East Idaho Eats: Tom’s Gyros and Burgers serves real Grecian American eats

IDAHO FALLS — A local burger joint is serving down home American food with a Greek flare.

“We also sell a lot of burgers. We have burgers with gyro meat on them, we sell a lot of (Philly Cheesesteaks), we sell a lot of different things here,” Manager Melanie Olsen said.

Tom’s Gyros and Burgers is a place where customers come to fill up. Olsen said people don’t tell her what they’re ordering, but instead she tells them.

“I always ask people how hungry they are first,” Olsen says.

From there she knows exactly what they should order. One of the most popular mentions is a gyro. Olsen said they aren’t just for any customer. With a gyro customers either love them, or they hate them.

“The gyros are a lamb and beef mixture on a pita bread with onions, lettuce tomatoes and tzatziki sauce, which is a cucumber sauce,” Olsen said. “Both the owners here are from Greece, so they are more authentic gyros than everybody else tries to be.”

The gyro meat comes from a 20-pound cone of meat cooked on a spit. It can be cooked in minutes, or slower for a couple hours. Once the meat is ready it’s sliced off into thin pieces.

To make the gyro order a deluxe — try the Titanic, which has a combination of different tasty meats.

“If you’re hungry I’ll tell you to go for either a titanic or a tug boat, just because you get the best of both worlds. You get the gyro meat and the burger,” Olsen said.

Olsen said Tom’s is the place to get true Grecian food. She said other places attempt to make their dishes authentic, but that it can’t compare to Tom’s. The tzatziki is made without dill like some recipes may have it, just like how it’s made in Greece, Olsen said.

“We have greek salads that nobody else has,” Olsen said.

Olsen, who’s worked at the restaurant for over 12 years, said she loves her job and making customers happy.

“I’ve been here forever and seriously I love to feed people. I love the satisfaction of knowing that they’re happy,” Olsen said.