House of Gyros

Our first mediterenean/​greek food in Monterey county and this place satisfied our cravings. I had the Combo Shawarma plate and it was so good. Two thumbs up for this joint!

It’s very hard to run a restaurant, especially an ethnic restaurant in Monterey. (My goodness, I wish someone would open an authentic Chinese restaurant in Monterey.) There are a few Middle Eastern/​Greek/​Lebanese type restaurants in the region, including one at the Del Monte Shopping Center and its original base in Carmel, and others. Run well, they can be relatively popular. This place is running on life support. We’ve visited the restaurant about 6 times over the past 2 years. It’s so clear that the owner is trying hard to cut every corner while trying to give the semblance of a professional product. I can sense his desire to please, but he’s making huge mistakes that I hope he can turn around. Perhaps it’s too late financially and he’s just trying to hold on, but with Unilocal being a primary source for foodies, he’s going to simply have to do better or these reviews will do him in.
The food requires a fair amount of labor to assemble, and since there was only one person (owner) running both the cash register and preparing the food, it is not very practical if there are two or more guests. So waiting for the food is longer that in most informal restaurants. I ordered a simple falafel wrap. I’m sure many readers know what an ideal falafel sandwich should look like. It should be crispy and crunchy on the outside and the inside should be hot and the ingredients should be recognizable with a slightly rough texture: Chickpeas, herbs, etc. The falafels balls were soggy and pasty, having absorbed the runny tahini sauce. Tahini should be a rich, loose sauce, but not watery. The wetness also made the bread soggy. The lettuce inserted were the stubby white core of the plant… not much green. There might be other strong dishes on the menu, but not having a first rate falafel experience is a not a good sign for a middle eastern restaurant.
There were other issues, but I don’t want to pile on. I just hope the owner decides to make the food as good as he would want to serve his friends and family with pride, or perhaps rethink his business model. Maybe lower overhead with a food truck or something where he doesn’t have to compromise and charge high prices to make up for low customer numbers. We all want you to succeed so we can have the diversity in Seaside that we all crave. Be open to the comments and suggestions, and I’m sure you’ll see a turnaround.
Good luck.

Great food, tons of flavor! Excellent customer service… The hummus is amazing. I was a little disappointed that the chicken kebab plate only came with one kebab, otherwise no complaints!

Don’t waste your time going here. Went for lunch today and had to wait 10 minutes to order and we were the first ones in line. There was only one guy working and then a second guy, the owner I assume, came in. When we ordered, we were discouraged from getting kebabs because «it would take. a lot of time» so we changed our order to gyros. It took at least 15 minutes just to get the gyros, only 2 of them, to go. They were not very good, had lettuce on them and no onions or tomatoes. The best part of the meal was the french fries! Very disappointing food and service for a place called House of Gyros.

1 star for food.
Zero star for the owner.
1 person owner/​worker restaurant.
Most rude owner I have ever encountered in California.
He was getting panicked that we were a big group and then half of the stuff on the menu was not available.
Even asking him for extra plates and utensils was making him upset.
Unfortunately it was the only halal option available in the area. But we will not be coming back.

The food was delicious and the service was great. I’m not really sure what the previous complaints are about. I do believe it is a more Middle Eastern gyro vs a Greek gyro, having lived all over the world, I know there is definitely a difference between the two. I had the chicken gyro and my husband had the lamb and beef gyro and both were delicious. The man working there was super polite and the service was quick!

I’ve been to this place 3 – 4 times. It is consistently good. The same guy has served me and he is very nice. I like the falafel gyro and my husband likes the lamb and beef gyro. I think the falafel is good and flavorful. The gyros are a little messy because they’ve got lots of yummy sauce in them. This place is also pretty cheap. Only $ 5.99 for a falafel gyro and I’ve paid much more at other places. Overall I think it’s a great little place.

