"Virtually every inch of the pie had at least one layer of gyro meat on it."
Slice–Serious Eats contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. Daniel also blogs about Chicagoland pizza with his friends on the Chicago Pizza Club blog.
Italian Express
2307 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL 60659 (map); 773-761-7700; halalribs.com Getting There: #49 Western Bus to Devon, walk less than a block east Pizza Style: Thin-crust Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: Excellent gyros as a topping, but the rest of the components are subpar Notes: Pan pizza also available; other locations in Glendale Heights and Bolingbrook Price: Medium thin-crust, two topping, $16.25
After reading the recent New York Times article on gyros, I knew I had to pick up my efforts to find gyro pizza. Despite the fact that virtually all of the country’s gyros are made in the Chicago area, it is difficult to find a pizzeria that offers the delectable lamb/beef spit-roasted treat as a topping. There are a couple of places that sell gyros and sell pizza but do not offer gyros as a topping. (And those places offer food best eaten by those too drunk to taste.)
After some searching, I found a place in the decidedly non-Greek area of Devon Avenue. Devon is actually an 11-mile long street, but the name Devon is commonly used to refer to the neighborhood surrounding a mile-long stretch of the street from Ridge to California, which serves as the center of Chicago’s South Asian community.
The street’s most famous resident is the original Patel Brothers, which was founded there in 1974 at a time when Indian immigrants began moving in and Jews began moving out. Since then, the Indian community has grown and has been joined by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis as well as a variety of other immigrant groups. The result is an incredibly diverse community with a particularly high concentration of Muslims. With Muslim consumers comes a demand for halal meat and gyros. Commonly known as döner kebabs in many Muslim countries, these gyros are a product often prepared in accordance with Sharia law. And so it was that I ended up at Italian Express,, a Pakistani-owned Italian restaurant that offers gyro pizza.
Before I got there, I knew that Italian Express offered gyros as a topping, but I had no idea what to expect the pizza to look like; part of me assumed that there would be tzatziki instead of tomato sauce, which had me wondering if it would be just like getting an open-faced gyro sandwich baked in an oven.
It turned out there was no tzatziki to be found and that every pizza at Italian Express has mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce just like most pizzerias. In addition to the gyros, there were a couple other toppings that caught my eye and are attributable to the the restaurant’s halal standards: beef pepperoni and beef sausage. I considered getting one of those on half the pizza, but instead opted for a pie with half regular gyros and half spicy gyros, with onions on the entire thing.
When the pie came out, the first thing I noticed was the massive amount of gyros on top. The gyros were cut in the same thickness as is typical when ordered on their own and virtually every inch of the pie had at least one layer of gyro meat on it. Italian express was almost as generous with onions. I took a bite and my first thought was that it was excellent. My second thought was that the gyros were excellent but that I didn’t really taste anything else.
The crust was not very good; it lacked flavor, was fairly thick and incredibly dense. The tastelessness and quantity of the crust proved to be an insurmountable barrier for my really enjoying the pizza. The sauce, which may have come from a can, was well-seasoned but a bit too pasty. The sauce also suffered in comparison to the strongly flavored gyros. The mozzarella was fine, but like the sauce and crust, was overpowered by the delicious meat.
A wetter, fresher sauce and some feta cheese would have helped the pizza a lot, both in terms of taste and balance. In its present form, the gyros pizza at Italian Express is a fun celebration of cross-cultural culinary creativity, but it’s not a particularly good pizza.
Gyro pizza is not exactly a new thing. It's been a British-Turkish staple for over a decade now, that I suppose is just now being brought overseas. Over in England, they call it "Donner Meat Pizza".
Aver's Pizza in Bloomington, IN has received an award for their pizza, Lambda Gyro Pie.
"Creamy Zaziki sauce and cheese are pledged with
beef & lamb Gyro, sliced Onion, fresh Tomato and
crumbled Feta cheese. A paddling of Oregano
completes the initiation. You’ll only get hazed if
you don’t try this pizza, we promise"
Panino's in Chicago has a gyro pie too. Never tried it; just noticed it on their delivery menu. They do use tzatziki instead of tomato sauce, but I don't remember what it said about cheese.
Rosati's (or at least, the one on Broadway & Argyle) lists gyro meat as a pizza topping, & I've been able to request it from places that served both, even if they don't have it officially on the menu. it's delicious, but a total grease bomb -- I have to make it a once-every-two-years type of experience.
