Thursday, February 18, 2010

Greeceing It Up In the Desert


Mad Greek
72112 Baker Blvd.
Baker, CA 92309

I know that this food blog is called Eating My Way Through OC, but I wanted to share my food adventures from the road also. Katie and I decided to take a few days before Valentine's day and get out of town, so we headed for Las Vegas. So this will be the first of two posts from the road. Hope you enjoy it.


This wonderfully decorated place is the Mad Greek. If you have ever been on the road to Vegas, you have undoubtedly seen the billboards for this place. In Baker there seem to be three choices for eats; Bun Boy, Bob's Big Boy, and this place the Mad Greek, guess they did not get the memo to include Boy in their name.

We got to the Mad Greek at about nine o'clock on a Wednesday night. The place was moderately busy with about thirty customers enjoying their food. When you walk into the place you are immediately struck by the blue and white decoration and the anatomically correct Greek statues that adorn all corners of the place. Driving through the dark desert is like a feast for the eyes. Let's hope it is a feast for our stomachs as well.


The sign on the Mad Greek says,  "Best Gyros USA". After having one, I think they are telling the truth. If you have never had a gyro, they are made from ground lamb and beef with onions, tzatziki sauce, (cucumber and yogurt sauce), and wrapped around a pita. These were delicious, yet a little overpriced at $9, but when your pockets are full of money that you plan on doubling in Vegas, it is worth it. The rice that came with this was okay, a little bland for my taste.


The little novelty above is a Pita Dog. It really is just a hot dog wrapped around a pita. The hot dog was actually very good and had a snap when you bit into it. I liked this and the $3 that I paid for this was well worth it, remember I was going to double my money in Vegas!


Here are the Chili Cheese Fries. These look better than they actually were. The fries were not cooked enough, and the chili was bland tasting. I also did not like the onions being off to the side by themselves, maybe they do this because a lot of people don't like onions, not sure but I thought it was odd.


For dessert, we split baklava. This is phyllo dough layered with pistachios and sweetened with syrup. I really did not like this. I thought it was chalky tasting, very dry. Not sweet enough for me. Maybe I am just not a baklava guy though, because Katie liked this. 

 

The Mad Greek is the first of two places on this trip that we went to that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, with Guy Fieri. This place really is a novelty, and maybe that is why he chose to come here. I mean Greek food in the middle of the California desert? Crazy, but the gyro is really good, and I have heard that the other Greek dishes are good too.

It seems like a rite of passage for the travelers along the 15 to stop and cure their gyro hankerings.  So out of  5 fraternities, you know because they are also known as the Greeks, five being best to zero being worst, the Mad Greek gets 2.5 fraternities.

For more information about The Mad Greek, head to their website by clicking  here: https://www.madgreekcafe.com/

2 comments:

  1. I am a recent transplant to the OC and have been looking for a good gyro since I moved here. I was surprised when a number of people suggested the Mad Greek the next time I drove to Las Vegas. I have since tried it 3 times.

    All I can say is, if this is the best gyro on the west coast, then thjey may as well give it up. The quality of meat, size of the sandwich, cucumber sauce, even the pita bread are all lacking when compared to pitas dished up by Greek places back East.

    The one thing I did enjoy was the breaded zucchini, but that has proven to be hit and miss, depending on the time of day it is ordered.

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  2. Michael, if I hear of another place that has good gyros I will let you know. Thanks for the comment!

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