Papagus Gyros, Lake Zurich, Illinois

Originally I went into Papagus for a soft serve ice cream cone. Looking for something to cool us off in the Chicago summer heat. They advertised on a banner out front "24 Flavors of Soft Serve" so I had to see this. Going inside, this did not strike me as a place for ice cream. The smell of hot beef sandwiches and gyros quickly removed ice cream from my brain! However, I ordered two ice cream cones anyway, butter pecan and cheesecake and left for the day making a mental note to return for lunch!

The gyros did not leave my mind, they looked and smelled so good! We went back for lunch. Ordered the gyro plate with potatoes for us to split. I must say, this is the best gyro I probably have ever had! I'm serious.
I have always eaten gyros, they are one of my favorites since childhood, my Dad would take us to a place once every few months in Salt Lake City for them. I loved them then, the tzatziki sauce, the slightly crunchy fresh shaved slices of meat on a fresh hot pita, I seriously haven't had one as good as those in a long time. Until now.

I watched as they carved the meat off with an electric shaving knife and piled (quite literally) the meat onto a pita and topped it off with tzatziki and fresh sliced tomatoes and fresh onion.







It was so good we went back. Yes, that makes three times this week! This time it was for the famous Chicago Hot Beef Sandwich! Hot beef is on every corner in this town, it's like hamburgers on the West Coast! It's everywhere and everyone thinks they can make 'em. Well, Papagus can. We ordered one with sweet peppers and one with hot peppers, both "wet" (wet is having the bread dipped in the juice of the meat so its almost soggy). My lips were stinging from the peppers and yet it makes eating it almost addicting! They didn't get the "wet" part right but they were still great!




Papagus Gyros is located at 454 N Rand Rd, Lake Zurich, IL 60047