Sami’s Gyros

They have really improved their food and service!
Very fresh and they also changed their French fries, very good! And they are preparing the food fresh and presenting it well! Nice job, and service has also step up a notch.

Great food. Quick service. A frequent lunch place for me. I a big fan of the Mediterranean Chicken Special.

Disgusting, don’t waste your money. The hummus was gray, the tahini sauce was flavorless. Very sad that I spent 11 of my hard earned dollars there. Also realized when I got home, he didn’t give me the pita to my hummus :-(

I used to love this place, the new manager is an idiot, my food came out raw, yes raw. When I brought it to his attention he had the nerve to say: it’s only $ 8.00 dude get over it. Hmm, good job on sending me away and never going back to such bad place. With all do respect to Sami and his family, the place is not good anymore

They wouldn’t let me swap tahini sauce for the tzatziki sauce on my gyro because tahini sauce is «only» for falafel… God damn sauce nazis!!!

I live down the road and went here during the weekly lunch hour and had the gyro special with fries, a drink, and an order of falafel. I give them 1 star because middle eastern cuisine is by far my favorite, even with mediocre food I can be satisfied enough to finish my meal, but I did not finish any of what I wasted $ 14 on. Everything tasted sour, old, and/​or poorly seasoned. The falafel were overcooked and too garlicky, typically I’m a garlic fiend, but it was bitter burned garlic that I could taste. The tahini tasted like spoiled yogurt. I’m not sure what part of the gyro was bad but it tasted sour as well the meat was flavorless and the tzatziki again tasted like sour yogurt with a ton of onion powder and dill. I was not impressed. I had three bites of everything except the fries and called it quits. The guy taking my order was also rushing me so much that I could barely get the words out of my mouth before he was trying to grab my card, and I almost forgot that I was craving falafel in the first place. The french fries were good, so for that they get the one star. If anyone can recommend a decent or really good middle eastern restaurant in the area I would appreciate it, I am still getting to know the Phoenix area!

Very disappointing! The worker Eddie refused to be of assistance, not sure if he is the owner or just an employee. If owner… sad attitude for his business.
The service he provided today was horrible, has make me refuse to ever attend his restaurant. I might just now go to the Princess though further away.
The food is now over price, get less than before. Refuse to be of service!

The food is great, perfectly cooked and seasoned. I recommend this place to friends all the time.

I will give 4~5 stars to the food but the lady at the counter is terrible. She seems annoyed whenever I come. She is always looking at her phone and never look at you.
Honestly, this place is losing money because of her.
She should be fired if they want to get more business.

The food is a solid 4 stars but the pony tail girl at the counter makes the overall experience horrible. She’s on her phone ALL THE TIME!!! While I was placing my order she never looked at me but was looking at her phone and smiling about something she was reading. After patrons left and i was the only customer in the restaurant, rather than cleaning tables off she was staring at her phone. When new patrons arrived, they had to clean off their own tables. I asked for the ice tea to be refilled while she was resting her head in one hand with her elbow on the counter while the other hand holds her phone. She sighed and s-​l-​o-​w-​l-​y got up from staring at her phone to take care of the ice tea. Once it was replaced she went back to the leaning on the elbow thing. This is not a one time thing, she’s done this on all of my three visits.
How does management not see this? Or do they???

Great lunch spot. I cannot comment too much on the quality of food across the entire menu. I have only had one item… many times: Greek salad with chicken. Fresh veggies, good dressing, and it actually comes with a pita and tzatziki sauce (score!). I find no reason to try anything else. For $ 11 bucks… it doesn’t get much better – especially for a half way decent healthy meal.
Place starts hoppin’ around noon for lunch rush. Get there earlier to avoid a wait and ensure you have a place to sit.

Sami’s is a Greek gyro pita joint in mostly typical fashion. They have the classic and the additional items you would expect including burgers and salads. We really like their gyro pitas but just have a hard time making it over here due to their hours. On weekends they close real early so we manage to miss the hours any time we think about coming over here, bug we totally get it, this is s lunch spot. Their fries are also real thin, crisp and filling (they don’t skimp on the fries, you’ll need to split one side of fries for two people). On that note, the gyro meat is bountiful as well, you definitely get a good value here! They also have good ice tea, which we always appreciate.
Haven’t tried the humus or falafel, but will have to put that in the plan for next time.

I must say I was hesitant to even come to this restaurant when my step mom suggested it due to its low ratings. I am happy (or maybe sad?) to report that my step mom was right and Unilocal was, well, not so much. This place was crazy good… like, ridiculously tasty. The difference may be that we came at night and apparently at night they re-​grill their chicken (at lunch they said they’re too busy), which makes the chicken both tender and a little crunchy. We had the chicken plate and the chicken pita with a side of hummus. The chicken plate was the best item, with tasty rice and perfectly seasoned chicken. The pita was also exceptional, dripping with some kind of tasty sauce. Anyway, I would certainly come back!

Sami’s is quick, reliable and right around the corner from my office. It’s not the best Mediterranean food I’ve ever had in my life, but I know that I can be in and out in 10 minutes, even when there appears to be a wait at the register. The one time I had to wait about 20 minutes, the owner apologized to me personally and gave me a free piece of baklava (which was delicious).
I’ve deluded myself into thinking that the gyro salad is moderately healthy (hint: it’s not), so that’s what I usually go for. The meat is pretty good quality, and while the greens do feel a little prepackaged, I’m getting a salad from a gyro place… so I don’t expect a whole lot more.
Service is usually pretty decent, and the folks there are kind. I’d recommend it for a quick lunch, especially given the limited selection within walking distance of my office. Surely beats the pseudo-​food they’re handing out in styrofoam boxes up in the cafeteria… Yikes.

