JIMMY’S FAMOUS GREEK FOOD
ADDRESS: 4020 W. New Haven Avenue, West Melbourne, FL 32904
When it comes to lunch breaks at work, there are normally a group of restaurants that my friends and I like to rotate around and hit up during the week. That’s why when someone suggests a new place to try, everyone gets excited to see if we can add another place to the list to help diversify our selection even more.
Probably about two months ago, my friend Billy said he had heard of a food stand not too far from our office called Jimmy’s Famous Greek Food that some other co-workers had been hitting up for gyros. Ever since our first visit to go try it out, we’ve probably been back maybe five or six times; we have definitely gotten hooked.
For our first few visits to the food stand, it was located in the same parking lot as the Sky King Fireworks store. Recently, the owner, Jimmy, moved the location a little further west on the highway into the parking lot of the Bare Assets strip club. Maybe the price to use the space is better at the new location? The stand itself is parked right at the base of the sign for the strip club and is pretty easily visible from the road, so you really can’t miss it.
Whenever I’m on the hunt for a good gyro sandwich, there’s one thing that I also look for: the roasting spit for the gyro meat. The traditional cooking method for gyro meat is rotisserie-style, usually on this apparatus that will slowly rotate the meat while one side is exposed to the heating coils. For a better breakdown of this cooking method, check out this article.
In the times that I’ve been back to Jimmy’s, I’ve always considered ordering something different than my go-to, the classic lamb gyro. But each time I walk up to the counter to order, the original is just too good to pass up. After the gyro meat is shaved off the roasting spit, Jimmy will cut it up into smaller pieces and throws them onto the flat-top grill. There, the meat gets mixed in with a bit of sautéed onions and garlic, building up on the flavors as well as allowing the meat to crisp up on the edges. Once the meat is finished, he’ll transfer it over to a warm pita that’s been brushed with olive oil and seasoned with rosemary and oregano, and top the gyro off with some lettuce, tomatoes, tzatziki sauce, and chunks of feta cheese. The sandwich is served up with a fresh batch of French fries, and you’re all set to go.
If there’s one thing that I notice about the gyro, it’s that Jimmy doesn’t skimp out on the amount of gyro meat. Most of the time, the pita is packed to the brim and I usually have to pick up the pieces that have fallen out as I’m making my way through the gyro. The meat is seasoned very well, with savory and garlic flavors standing out. Crisping up the edges on the flat-top is also a nice touch, where it provides a little bit of textural difference. The feta cheese and tzatziki sauce help to provide a slight tart flavor that helps to contrast with a lot of the savory flavors coming from other parts of the gyro as well.
A good traditional lamb gyro is sometimes hard to come by, and I’ve got Billy to thank to getting me hooked on these gyros that Jimmy cooks up. It really is true that sometimes delicious food can be found in unexpected locations, so don’t think twice just because it’s coming from a food stand. You might regret it if you passed up the opportunity to try one of the best gyros in the Melbourne area.
Let’s now take a look at the Jimmy’s Famous Greek Food Dish Spotlight. Asterisks (*) below mark my recommended dishes.
** Lamb Gyro with French Fries **
Classic lamb gyro topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, tzatziki sauce, and feta cheese. Served with French fries.
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And finally, here are my rankings for Jimmy’s Famous Greek Food:
Food: 5 / 5
If you didn’t get the impression from my descriptions above, I’ll sum it up: the lamb gyro was outstanding. Absolutely packed full of flavor and a hearty amount of gyro meat, the sandwich is certainly a hefty amount of food, even without the fries.
Atmosphere: N/A
Seeing as the food stand serves take-out only with no place to sit down and eat, this category wouldn’t really apply.
Service: 4.5 / 5
It depends on how busy you might catch the food stand at, since sometimes Jimmy can get you your food in five minutes and other times when it’s busy I’ve heard it could take closer to 20. To help avoid the long wait time, you could also call ahead your order.
Price: 5 / 5
The gyro and fries combo will only run you $9 total, which I certainly think is a really great deal considering just how much food is packed into that take-out box.
Overall:
14.5 / 15
(96%)
Categories: Florida, Restaurants
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