, rice pudding, and baklava ice cream. The gyros were excellent: good quality meat, wrapped in a thick flatbread like we prefer (as opposed to inside a pita or wrapped in a thin tortilla-like flatbread), and the romaine lettuce was a nice touch. Rice pudding was good, too. Fries were of the evercrisp kind that we aren't huge fans of, though, and felt a little expensive at $4. Loved the concept of the baklava ice cream, and the honey tasted great, but the ice cream itself was low quality (ice crystals throughout) especially considering the $6 price tag.

Those last two caveats aside, however, a great experience overall. We'll...

My wife and I dropped in mid-afternoon for a snack and wanted to try a few appetizers. The spanakopita was my wife's choice but we should have been warned by the phrase "a modern take on Greek food". The item in question was very large and, although the phyllo dough crust looked beautiful, it was hollow and empty of filling. At the price, I felt insulted.

The dolmates were all served refrigerator cold, covered in olive oil, and were all so perfect that I felt they were canned. I doubt they were made in house. The taste was fine but they should have been a bit closer to room temp so the flavors could be appreciated.

The roasted pepper dip with feta and pita bread was an enormous portion but seemed to be composed of cream cheese with just a few roasted peppers and cayenne blended together to a smooth paste. The ratio of cream cheese to peppers made the cream cheese flavor dominate with almost no pepper flavor other than the cayenne.

Since we ordered at the counter , our only interaction with the staff was when they dropped the food off at out table.

So, based on these three appetizers, I felt that there was no reason for us to ever return. So, when you see "a modern take" be warned of overpriced and...