I consider myself somewhat of an experienced Mediterranean food critic. The food at House of Gyros was without a doubt some of the worst Mediterranean food I have eaten. I ordered the Combo Shawarma Plate. First, the chicken wasn’t even shawarma, it was chunks. This I quickly got past, expecting delicious Mediterranean chicken. I was disappointed. The chicken was undercooked, pink, and dry. Where the beef shawarma was over-​salted, the chicken had no taste, and the rice and salad did little to revive the plate.
I may have been inclined to give even two or three stars however, if the service would have been as nice as some of the reviews on Unilocal have mentioned. We got to the restaurant and waited 15 minutes for an open table that the employees couldn’t be bothered to clean. In an attempt to be helpful, my mother cleared the dirty dishes and wiped the table down. My dad asked the employees for some water for the group, and he was ignored. He asked a second time before we got the food, and was shut down with a very rude response: «I’m making your food. I’m busy.» The man said this to him twice. Finally, when our food started coming out, my 9 year old brother needed water. My dad approached the man one more time, and was again greeted with the same rude response – this time with more aggression behind the words. My dad had enough and responded that his son needed water with his food. That got their attention, and the other employee quickly grabbed two glasses, filling them up with the tap water. When the employee brought the water out, it was foggy, and white. My dad asked what was wrong with the water, and the first employee responded again, «You asked for water. This is the water we have in Monterey.»
Needless to say, we will NOT be returning to this restaurant. The customer service really tipped this over the top. The employee was disrespectful and incredibly rude, which made the whole experience even worse that it already was.

Food was very good!!! Service was great! The guy that is in charge (by himself) of pretty much everything was so nice and sweet. He even gave us some delicious tea for free to try and have at our table… I love tabbuleh salad and it was so fresh cold and tasty! The person who wrote this place is over priced and the sandwiches aren’t good it’s probably someone who’s never had this type of food before, I don’t agree with him. Besides it is NOT expensive at all!!! Number 1 this is MONTEREY! And number 2 … It’s just not expensive lol. I’ll definitely recommend this place :)

Yikes! The menu sounded yummy but my lamb wrap was not pleasant. I did have the 5 piece bites and they where alright. I won’t be going back.

Always use to pass by and say I’ll try this place. So after about 2 years I finally said why not.
The food… Great.
The service… Sub par. If you had people that spoke better English so we all can communicate better. It would be a little better.

The worst experience of my life. the worst gyros sandwiches I have ever had in my whole life. Disgusting and way over priced. I will never ever set a foot in this sad restaurant again…

Very disappointing. Marginal food and marginal service. Actual gyro looked nothing like the picture menu. It was dry. Guy behind the counter was fresh off the boat, which is cool, but he did’nt understand about washing hands after handling cash. Nice fairly clean place, poorly managed. I can handle that if the food is good, but it was not.

Good food and wonderful, friendly service. I had the falafel plate, it came with rice and a salad. delicious! My Grandson had a Chicken Kabob plate and enjoyed it. Daughter had the Spicy Chicken Gyro and loved it!

This place is great. I called in an order and left to pick it up and within the 10 minutes it took me to get there, the order was ready. Gyros are great and are overflowing with filling. They’re super delicious and I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of this place before. Recommended it to friends and I will most definitely be going back.

I have been here twice now and I have to say, great job! Prior to going here I had not really tried Gyros and I am truly happy that I did. They have a good selection of food which tastes fresh. The wait for the food can be a little lengthy but it is well worth it. I hope to continue trying the food here and reporting back with more knowledge!

This place is gross! I’ve been here twice and both times the beef and lamb gyro was extremely unsatisfactory. The meat they use is tasteless, there are little to no veggies on it and it is all around unpalatable. Save your money and eat elsewhere.

Excellent service, the staff was super friendly. They offered samples of everything cheerfully.
We had the chicken and beef shawarma, both were extremely good. Not too spicy, tender and juicy. The sauces were excellent, and our meal was delightful. The desert of baklava was perfect, crispy and light without too much honey yet delightfully sweet.

FRESH!
Everything here is super fresh, there’s only one person working here but don’t let that stop you. His one man crew prepares crazy delicious food.

This place was great! Service was prompt and very friendly… and more importantly the food was authentic and AMAZING. Don’t be fooled by the knucklehead low scored reviews, this place is good! My girlfriend, who spent a lot of time in the Mediterranean said the gyro was the closest in terms of flavor she’s had since being back!
I highly recommend the beef n lamb gyro. It was so tasty. You can order it spicy or regular, I stuck with the regular.
Price is very fair and more than affordable and reasonable. Might as well call me the «gyro-​nator», because I WILL BE BACK!!!