Mikey's

Mikey's Gyros has all the charm of a hipster's basement, but you've probably never heard of it. The tables are coated in what I liked to believe was a lacquer finish, but realistically could have been the compressed grease of thousands of satisfied customers. The music is loud, the beer is cold, and the lamb mash-up is hot. Mikey's may lack things such as; uniforms, organized seating, and a valet service, but the lack of flair is by no means a handicap on the restaurant itself. It makes up for these things by a simplistic and delicious menu, rotating taps of micro brews (which, might I add, are only 3 dollars before 5 o'clock) and a colorful array of individuals serving your food while wearing cowboy hats and/or bright pink mini-shorts.

So what to order? All the foods seemed share common elements. Crisp greens, hot and greasy meat, warm pita bread, and house made sauces. So why not order some delicious hybrid of all things Mikey's? The Deluxe Gyro with Feta. For 4.75 (before tax) this really can't be beat. I chose to wash it down with a crisp Midnight Wheat Pint.

The beer was excellently poured, the amber line reaching the absolute top of the rim and the foam precariously perched on top like a sleigh on Mount Crumpit, and as some of my classmates might agree with me, certain other local restaurants would do well to take a page out Mr. Mikey's book.







But what about the food?


Oh, that's right. It was delicious. A light dusting of feta adorned my leafy greens resembling Chevy Chase's dressing room mirror. The tzatziki sauce was a perfect cooling agent to the hot of the rotating cylinder meat. No complaints, and there was little to be desired. The thing that I appreciate about the Mikey's Gyro, is that it doesn't change. In the 8 years I have been there as a patron, the "d w/feta" has never changed.











So, the atmosphere, that must be this place's failure right?

Wrong! As the two hip young gentlemen pictured will attest, the dress code is lax, and the employees are friendly. Local art adorns the walls, and one has the feeling that a great many good beers have been spilled on the vaguely brown carpet. Mikey's is a patron of the local arts in Moscow, providing a relaxed atmosphere for students (of the graduate variety) to read nonfiction, fiction, and if anybody stays around long enough or is too drunk to leave, poetry.




So how does this all rate in the grand scheme? Fearlesscritic.com seems to break the classification into three parts. Food, Feel, and Price. Applying this to Mikey's, I stand by the following judgment: Food 8.0, Feel, 8.5, and Price was eight dollars and four cents (including the beer), so even though fearless critics are too cowardly to rate this, I would give price a 10.0 Flawless. What you get for what you pay is quite a bit for not that much. This restaurant is as much as part of Moscow as the endlessly futile Friday evening peace rallies on Main Street or the unsurprising continual failure of the Football team. If this restaurant were a person it would be Jennifer Aniston. It has been around for most of my life, and has never really changed appearances.