Scouting Report: Pork gyro and feta fries at Alexander’s Greek Kitchen in Vernon

Name of restaurant: Alexander’s Greek Kitchen

What dish represents the restaurant, and why? A plate of pork gyro with a side of pita bread, Greek salad, tzatziki sauce and langonisi fries. The pork gyro is shaved paper thin, resulting in a heap of crisp strips of pork on the plate. You’ll feel an urge to eat with your hands. And the langonisi fries (added to the dish for a couple dollars extra charge) are the Greek version of In-N-Out’s “animal-style” fries. The potatoes are cut thin and long, and fried until crisp and tender on the inside. They are doused with a pale pink, creamy, slightly tart sauce called Dimitra’s sauce, and grated extra sharp kefalgraviera cheese. The pork gyro is traditional Greek fare, and the smothered fries are a welcome quirk, completely in line with the fact that it’s a Greek restaurant, in a shopping center, in Vernon. Owners Alexander Sotirhos and his brother Konstantin were originally only going to serve pork and chicken gyro to start with a more authentic version of the roast meat, but decided to add a lamb and beef gyro to the menu later on. Sotirhos says he and his family served lamb and beef gyro for years at Greek festivals and that he added it to the menu because he “missed it and liked serving it.”
Runner ups: Lamb lebab with a side of feta fries; the dolmadakia grape leaves stuffed with rice and fresh herbs; fasolia: plump white beans, diced red onion and parsley dressed with red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil; melitzanosalata dip of roasted eggplants, Greek spice blend and extra virgin olive oil.

Concept: A fast casual, no-frills Greek restaurant in a strip mall in Vernon.

Who’s at the next table? Men sporting work boots, jeans and cargo pants with walkie talkies. Maybe some of them work at the the large factory behind the shopping center full of 7-Up delivery trucks.

Appropriate for: Lunch with colleagues, or when you just need to sit by yourself and enjoy a plate of pan-fried kefalograviera cheese, by itself.

Uh-oh: Alexander’s Greek Grill has about as much ambience as the industrial buildings surrounding it, but the restaurant and its staff have some real charm. Also if you’re looking for the version of gyro typically found at Greek restaurants in the U.S., made with lamb and beef, they have it, but it’s not listed on the menu. So when you’re craving it, don’t see it on the menu and order pork instead, you’re perturbed and jealous when you spot the man behind you eating it in a sandwich.

Service: Friendly and willing to change the music to Greek tunes at the request of a disgruntled customer.

What are you drinking? Some filtered cucumber water, free of charge.

Info: 3632 Soto St., Vernon, (323) 586-0201, www.alexandersgreekkitchen.com/.