Amir’s Kabobs

A good street Gyro/​Kebab is nearly impossible to find in Vermont and Amir’s is top notch. Always friendly and prompt servers deal very consistently excellent $ 6 Gyros until all hours of the night when you need them the most. I’ve never liked Ali Babas even after years of forcing them down, I couldn’t be happier that Amir has stuck it out.

Amir’s is Burlington’s disappointing answer to downtown drunk food. The town’s nightlife surely can’t compare to that of New York City and neither can the late night food. The gyros and NYC chicken and rice were cheap imitations of what the halal cart made famous on 53^rd and 6^th. The rice was undercooked and the chicken had no flavor and was dry. The portions were a fraction of the size and the white sauce added nothing to the flavor. The only thing the two carts had in common was the $ 6 price tag.

After a night of drinking, I was in that state of not quite drunk, but craving latenight food before heading home. I polled my drinking buddies and the consensus was Amir’s or Kountry Kart, depending on what I wanted. I figured gyro was a little healthier than a cheese steak, so I went with Amir’s. My decision was the right one.
Amir’s is not fancy or gourmet, but it is delicious. I had the lamb, which was warm and well spiced. The pita wasn’t too thick. The veggies were crisp and fresh. The tzatziki sauce was delicious, but it was a bit thin: much of it pours to the bottom of the wrapped gyro, making you wish you had a side of it to dip the sandwich in. Nevertheless, by the time I reached the top of Church, it was all in my belly. I have to be careful not to make this a weekly thing… while delicious, latenight food is not good for the waist.

Five words: Just What The Doctor Ordered. One of the great things about moving back to Vermont is the number of street-​eat carts that have cropped up since I left, in particular those that cater to the late-​night crowd. Still, it took me a few months of being back in Burlington to finally try this place, since the post-​2am line at the cart is always ridiculous. I soon found out why.
I happened to find the cart open at around 6pm on a Saturday during the summer. Having just left work, and knowing I had an evening of adult beverages ahead of me, I had to put something in my stomach; I figured a gyro would do the trick. I was lucky that the cart had just opened, so they were just starting to shave the lamb meat off the roast. The meat was perfectly seasoned and tender. Thrown on a warm pita with LTO and about a gallon of tzatziki (of which one can never have too much), and you’ve got one heck of a quick bite to eat. Since that first experience, no line has discouraged me from returning after a night on the town. This cart would be right at home on any corner in NYC; we’re lucky to have one here.

So it’s a little bit of a dive and for me it’s Burlington’s tastiest dive by far. You definitely want the Chicken Kabob on a pita… the sauce is divine but wear a raincoat… it goes everywhere! Their fries are dashingly good as well… but I’m too busy squirting sauce everywhere to mess around with fries.

On friday night we decided to check out the nightlife in Burlington and saw this place selling gyros! So i decideded to get some and asked for extra hot sauce and he was shaving the gyros to make that sandwich for me. It was so simple, flatbread, gyros, lettuce, tomato, yogurt sauce and hot sauce and I love it. It was the best $ 6 I spend all night long. I am totally coming back here for more.
fyi-​It isn’t the best gyros I ever try but it was still tasted and affordable.

This little stand is my new favorite late night treat. While I realize replacing my usual greasy slice of pizza with a gyro containing carvings of meat naked and exposed and rotating on a stick into the wee hours of the morning isn’t glamorous, hey — I don’t question the maker, I just eat the masterpiece. Actually, I shovel it. And make sure to pay homage to Amir. He recently came to the U.S. with his family and was able to learn English in mere months. Don’t take my word for it, go to Amir and ask for a large with extra sauce. Just don’t let him sprinkle too much red pepper — I paid for that the next day…