Restaurant Name: Captain Gyros

Location: 130 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: 763-743-7170

Cuisine: Greek

Review: With the Parthenon having closed at the Chauncey Hill mall, I had to look elsewhere to get my occasional gyro fix. With a name like Captain Gyros, I was pretty sure they could hook me up, and it was a solid place to grab lunch. The accommodations are not fancy; it’s essentially a room with a counter, kitchen, and some tables. But, that’s not the point. It’s a short order kind of place where you order at the counter and wait a little bit while they make your sandwich. The gyro was very good, and the fries got the job done.

They have a variety of gyros with traditional gyro meat or with chicken: classic, spicy, or barbeque. They also offer burgers, fries, onion rings, hummus, and several other things.

Kid friendly: Not bad. It’s casual and mostly finger food. I did not look for coloring books, a specific kids menu, or high chairs.

Cost: You’re probably looking at $5 – $8 for a gyro or burger, fries, and a drink.

Restaurant Name: The Parthenon

Location: 135 N. Chancey Avenue, West Lafayette, IN (map it)

Phone: 765-743-6778

Cuisine:  Greek

Review:  Tonight I let my husband choose the restaurant, and I was taken to The Parthenon Restaurant in West Lafayette’s Chauncy Hill Mall. Parking was crazy (to be expected when Purdue is in session) but we did find a spot without too much hassle and went in. On a Saturday night, I really expected the place to be packed but there was only one other couple there when we arrived.

The restaurant is much larger than you would expect of a strip mall restaurant, and I was surprised to see they offer a nice selection of beers and wines as well as many coffee drinks. I am a fan of all of those things!

Dining is cafeteria style, meaning you grab a tray, place an order at the counter and carry some/all of your order to the register and then seat yourself. I like a gyro as much as the next girl, but this time I really thought I should try something different. I didn’t look at the menu long enough, because apparently I missed tat they do, in fact, have Saganaki and I always say you can’t go wrong with flaming cheese. Oh well, next time.

So my husband ordered the gyros with french fries and I opted for something called Pastitsio. I’d never heard of that, but it was described as basekd macaronie and seasoned ground beef topped with Béchamel sauce and grated cheese.  It came with a small Greek salad and some pita wedges.

I was delighted with this restaurant; I really was. The atmosphere, the choices, the service. However, I would have to say my Pastitsio was a little bland. It reminded me of a very bland lasagna. Since this was my first time ordering Pastitsio, I don’t know if that’s how it was supposed to be, or if it was just not good. I like to give the benefit of the doubt here, so I would say that perhaps it was just me. I’m looking forward to going again and trying something else. Definitely worth a second try.

Kid friendly: Not kid unfriendly. The restaurant was casual dining but I didn’t notice a children’s menu so if you worry that your kids might not eat mousaka or gyros, you might leave them  home for this one.

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.

Price Range: Sadly, I didn’t pay close attention to the prices but I can say that our meal of gyros and pastitsio with two drinks was just over $20.

The Parthenon Menu

Restaurant Name: Olive House

Location: 105 N Chauncey Ave, West Lafayette, IN 47906 (map it)

Phone: (765) 743-5649

Cuisine: Mediterranean & Middle Eastern

Review: As someone who went to a different educational institution that Purdue, I’m fairly unfamiliar with the campus and have an overwhelming fear of running over a student crossing the street, so I tend to stay away.  However, in my quest for new dining experiences, I noticed a little corner restaurant called Olive House. I put that on my list and today we made our way over there to dine.

It’s a small restaurant situated directly across from the Noodles and Company. It’s quaint and lovely, with small seating areas clustered together, and a few of the tables backed up to benches on the wall with fluffy pillows. The menu was fairly extensive, and I didn’t know what hardly anything was. Sure, you know gyro, hummus, and pita but then it gets a little out there.

We opted to start with some hummus and pitas. Now, I’m no stranger to hummus, only mine comes out of a plastic container I get at Kroger. But this hummus – it was Good. And I needed to capitalize the ‘G’. Yummy.  I ordered the Chicken Biryani, which is an Indian dish made of chicken with basmati rice. I actually didn’t know it was Indian until it arrived. It came with a salad, and they have several different salads to choose from so I chose the Yogurt salad. Basically cucumbers swimming in yogurt sauce. It was delicious, as was the chicken biryani.

My husband ordered the combo kebab, which was several meat choices grilled and served with rice and some vegetables, although he chose the Arabic salad. He devoured both, and raved about how good it was. I did try the Arabic salad and found it very tasty. He also ordered a Turkish coffee that was good.

Overall, I was pretty impressed. The service was fine, although it got a bit slower as the restaurant filled up. My dish was spicy, and I kept running out of water but that could be just because I’m a light weight. If you like diverse food choices, I say head over.

Kid friendly: Yes. The menu included chicken nuggets and grilled cheese for kids and they did have high chairs. However, the restaurant was small and not exactly the setting I would feel comfortable bringing small kids in.

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.

Price Range: Between $9 and $13 for entreés.

Restaurant Name: Christos New City Grill

Location: 3291 Teal Rd. Lafayette, IN 47905 (map it)

Telephone: (765) 474-6618

Cuisine: American

Review: Christos is one of the best kept secrets in Lafayette/West Lafayette. There are two locations, one on Sagamore Parkway in West Lafayette, and another on Teal Road on the east side.  Today I had the pleasure of dining at the east side location.  The parking lot was packed, and I worried that we’d have to wait and there would be a crowd, but we were seated right away.  The restaurant was tastefully decorated and we were greeted by friendly people.

The menu is expansive.  Seriously, several pages of menu items ranging from breakfast (served all day) to salads, sandwiches, burgers, seafood as well as beer and wine.  The menu claimed they are famous for their gyros, so I didn’t need to check twice – that was what I ordered.  It was very tasty, but was a bit of a pickle seeing as it was a large pita topped with a mountain of meat, onion, tomatoes, and cucumber sauce.  There was no folding that in half!  It was massive.  However, it was really good and I enjoyed every bite.  My spouse ordered the gyro omelet, and was extremely pleased with the outcome. One would need to dine here regularly for the chance to try everything on the menu.

Service was very friendly and on the ball.  The waitress refilled our waters often, but wasn’t overbearing or trying too hard.  The only stall we had in service was a brief period between when we got our drinks and she took our orders, but even that wasn’t very long.  Our food came out quickly and was hot and ready to go.

Overall, I was very pleased with my experience at Christos and will definitely be dining there again.

Kid friendly: Yes

Methods of payment: Cash or credit.