My favorite Utah gyro? It’s found at this four-decade classic

Long-time readers sufferers of my particular oeuvre will know there’s a certain dish close to my heart and hands. The humble gyro. Love, live, laugh? More like meat, bread, sauce. Picking a stand-out winner is a challenging affair, what with our glut of options. Frankly, it’s tougher than picking a favorite child – don’t lie, you have one, you definitely have one.

Push come to shove, though, I’m going to send you to Yanni’s Greek Express in the Sugar House area. It’s a restaurant I’ve frequented for most of my two decades in town, the neighborhood staple operating for more than twice that period. Owner Yanni Armaou moved to the U.S. in the early 70s, before finding his way to the Beehive a decade later. By the mid-1980s, Yanni’s Greek Express had opened. 1995 brought a six-month hiatus in operations, with the original building razed. In its place, the present-day blue and white building opened, and has remained a Highland Drive icon ever since. The first review I could find for biz was back in ’96, curiously absent of gyro praise.

To wit, Yanni’s classic gyro ($7.89) comes in a brace of options – red sauce or white sauce, your main consideration. I implore you to eschew the familiar sharp tzatziki and instead go with the rojo flow. I’m unaware of anywhere else in the state that makes this like Armaou. Indeed it’s less sauce, and more lustry, meaty gravy. I’d pay legitimately good money for the recipe – and I’m not the only one who wants to know the secret. Every other example I’ve tried around town has been thin and insipid. Not here.

Whatever your selection, the gyro comes stuffed with slices of familiar lamb and beef amalgam. For my money, it’s a slightly less full-throttle assault on the senses compared to other businesses, both the garlic and herb feel toned down a notch. It’s also piled generously (notably so compared to other places) upon a pita that’s given a greasy crisp kiss on the flat top.

As segments of SLC are slowly gobbled up by progress – locals continue to lament their gastronomic losses – while also simultaneously ignoring the multi-decade classics still in their midst. I’ve no reason to believe that Armaou won’t keep going for years to come, but still, enjoy this classic while you can. Paradise and parking lots and what have you.

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Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.