CONTRIBUTED BY ASHLEY

Gyrostitle_2

One of the greatest things about Okinawa is the opportunity to find a new little restaurant, shop, or store hiding out in almost every city block. One such new haunt for me is Sunabe Gyros. Gyros (pronounced yeer-ohs, or gear-o, depending), refers to the way the meat is cooked, on a spit upright (from the word gyrate possibly?). It also refers to a darned fine way to eat a Greek lunch on the seawall.

I recommend starting your meal with a falafel set, which consists of fried balls of spicy chickpeas, pepper, and other spices dipped in tzatziki (a cucumber, garlic yogurt sauce) or a spicy salsa. For a main course, try their #1 seller, a Beef Gyro Combo, which you can get with either chips or fries. The sandwich, a mix of warm pita bread, fresh sliced strips of beef, crisp lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, and the tzatziki sauce mentioned above. I also like to add a bit of the salsa, as it “kicks it up a notch”. You can also try the chicken gyro which features roasted chicken.

Falafel

The Falafel Set

Beef

The Beef Gyro

Great vegetarian options include warm pita bread and hummus (a spicy chickpea spread), or Greek Salad, which is a fresh blend of lettuce, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and feta cheese with an olive oil/vinegar based dressing.

My favorite way to end this, so I ensure I’m stuffed to the hilt, is to have a piece of Baklava, a pastry made with phyllo dough layers intermixed with nuts and honey. Gyros does it even one better as their version also features a dose of cinnamon. In the south, we’d call this dang good eatin’. Gyros doesn’t do complicated dishes using lots of weird ingredients. What they do is rich flavors, clear ingredients, each of which leaves you with a great appreciation of greek food as a result.

Gyrosbaklava

The joy that is baklava

The restaurant itself is small, about 15 seats in all, but they just opened a roof top terrace which offers another 12 seats and a great view of the Seawall.

Hours: 098 936 8817

Address: 2-99 Miyagi, Chatan

Google Maps Coordinates: 26.329265697922008, 127.74433811246627

Directions:

To get the Gyros, take Hwy 58 toward Kadena. At the stoplight right before Kadena Gate 1, take a left. Go through all the stoplights. After the last stoplight, Gyros is about half a block down on the right on the 2nd floor.

Signmenu

A sign of something good to come

Inside

The inside

36 COMMENTS

  1. I’ll have to agree with Kody above.

    The meat was much like meatloaf. I think (I know) that the meat didnt’ come off the spit and therefore quite dry.
    when I got home, the beef gyro only had feta cheese on it and therefore the entire thing was dry!
    Loads of Sauce may have helped it.

    Not the best Gyro by a long shot and to be honest, I was very disappointed!!! Pity, coz I love gyros!

    Really nice fries though!

  2. I tried this place yesterday for the first time. Good stuff! Tried the goat gyro with fries…yummy. You’re not suppose to park in the street but lots of people do. Appears the police only give tickets rarely. I didn’t want to chance it, so I just parked along the sea wall.
    Just plug their phone# 098 936 8817 in your iPhone maps app for directions.

  3. There was a time when I ate here pretty often. My favorite menu items are the pita falafel, greek pizza, and chicken salad. The beef gyro actually tastes a little weird, IMO. In any case, the food is generally good and filling.

  4. Sunabe Gyros is probably the worst Gyro I’ve ever had. In no way is it authentic greek food. You’ll find a better Gyro at the Tee House on Kadena although that honestly is not that much better. Real gyros are lamb or lamb and beef not beef or chicken. If your looking for a good ouzo though they do sell bottles of Ouzo 12… a great tasting ouzo at a reasonable price.

  5. We’ve been here several times & it’s always great. The falafel pita is a great vegetarian option. They sell the pita plain with tzatziki on the side for picky eaters, as well as fries & salad if kids aren’t into the gyros.

  6. Oh this place is amazing. Yeah, parking kind of sucks but just look for a legal spot and walk a little more. My fav there is the Beef Gyro set. I thought this place would be “just ok”, but to my surprise it was amazing and I go back there all the time now.

  7. My husband and I tried the chicken gyros today. It was our first time here. We really enjoyed it! It was really tasty! We had the two gyros combo, 2 gyros wraps, 2 drinks and chip/ fries. All for only 1300-1400 yen!!!
    Oh and the restaurant is in a no parking zone! So you have to park in the adjacent street or get a ticket!

  8. Aimee,

    According to one of their ads they are open Tues-Sun from 11 AM – 9 PM and closed on Mondays.

    I love their Greek pizza with chicken and Greek salad. I don’t think they have gyros with lamb though. If you’re around Kadena, Platters at Schilling Community Center has a decent lamb gyro. They also have gyros at the Tee House restaurant near the golf course on Gate 1.

  9. Thanks Aviva! I can’t believe we’ve lucked out everytime we’ve gone and avoided a ticket thus far. We just assumed you could park there b/c there were other cars there. We were so lucky! I’m def. going to park along the wall from here on out.

  10. Soooo glad to see this place on here! It’s one of our favorites. I love the chicken gyros!! I highly recommend them. Their hummus is fabulous too. It’s the only hummus that I’ve found that’s really good around here in fact. Oh geeze, I think we’re going to have to drag the kids out there tonight now:)