Island Cafe

This joint is the saving grace of Station Square. It is dirt cheap and doesn’t hide behind a fake wall of pretension. The guys behind the counter are really great and pleasant to talk to. The food is cafeteria style decent and priced really well. I was staying at the Sheraton and there is no way in hell I would purchase any of their overpriced food nor was I going to gouge myself in the surrounding crap-​hole chains surrounding it. I don’t even care what they’re called Steeler’s café or Island Café whatever as long as they make a straight no frills breakfast with two eggs, toast and bacon for a couple of bucks whatever!

I bought a Reuben and fries to go around 8 pm on a Sunday night; both were super greasy, even for Pittsburgh. (I lived here for 6 years and know Pittsburgh greasy). Yeah, I know, I ordered a Ruben, but sandwiches shouldn’t make spongey noises when you pick it up!

Eeew. Bad gyros ya say? I did see two gyro spits. I guess it was a good thing that it was about 9AM when we came down here, as we were in need of a bite before boarding the magic bus to Ozzfest with our new friend Randy from Kansas.
No, not the band, the state. Yeah, he came all that way. Nice dude. Anyway, we had breakfast with him.
It’s also a good thing that we opted for the somewhat cafeteria-​like Island Café instead of Station Square’s Subway.
I got an orange pop and a breakfast sandwich on white bread with bacon and cheese and was pretty pleased. They made it right in front of me with real eggs. The sandwich filling was thick, the bread toasted, the bacon fried by someone who obviously knows the short order cook business. For under 5 bucks, I got so full, all I needed to buy foodwise at the First Niagara Pavilion was a pretzel, thereby avoiding a gouging.
I dunno, I liked this place and appreciated the friendly service. Considering their trailer-​wide menu (they have a lot of stuff!), dirt-​cheap prices (yeah, at Station Square no less), and extended hours (they’re open early, even on weekends and close at 6PM at the earliest), I’ll probably come by again.
Pssst. If a really strong gyro is what you crave, go to It’s Greek To Me in Brookline.

Ran over here for a quick lunch. I had the gyro which another worker said he picked up as well. I have had quite a few gyro’s (pronounce
gy-​ro here for some reason; east coast thing?) so I do have some experience eating these things.
It wasnt exactly what I expected. I agree with the previous review that the meat did taste a little funny. But the white sauce… I hope you sure like garlic, because it was a heavy garlic sour cream thing that was pretty runny. It was very large (more than I could handle) so I ate about half. The pita was pretty tasty though…

I had a gyro combo ($ 8.30 w/​tax) which came with the sandwich, fries and a drink. The lady behind the counter understated the cost of adding the combo option when she told me verbally and I didn’t pick up on it until I had already paid and was looking at the menu while waiting for my food. The gyro tasted pretty bad. The meat tasted a little funny, it was completely greasy, and the sauce was super thin, runny and did not taste entirely like cucumber sauce. The fries were good though as the batch was freshly made for my order.
I will most likely not eat here again since first impressions mean a lot. And seriously, if you cannot put together a gyro properly, the rest of the items must not be that good either.
Food Quality/​Taste = 2 Stars
Portion Size Given Price = 2 Stars
Price = 2 Stars
Service = N/​A
Experience with Staff = 3 Stars (she was nice, except for the price fib)
Décor = 2 Stars