Gyros

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Greek dish

title: "Gyros" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["arab-cuisine", "fast-food", "flatbread-dishes", "greek-cuisine", "levantine-cuisine", "meat-dishes", "mediterranean-cuisine", "middle-eastern-grilled-meats", "national-dishes", "sandwiches", "spit-cooked-foods", "greek-american-cuisine"] description: "Greek dish" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyros" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Greek dish ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox food"]

Field	Value
name	Gyros
image	Pita giros.JPG
image_size	235px
caption	Gyros in Greece, with meat, onions, tomato, lettuce, fried potatoes, and tzatziki rolled in a pita
alternate_name	Gyro
country	Greece
course	Main course
type	Meat wrap
served	Hot
main_ingredient	Pita bread, pork, fried potatoes, lettuce, tomato, onions, tzatziki or yogurt
variations	Chicken, ground beef, or lamb instead of pork
::

::callout[type=note] the Greek dish ::

| name = Gyros | image = Pita giros.JPG | image_size = 235px | caption = Gyros in Greece, with meat, onions, tomato, lettuce, fried potatoes, and tzatziki rolled in a pita | alternate_name = Gyro | country = Greece | region = | course = Main course | type = Meat wrap | served = Hot | main_ingredient = Pita bread, pork, fried potatoes, lettuce, tomato, onions, tzatziki or yogurt | variations = Chicken, ground beef, or lamb instead of pork | calories = | other = Gyros, sometimes anglicized as a gyro (; , ), is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with other ingredients such as tomato, onion, fried potatoes, and tzatziki. In Greece and Cyprus, it is normally made with pork or sometimes with chicken, whilst ground beef and lamb are sometimes used in other countries.

Name

The name comes from the Greek γύρος (el, or ). It is a calque of the Turkish tr, from tr, also meaning .

In Greek, "el" is a nominative singular noun, but the final 's' is often interpreted in English usage as plural, leading to the singular back-formation "gyro". The standard Greek and English pronunciation is . Some English speakers pronounce it , because the word is a heteronym of the related word "gyro".

In Athens and other parts of southern Greece, the skewered meat dish elsewhere called el is known as el, while el is a term used generally for gyros, and similar dishes. In other regions, for example in Thessaloniki, el only refers to the meat on the spit, and what English speakers refer to as a "gyros wrap" is called a (σάντουιτς).

Similar dishes

Gyros is made in a manner similar to other dishes such as the Arab ar, Canadian donair, Mexican al pastor, and the Turkish tr.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Lamb_giros_-_Medallion_Souvlaki_and_Cakes.jpg" caption="Lamb gyros being grilled"] ::

Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in the city of Bursa during the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire. After the 1922–23 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the Greeks of Asia Minor brought their variation with them to Greece. Following World War II, gyros made with lamb was present in Athens. It was likely introduced by immigrants from Anatolia and the Middle East. The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with tzatziki, and became known as gyros.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Pitagyros_mit_Beilagen_und_Bier_(Gaststätte).jpg" caption="Gyros plate"] ::

By 1970, gyros wraps were already a popular fast food in Athens, as well as in Chicago and New York City. At that time, although vertical rotisseries were starting to be mass-produced in the US by Gyros Inc. of Chicago, the stacks of meat were still hand-made. There are several claimants to have introduced the first mass-produced gyros to the United States, all based in the Chicago area in the early 1970s, and of Greek descent. One of them, Peter Parthenis, has said that the mass-produced gyro was first conceptualized by John and Margaret Garlic; John Garlic was a Jewish car salesman who later ran a restaurant featuring live dolphins.

The Halifax donair in Canada which was based on the Greek gyros was invented in the 1970s by Peter Gamoulakos. Originally from Greece, he started selling Greek gyros (a pita stuffed with grilled lamb and tzatziki) from his restaurant located off the Bedford Highway.

Preparation

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Gyros_C5878.jpg" caption="Gyros preparation"] ::

In Greece, gyros is normally made with pork, though other meats are used in other countries. Chicken is common, and lamb or beef may be found more rarely. Typical American mass-produced gyros are made with finely ground beef mixed with lamb.

For hand-made gyros, meat is cut into approximately round, thin, flat slices, which are then stacked on a spit and seasoned. Fat trimmings are usually interspersed. Spices may include cumin, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and others. The pieces of meat, in the shape of an inverted cone, are placed on a tall vertical rotisserie, which turns slowly in front of a source of heat or broiler. As the cone cooks, lower parts are basted with the juices running off the upper parts. The outside of the meat is sliced vertically in thin, crisp shavings when done.

The rate of roasting can be adjusted by varying the intensity of the heat, the distance between the heat and the meat, and the speed of spit rotation, thus allowing the cook to adjust for varying rates of consumption.

In Greece, it is customarily served in an oiled, lightly grilled piece of pita, rolled up with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, and fried potatoes, sometimes topped with tzatziki, or, sometimes in northern Greece, ketchup or mustard.

References

"gyro". [[Oxford University Press]].
{{cite Merriam-Webster. gyro
"[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gyro Gyro] {{Webarchive. link. (2022-05-03 ". ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Cambridge University Press. 2022.)
(2000). "Street foods". Karger.
Segal, David. (2009-07-15). "The Gyro's History Unfolds". The New York Times.
Babiniotis, {{lang. el. Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας
"Gyro".
Francis, Jay. (2009-01-09). "Greek 101".
Cutolo, Morgan. (24 July 2024). "Gyro Food Pronunciation: What Is the Correct Way?".
(2006). "Night+Day Athens". ASDavis Media Group.
"Θεσσαλονίκη VS Αθήνα. Όταν θέλεις να παραγγείλεις ένα σουβλάκι και δεν μπορείς!".
Kremezi, Aglaia. (2010). "Food and Language: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cooking 2009". Prospect Books.
Kenneth F. Kiple, Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds., ''Cambridge World History of Food'', Cambridge, 2000. {{ISBN. 0-521-40216-6. Vol. 2, p. 1147
(1955). "(unknown title)". Time, Incorporated.
(21 August 2014). "The Oxford Companion to Food". OUP Oxford.
(2010). "What's in the Name of a Dish?". [[Prospect Books]].
Γιάκωβος Σ. Διζικιρικής, Να ξετουρκέψουμε τη γλώσσα μας 'Let Us De-Turkify our Language', Athens 1975, p. 62, proposes substituting {{lang. el. γυριστό for {{lang. el. ντονέρ, but ''The New York Times'' was already using the word ''gyro'' in English in 1971 (4 Sept. 23/1) according to the ''OED'', 1993 online edition, [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/243308 ''s.v.'']
(7 December 1970). "Spit and Image". New York Media, LLC.
(September 4, 1971). "The Gyro, a Greek Sandwich, Selling Like Hot Dogs". The New York Times.
David Segal. (July 14, 2009). "The Gyro's History Unfolds". The New York Times.
corusadmin. (2022-04-27). "The Delicious History Of The Halifax Donair".
(2011). "Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia". ABC-CLIO.
(9 September 2013). "Street Food around the World: An Encyclopedia of Food and Culture". ABC-CLIO.
(26 May 2019). "A guide to ordering "gyros" in Greece".
(4 July 2017). "Great Street Food in Thessaloniki: A Round-the-Clock Guide".

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