**** GryoGrill has closed
I was recently told that GyroGrill had won some kind of “Best Greek Food in San Diego” award. Whoa, that was a bit of a shock. It had been a while since I last visited, so I decided to head on over for lunch.
The good thing about GyroGrill is that they open at 10am as I’m not a fan of the “squishy” parking situation in the lot here. When that lot gets full, it’s a pretty tight squeeze.
And to be perfectly honest, I was interested to see what the price of the Gyro Combo was these days. And the sign said the combo was now $15. In case you’re keeping score, in October 2020 it was $7.99 by January of 2022 it was $12.99. During my last visit, in April of 2022 it was $14. Well, now a year later it’s $15. I guess I should be happy that it’s “only” gone up a buck since last year, right?
And both the A-frame chalk sign and a page posted near the counter said something like “Awarded San Diego’s Best Greek Food 2022”.
By something called “the San Diego Award Program”? Well, talk about a generic sounding name. But seeing that GG is on the ballot again this year, I followed the link from the business website and it leads to this page on a UT website.. I quickly noticed an omission, can you figure it out?
Anyway, I ordered my usual, the Pork Gyro Combo. The really nice guy from my previous visits was working and I took my order back to the office.
Upon opening up the Gyro, I quickly noticed that things had changed. This was no longer marinated pork cut from a spit into thin slices. This was more like chunks of marinated grilled pork shoulder. Along with being chunks of pork, the meat was a lot darker in color than what I’d had previously. It was also tough and dry. In terms of flavor, this was on the salty side.
Lest you think I’m having a “senior moment”, this is what it looked like on my previous visit.
I actually have enjoyed the cross-cut, chip like, fries even more than the Gyros at GG, crisp outside, creamy inside. These had changed as well.
These were cut lengthwise and much thinner. They didn’t stay crisp as long and were on the drier end of things.
Man, I miss the way those potatoes used to be……here’s a photo.
Bummer.
Now, I know that there’s more to Greek Food than Gyros, after all, we’ve had some nice meals in Greece. But still…….
GyroGrill
6780 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
On this morning the parking lot was empty. I walked on over and took a look at the posted menu and noticed the opening time was noon. I also noted that there were donburi and ramen lunch specials going for as low as ten bucks! In these days that's a bargain. I decided that I'd return on another day and check the place out. As I started walking away the "open" sign came on and the really friendly gentleman who runs the front of house waved me in. My lucky day I guess.
I would go on record to say this was more sausage than tsukune. It was hard, rubbery, tough…..I'm sure there are more synonyms I could come up with given time. Not much flavor at all….I guess that's why salt was provided.
And my worries were well placed. Ok, so since the ownership is under Olleh, my expectations were low, but this was even below that!
The chashu wasn't bad, nicely marinated, tender, decent porkiness. The noodles were standard issue, curly, a bit overcooked and mushy…which did nothing to enhance the dish. It had me thinking….at ten bucks what should I have expected?
I loved the presentation. And overall, I enjoyed this dish the most. Nothing fancy, just a by the book beef bowl. The beef was on the chewy side, flavors were quite typical, soy sauce – mirin – sake, which is not bad at all. A generous portion of rice….I wish there was more egg, but this was a decent donburi.
Nothing fancy mind you; but for a ten buck for lunch…I wouldn't pay $15 to have this for dinner, this might work out fine for you. After all, how much is a bento from Nijiya these days?
I was surprised to see construction going on and the note to the right. Well, I just 
I'm sure if you ordered online things would work out fine. And that guanciale looked really good.
So, the wings usually come tossed in sauce, be it buffalo, BBQ (what was recommended here), or mango habanero. Well, I just wasn't a fan of these. While the wings were of decent quality and prepped well, it was kinda soggy when it arrived. I prefer my wings to have some textural contrast that doesn't include mushy. Plus, it was over sauced for my taste as well.
And I guess I take direction fairly well. The wings not being drenched in sauce was much better. There was still some crispness to them and I got to determine which sauce I enjoyed the best. The habanero edges on a bit too sweet, but there's a bit of spice. The ranch will quell that. So, I will order my wings simply "salt and pepper" with habanero and ranch on the side.
The wings looked lightly battered and fried. In fact, it had a decent light crispness. Until I really bit into them. Man, these wings were seriously freezer burnt. The wings were so gross and bitter. I mentioned this to the folks behind the bar and was told, "it looks perfectly fine to me….."
First off, the bread was as I recalled from the "old school" location, crusty and fairly dense, with some yeastiness.
I did find the ratio of Bi (pork skin) to be kind of small compared to the amount of pickled veggies and even cilantro. And of course, I think that it's all about ratios when it comes to these sandwiches. Strangely, I found that the Bi had an almost sweet-sour flavor? Though those jalapenos did a good job of clearing my sinuses.
Much like the Dac Biet, this version had quite a bit more meat than what I've had from Paris Bakery. In terms of consistency, Paris scored well as the bread was crusty and yeasty, those jalapenos nice and spicy, and the pickled veggies nice and refreshing.
We came across what looked like a hotel….it turned out to be the Splendor Hotel, with a bunch of vendors selling all sorts of plants and crafts. The Missus read one of the signs and noticed that the building is called "Park Lane" and on the third floor was something called "Taichung Sixth Market". Since it was still early and Dawncake didn't open until 10 we decided to check the place out.
The Missus really loved the yamaimo and the meat was buttery, beefy, and so tender.
Each location has a Jolly Bee greeter at the door. 
There are some specials near the ordering area as well as online if you pre-order. 
A salty brown gravy is included with each chicken order. That's a pineapple juice drink ($3.49) on the tray, which was filled from behind the counter.
A three piece meal with one side -adobo rice- and beverage from the machine ($11.99). Adobo rice is fried rice with pork.
The two piece combination with palabok ($11.99). Palabok is rice noodles topped with a garlic-pork-shrimp sauce topped with sliced hard boiled egg; a really nice side dish.
We also ordered the 'Limited Edition' fried pie ($2.99) which is coconut pineapple-large shreds of sweet coconut and chunky pieces of tangy pineapple in a flaky, buttery crust. The 'regular' pie (peach mango) is always satisfying. 
On another visit, I picked up two Deluxe Chicken Sandwiches ($5.99) with a side of 'crispy fries', which remained crispy on the drive home. "Deluxe" means the sandwich has mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. It is served on a brioche bun. As you can see, there was also a peach mango pie. 
The chicken can be regular or spicy and regular is great-meaty, juicy, crispy and very large. Packets of 