As a frequent volunteer for FIRST Robotics, I often find myself having to spend the occasional weekend as a guest judge staying in towns that I’m normally close enough to that I’d just visit them during the day, but due to the early hour that Robotics kicks off, it’s nice staying close by. This also gives me an opportunity to check out some of the local towns in a bit more culinary detail. This year, I was spending a lot of time in Windham, so I ended up getting a room in Nashua. I’ve enjoyed a few places around Nashua before, like Martha’s Exchange or Vietnam Noodle House, but this time, I was craving a gyro. Many other places I’ve lived, gyro joints were a dime a dozen, but in New Hampshire for some reason, they are somewhat rare (although Manchester has a few, like the very good Gyro Spot). But I had noticed that since my last visit, Nashua had added Main St Gyro, so I had to give it a try.
Menu-wise, Main Street Gyro has basically the menu I expect from most any gyro joint: a variety of gyros, souvlaki, and dolmades, along with a reasonable selection of sides and Greek desserts. Indeed, just looking at the basic gyros selection, you can tell they know what they are doing: gone is the standard “Kronos mystery meat roll”, instead, they offer the traditional pork, lamb (not minced), bifteki (a beef/pork mix), and chicken. So I ended up getting a classic pork gyro.
Another good sign of a fairly authentic gyro in the Greek tradition is the use of fries as one of the toppings, and Main Street didn’t disappoint. My gyro had a generous helping of very nicely tender, marinated pork bit, all grilled to a nice crisp sear, a very flavorful tzatziki (not at all chalky), some sliced red onion, parsley, and a nice layer of crispy fries with more than a little oregano and marjoram as seasoning. I was certainly quite happy with this, since it’s been a while since I’ve had such an enjoyable gyro.
But I’ll have to also mention that I was pleasantly surprised by a great deal on the menu: in addition to my gyro, I was fairly hungry, so I also ordered a single skewer of chicken souvlaki as a side. And I’ll have to say, for $2.75, this was a very nice addition to the meal: a quite large skewer of really flavorful and tender chicken with a nice lemony marinade served up with some pita bread. I enjoyed this enough that I’m going to have to try their souvlaki sandwich on my next visit.
And, since this is a Greek place, I pretty much felt compelled to order up some baklava for dessert, and their product didn’t disappear: a nice, thick layer of nuts, good crisp and not-at-all stale phyllo dough, and a nicely spiced honey drench, this dessert was pretty much exactly what I want when I’m craving baklava.
Overall, I was really pleased with Main Street Gyro. The gyros are authentic, flavorful, and quite reasonably priced. The souvlaki is particularly flavorful as well. The staff is friendly, and, in a pleasant change from much of Nashua, they even offer free parking in back. I’m definitely coming back for more.
Hi, Found your blog and wanted to let you know that the next time you’re in Nashua looking for a “COOL” dessert, come check us out at Sub Zero Ice Cream. Being you’re a science guy, you’ll appreciate how we make our ice cream with liquid nitrogen right before your eyes! We also do school science presentations where we teach the kids about Ideal Gas Law, density, States of Matter, etc. through visual experiments and interaction! Of course at the end, everyone gets ice cream! It makes crystals 10 times smaller than regular ice cream because it freezes the cream so fast at -321 degrees F. It’s fresh, delicious, it’s science! And we can accommodate allergies because we make each person’s ice cream from scratch on demand. So different! It’s a franchise based out of UT which was on Shark Tank! If you’d like to meet me at our location, drop me a line! Loved reading through your comments on your blog! Regards, Rita
Thanks for the invite. I’ll definite add you to my “hit list” to visit next time I’m down in Nashua.