Greek Corner Gyros — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I want to preface this by saying this is the first sub-4 star review I have ever felt compelled to write.

I was astounded by the treatment I received at this neighborhood restaurant.

A few days before Christmas, I was on a jog heading north on Damen and turned onto Augusta when I slipped on black ice on the sidewalk and fell, smashing my head on the sidewalk directly in front of the entrance to this restaurant. I instantly had swelling and bruising on my eye and cheekbone and was extremely lucky the fall didn't cause even more severe injuries.

As I picked myself up, I noted that you could not tell that the area where I fell was covered in ice. While I was walking away, a bystander who saw me fall encouraged me to go into the restaurant to advise them of the ice patch.

Still stunned from the fall, I entered the restaurant, intending to advise them of the black ice so that no one else would fall like I did. I would preface this by saying the area by my temple, eye and cheekbone had already swelled to nearly a golf ball size & was dirty, along with the left side of my clothes from slipping on the sidewalk.

When I entered the restaurant, the exchange that took place was as follows: Me: "Hello - can I speak to a manager?" Old woman behind the register: "About what?" Me: "I just slipped on black ice outside the door & hit my face on the sidewalk... you need to put down some salt" Old woman: "We did put down salt" Me: "Well, you clearly need to put down more because I just slipped directly outside the door! Look at my face!" Old woman: "You need to be more careful" Me: [realizing that not only were they not going to rectify the situation, but also she didn't care that I fell] "That's really nice for your customers and neighbors" & walked out the door.

While I was not entering the business to get sympathy, not a shred of concern was shown - I simply went in to advise the business that on behalf of their neighbors and patrons, there was a dangerous patch of black ice at their entrance & I was trying to prevent other people from getting hurt. I actually thought I was doing them a favor, as a more litigious person could have easily filed a lawsuit for negligence - especially after that exchange.

I guess it makes it easier to know which local restaurants to support...

Ill save you the time of scrolling down to see the bad reviews; they are nothing but idiotic complaints about not getting napkins, not taking credit cards (they do) AND blaming the restaurant for not putting more salt on the sidewalk. Yup, someone actually left a review solely complaining about that and wasn’t an actual customer.

Wow, whatever happened to commenting on the food? Well, I was there tonight for the first time and it was stellar. No, its not a sit-down-be-waited on establishment but one of the few remaining neighborhood joints that just served good food. These Millens are so damn spoiled by free WiFi and upcylced shiplap decor that they have no idea what good food is.

Angelo, the cool and friendly owner, took care of us and our food came out quick, generous and delicious. Once upon a time, Chicago was dotted with places like this so I appreciate that it’s still around. The souvlaki was tender and juicy with a nice char. It was flavorful, not salty and the portion was big (two thick skewers). My gyros was the same, not dry as some fast food joints make it from over grilling the slices. It came with a fresh Greek side salad with juicy tomato slices, romaine, Greek olives, thin onion and feta. My fries were a thicker variety than say McDonalds and were crisp and delicious. I also ordered a side of saganaki, the infamous “flaming cheese” that is the showcase of almost every Greek restaurant, except that it was grilled; never mind that it wasn’t flaming, thats just entertainment and it tasted the same as it’s incendiary counterpart, with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

I was concerned that the food may not be as fresh because it was less than an hour before closing. I was completely wrong. Sumptuous Greek food fast. Ill be back. Again and again...

It pains me to write this. The food here is delicious. I’ve been coming since I moved to my place nearly 10 years ago. This review is about truly horrible customer service. And it’s their right to offer horrible service, but I can never go again if this is how they treat people.

Last week my boyfriend and I ordered our dinner for pickup. We decided to take our two dogs for a walk before picking up. I left my phone at home. The walk got away from us. Thirty minutes turned into 45…which didn’t seem like a big deal since it’s our food that was impacted and we weren’t worried about it.

We walked over to pick it up and saw that the restaurant closed about 45 minutes early. I figured, an emergency must have happened, no worries. I returned home (I live around the corner). I had three missed calls telling me they were going to wait a few more minutes for me and then close up.

I’m not mad that they closed early. The reason is none of my business and I’m understanding.

What’s upsetting is, when we called they had zero understanding for us. They were immediately defensive with my boyfriend. They said they have a “policy” to only allow 30 minutes for someone to pick up their food. I’ve looked, I’ve seen this posted exactly nowhere. They did acknowledge closing nearly an hour early and said, “we took pictures.” I’m still not sure what this means.

I wasn’t asking for my money back, I just wanted to pick up the same order a different day.

My family owns two small restaurants in the city. I’m familiar with the business model. I’m sad that a business that I’d come to love and depend on was so dismissive and disinvested in their repeat customer.

There are other solid restaurants close by that won’t dismiss you or fail to acknowledge the...