Wow. I cant believe this place is still in business.
I walked in late one day with only a girl sitting at a table playing on her phone. Turns out she worked there. She eventually comes to the register. Really seemed like she was pissed at me cause I took her away from the phone and she had to take my order. No hello, no thank you. Just took the money and gave me change then walked back to her table to play on the phone.
Every table had trash on them. NONE were clean. She is still playing on her phone so I clear a table for myself. She does not offer to help.
I then go to the restroom and it was absolutely gross!
It had been 10 minutes and no food. I hear a couple Mexican employees in the back kinda yelling at each other in Spanish. I go to see what all the noise is about as well as check on my order. I noticed the cook and a co worker are in the back and are throwing raw chicken around. It falls on the ground and they see me. I ask the guy where is my food and he points to the high counter where my food had apparently been sitting for 5 minutes. I was the only one in there and no one brings my food to me or tells me my food is ready. Instead the girl is on the phone at the table and the two Mexicans guys are throwing chicken around. They probably eventually cooked the chicken that was on the ground and sold it.
I wanted to ask for my money back but I was so hungry I ate the cold food. The pita was very hard and the lunch was horrible. A waste of money. I walked away pissed at myself that I did not ask for my money back.
The three employees in there DO NOT care about their customers experience in their restaurant. The more I think about the 40 minutes in there the more I get mad about not asking for my money back. First and last time for me at this place.

Great Gyros! and they are early slammed with a line out the door or dead slow. sometimes you get lucky and have no wait other times there is a wait but its worth it!

I was literally craving this place when my coworker told me he’d bought a falafel here for his lunch yesterday. I was super excited to have a Greek spot near my job, so of course I couldn’t wait to go here on my lunch break the next day despite my coworker telling me his falafel sandwich was extremely dry. Really it came down to this place or bandaid in the buritto Filibertos next door… easy decision right.
So I rushed here on my lunch break, and when I walked in this young guy bussing tables near the back corner asked how he could help me. I felt he was rushing but whatever, I told him I needed a minute. With a short lunch, and this being my first visit, I decided to just order pita and hummus, after all you can’t screw up hummus… can you?
Well they did, because this place sucked! The pita was extremely thin and dry, and tasted kind of like those stale communion crackers I ate at church growing up. Seriously the hummus had no flavor at all. With Athenos brand hummus being one of my favorites you would think I’m easy to please in this regard, but I cringed at each bite, and throwing food away that I’d bought while super hungry was not an option.
I should’ve questioned their authenticity when another customer ordered a burger and fries… because really you would NEVER do that at an authentic Greek spot that was worth the money and the experience. The second eyebrow raise came when I realized the cooks were Mexican. Don’t judge me, you think the same thing about Panda Express.
Anyhow, I would never go here again, it’s disgusting flat out, their customer service skills are well, like their pita… tasteless and besides I’d rather get the real deal at a better price and much better cultural experience. If you don’t know the Greek experience I’m referring to then maybe you’re a regular here haha kidding :-D

Bottom Line — Very balanced and tasty Gyros as long as you set your expectations for everything else very low.
Service — ¹⁄₅ The cashier was on her cell phone texting as I waited for her to take my order. This is my third time at this restaurant in four months and she is there in the same pose every time. Consistency is king.
Personality — ²⁄₅ The restaurant has the elements of a Greek restaurant assembled poorly. It doesn’t feel inviting but is clean and presentable.
Quality — ⁴⁄₅ The Gyros are just right and very tasty. The balance of ingredients lets each one shine through and there is enough sauce to enhance the flavor without becoming a goopy mess. Of the three times I have been the fries are bland and poorly seasoned, so on my last visit I didn’t bother and focused on the entrée.
Recommendation — ²⁄₅ My experience at this restaurant has been the same every time, but the Gyro is worth all the detractors. As long as you have that in mind this is a great spot.

Went there for lunch, as I’d been wanting to try it and since it’s close to work I figured what the heck. I was jonesing for a french fry concoction my co-​worker gets. I ordered this concoction but they got it all wrong. Tasted good but it wasn’t exactly how I ordered it.
I will take my co-​worker with me next time I go there so the staff will get the order just as my friend orders it.

I was really teetering between 2-​stars and 3-​stars. There were more negatives than positives, but I chose 3 because my husband really enjoyed his gyro and the chicken was so flavorful. But lets go over the negatives because there are a lot of fast food greek options in this area. I probably won’t return because of these 4 things.
1) very slow. i ordered, they said 10 minutes. the reality was 30 minutes. There was only one other customer. (and a homeless man, but I actually like that they allowed the homeless man to be inside because it is 100-​degrees outside). In addition, when I called to order, they asked me to «call back in three minutes.»
2) Order was incomplete. I definitely asked for a side of tzatziki sauce. I definitely did not get ANY tzatziki sauce. Usually, there is at least some the comes with the gyro, but not only do they not provide tzatziki, WHICH IS THE BEST CONDIMENT IN THE WORLD!, they charge .50 cents for any at all, and then forget to put it in the bag. I was sad.
3) Luckily, we ordered hummus, which is not as good as tzatziki but it is better than nothing. However, the amount of hummus was pitiful for $ 4. It was tasty though — but the pita bread was stale, cold, and looked store bought.
4) Finally, the french fries were unseasoned and cold. We didn’t finish them and we are a family of four — usually, we fight over the last fry.
Like I said, the chicken was very very good. It was pretty oily, but whatever they use to season it is AMAZING. It really earned this place a whole star, without the chicken, it would have been an easy 2-​star decision.