I made Mark Bittman's Greek nachos the other night, and I feel like that could be translated fairly easily into a pizza. But I wouldn't think you'd want the yogurt-based sauce to be hot....
When I was growing up in Chicago, this was where we would get our pizza and fried chicken. If I learned one thing, it is this: do not trust a place that sells pizza and fried chicken under the same roof. The pepperoni tastes like a cross between soujuk and old hot dogs. The sausage also lost something in translation. I don't think they had gyros pizza when I went there, but it is interesting enough a concept to try at home. I have a Gino's in my freezer, perhaps I might try topping it with some Kronos.
Nice article! I really miss the doner kebab from having lived in England for a bit. Which brings me to one my my pet peeves, a doner kebab is not just a "turkish gyro"! There are many similarities, to be sure, but they are not the same. The doner meat is prepared a little differently, usually a bit more well done and crispy in my experience. The meat is placed "in" the pita rather than "on" the pita, and the vegetable topping are different, with hot sauce rather than tzatziki. All of these little differences add up a completly different sandwich! Delicious!
I apologize if this post comes across as pretentious, but they really are two different sandwiches, and personally, when I am craving one, the other will just not do.
The Kronos Gyros & Cafe locations in the Chicago Tollway Oases have a gyros pizza that is phenomenal! They make it on a 7" pita so it is essentially a personal pizza and it is killer; great flavor and sauce. The chicken pizza that they they sell there is really good as well.
i hate all pizza's, greek and puerto rican. every italian pizza isn't great, but that shit ain't pizza. i'll stuff those god damned grape leaves up your ass. stick to feta and lamb, or whatever.
@alicemeichi: For all I know, the places that serve it here have been serving it for years, it's just that not many places sell it. Is it common in England? How is it typically prepared - with tomato sauce and mozzarella?
@cxg231: Are there differences in tehe actual meat? My doner kebab experience is relatively limited, but the meat always tasted like gyros to me.
@ryanriggs, skizziks and cebonney: Thanks for the tips. I'm convinced that gyros pizza can be delicious and I'm determined to find a place that does it right.
I've had some gyros in the US and plenty of doners in the UK (where I live) - the meat isn't all that different. The gyros I've had were generally a little more 'processed' (softer consistency, less chew).
It's supposed to be a leg of lamb thinly sliced and then some lamb-fat/onion/??? substance sandwiched between the slices before being stuck (vertically) on a rotating spit to cook slowly. ....but what's really in the average doner is anyone's guess!
Re: sauce and veggies - that varies from place to place not necessarily based on 'ethnic style'. You can often get yoghurt sauce at a turkish place...I do, regularly.
The Doner meat at the places I went to in England/Europe did taste somewhat different than American Gyro meat, a *little* spicier. But that could easily just be a difference in the recipe the meat supplier uses. The meat did tend to be crisped up a bit more than an American gyro, which lent a different texture to the sandwich.
@cxg231 Yeah. I think the 'crispy' texture comes from frying/sauteeing the meat a little after scraping it off the rotating spit.
If you get your doner kebab in the wee hours (yes the post-drinking 2am munchies) you might just get some of the meat which was cut earlier, fried up and kept warm - not so great.
FP
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When the pie came out, the first thing I noticed was the massive amount of gyros on top. The gyros were cut in the same thickness as is typical when ordered on their own and virtually every inch of the pie had at least one layer of gyro meat on it. Italian express was almost as generous with onions. I took a bite and my first thought was that it was excellent. My second thought was that the gyros were excellent but that I didn’t really taste anything else.
13 Comments:
Gyro pizza is not exactly a new thing. It's been a British-Turkish staple for over a decade now, that I suppose is just now being brought overseas. Over in England, they call it "Donner Meat Pizza".
alicemeichi at 10:17AM on 07/29/09
Aver's Pizza in Bloomington, IN has received an award for their pizza, Lambda Gyro Pie.
