Arby’s is a fast food chain best known for its roast beef, and it has also made some noise with its chicken sandwiches. (Hey Arby’s, bring back the Chicken Cordon Bleu!) They have other options on the menu as well, though, including some rather tasty gyros. And just recently, the chain brought back its Spicy Greek Gyro for another limited-time run.
Arby’s has their regular gyro as part of the permanent menu which includes gyro meat, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and creamy tzatziki sauce all wrapped in warm pita bread. The spicy version is basically the same as that but it also includes spicy chili sauce. (There is also a turkey version of the original gyro on the permanent menu).
I have had both the regular and turkey gyro’s from Arby’s but somehow missed out on the spicy version the last time it was available, so I decided to rectify that this time around. The meat (which is the same in the regular and spicy gyro) is tender and seasoned well with a peppery bite and a nice Mediterranean tinge. The vegetables are fresh and crispy, and the tzatziki adds a nice creaminess (that’s a sauce usually made from yogurt, but I am guessing that mayonnaise is involved with the Arby’s version). The flatbread is soft and pillowy and quite tasty, though it does not hold the filling together very well (more on that below).
As for that spicy chili sauce, it adds a nice tang along with some boldness to it and some sweetness as well. This may just be a kicked-up Sriracha sauce, but it did deliver a bit of a bite that lingers. I would put this gyro above mild head and approaching medium. However, the chili sauce plus the tzatziki basically delivered sauce overload. This was a very messy sandwich with the abundance of sauce causing the fillings to slide out and the flatbread to buckle before I was done with it. Don’t try eating this while driving lest you will need to hose off yourself and the inside of your car afterwards!
This is also a pretty heft sandwich calorie-wise, coming in at a whopping 720 kcals with 44 grams of fat. That’s pretty high even for the drive thru and that’s before you add on that medium or large order of curly fries (better stick with the small, and a diet drink as well). If I make it to the Arby’s drive thru for another of these (which is a likely scenario), I will probably ask them to go lite on the tzatziki but kick up the chili sauce. That should cut the calories some (and amp up the heat), but I am still probably best off skipping the fries and having some nice, fresh vegetables from home as my side.
The gyro is the star of festivals everywhere, and it is often associated with Greek food. But the cooking process for the meat actually got its start in Turkey according to Wikipedia. The meat, which usually consists of lamb or pork, is seasoned and stacked on a spit and cooks rotisserie-style as it rotates. It is then sliced off as the edges reach the proper level of doneness. This originated in the Turkish town of Bursa in the 19th century and was referred to as doner kebob. It became popular throughout the Middle East and parts of the Mediterranean, and the Greeks were the ones that started putting the meat on flatbread and adding the tzatziki sauce.
Arby’s, like Jack-in-the-Box, is one of those chains that can be very hit-or-miss. If you find a well-run location, then it should become a regular destination because their food is quite good when done right. But you are just as likely to find a poorly run store, and that can be a bad eating experience. I have a decent Arby’s near my office, so I consider it safe for a lunch visit. But you may want to check Google or Yelp reviews before spinning through the one nearest to you.
As mentioned, the Spicy Greek Gyro has the ticker counting before it returns to limited-time-only-ville. Though since the difference between that and the regular gyro is only the chili sauce, you may ask them to add that if they still have a bottle if you don’t see the spicy version on the menu. This is definitely a tasty flatbread sandwich the delivers a bit of a kick, and it is worth trying while still available.
Tale of the Tape:
Serving Size: 1 Sandwich
Calories: 720
Fat: 44 (13g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 23g
Carbs: 58g
Sodium: 1700mg