"Creamy Zaziki sauce and cheese are pledged with
beef & lamb Gyro, sliced Onion, fresh Tomato and
crumbled Feta cheese. A paddling of Oregano
completes the initiation. You’ll only get hazed if
you don’t try this pizza, we promise"
A little too much feta, but a nice pie.
cebonney at 11:05AM on 07/29/09
Panino's in Chicago has a gyro pie too. Never tried it; just noticed it on their delivery menu. They do use tzatziki instead of tomato sauce, but I don't remember what it said about cheese.
skizziks at 11:26AM on 07/29/09
Rosati's (or at least, the one on Broadway & Argyle) lists gyro meat as a pizza topping, & I've been able to request it from places that served both, even if they don't have it officially on the menu. it's delicious, but a total grease bomb -- I have to make it a once-every-two-years type of experience.
courtguerra at 11:30AM on 07/29/09
I made Mark Bittman's Greek nachos the other night, and I feel like that could be translated fairly easily into a pizza. But I wouldn't think you'd want the yogurt-based sauce to be hot....
anysuchname at 11:46AM on 07/29/09
When I was growing up in Chicago, this was where we would get our pizza and fried chicken. If I learned one thing, it is this: do not trust a place that sells pizza and fried chicken under the same roof. The pepperoni tastes like a cross between soujuk and old hot dogs. The sausage also lost something in translation. I don't think they had gyros pizza when I went there, but it is interesting enough a concept to try at home. I have a Gino's in my freezer, perhaps I might try topping it with some Kronos.
JungMan at 1:29PM on 07/29/09
Nice article! I really miss the doner kebab from having lived in England for a bit. Which brings me to one my my pet peeves, a doner kebab is not just a "turkish gyro"! There are many similarities, to be sure, but they are not the same. The doner meat is prepared a little differently, usually a bit more well done and crispy in my experience. The meat is placed "in" the pita rather than "on" the pita, and the vegetable topping are different, with hot sauce rather than tzatziki. All of these little differences add up a completly different sandwich! Delicious!
I apologize if this post comes across as pretentious, but they really are two different sandwiches, and personally, when I am craving one, the other will just not do.
cxg231 at 5:06PM on 07/29/09
The Kronos Gyros & Cafe locations in the Chicago Tollway Oases have a gyros pizza that is phenomenal! They make it on a 7" pita so it is essentially a personal pizza and it is killer; great flavor and sauce. The chicken pizza that they they sell there is really good as well.
ryanriggs at 5:52PM on 07/29/09
i hate all pizza's, greek and puerto rican. every italian pizza isn't great, but that shit ain't pizza. i'll stuff those god damned grape leaves up your ass. stick to feta and lamb, or whatever.
moesizlacks at 6:48PM on 07/29/09
@alicemeichi: For all I know, the places that serve it here have been serving it for years, it's just that not many places sell it. Is it common in England? How is it typically prepared - with tomato sauce and mozzarella?
@cxg231: Are there differences in tehe actual meat? My doner kebab experience is relatively limited, but the meat always tasted like gyros to me.
@ryanriggs, skizziks and cebonney: Thanks for the tips. I'm convinced that gyros pizza can be delicious and I'm determined to find a place that does it right.
Daniel Zemans at 10:14AM on 07/30/09
I've had some gyros in the US and plenty of doners in the UK (where I live) - the meat isn't all that different. The gyros I've had were generally a little more 'processed' (softer consistency, less chew).
It's supposed to be a leg of lamb thinly sliced and then some lamb-fat/onion/??? substance sandwiched between the slices before being stuck (vertically) on a rotating spit to cook slowly. ....but what's really in the average doner is anyone's guess!
Re: sauce and veggies - that varies from place to place not necessarily based on 'ethnic style'. You can often get yoghurt sauce at a turkish place...I do, regularly.
FP
foolishpoolish at 10:39AM on 07/30/09
@ Daniel Zemans
The Doner meat at the places I went to in England/Europe did taste somewhat different than American Gyro meat, a *little* spicier. But that could easily just be a difference in the recipe the meat supplier uses. The meat did tend to be crisped up a bit more than an American gyro, which lent a different texture to the sandwich.
cxg231 at 11:46AM on 07/31/09
@cxg231 Yeah. I think the 'crispy' texture comes from frying/sauteeing the meat a little after scraping it off the rotating spit.
If you get your doner kebab in the wee hours (yes the post-drinking 2am munchies) you might just get some of the meat which was cut earlier, fried up and kept warm - not so great.
FP
foolishpoolish at 2:57PM on 07/31/09