I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have never said to themselves, "I should be eating more vegetables." I am not one of them. I say it all the time. I like vegetables, I just don't crave them the way I do things like really ripe peaches or a fine lamb burger.
Consequently, when something craveable comes along that is vege-heavy, that's of particular virtue, at least from a rationalized standpoint. Such is the case at Vinnie's Italian Beef and Gyros.
Unlike Chicago-style hot dogs and deep dish pizza, St. Louis really doesn't have much exposure to the Italian beef sandwich from the City of Broad Shoulders. Sliced roast beef, plenty of juice, a length of faux-French bread - then the fun starts. Roasted sweet peppers, sure. But the singular item is giardiniera, a coarse relish of pickled mixed vegetables that's spooned on with a generous attitude. Often, it's spicy, although what I had at Vinnie's was more about tartness than fire. Vinnie also throws on some cheese, generally held to be an option in the city of its birth.
Because of the meat juices, these are almost dangerously moist sandwiches. One British food writer says Americans are better at eating such creations than their transatlantic cousins because our bodies know how to eat leaning over with legs spread apart. It's unclear why the Brits can't sit down to eat, the way one can at Vinnie's. You may be better off flipping the sandwich over so the really moist part is on top. But there are plenty of vegetables.
Also generously vegetabled is the gyro, ordered, in our case, as a "colossal".The extra dollar's upgrade brings lettuce and feta to the gyro meat, tomato, onion and tzatziki on pita. Definitely a knife-and-fork gyro, although I suspect they roll it up when ordered for takeout. Very fresh-tasting, and quite virtuous-feeling, too, as a bonus.
Sides are more than perfunctory here. What the menu terms fried potatoes are large dice of skin-on potatoes fried until nicely crunchy and seasoned with a light shower of salt and cheese. And then there's the spinach rice. Bits of spinach and tomato are mixed in with long-grain rice, each grain distinct and shiny. The flavor is more tomato than spinach, darn tasty. It's an unusual component to a sandwich shop, but a welcome one
As is the case with Chicago Itaian beef shops, there are sausage sandwiches as well as meatball ones on hand, and hot dogs, too. The only surprise we found was the Greek salad, dressed beforehand in lots of vinaigrette so that the iceberg lettuce had wilted. The requisite onion, olives, cucumber and feta seemed fresh enough, and it was a proper dressing, no sugar. The accompanying pita was fresh and hot, and so was the gyro meat we asked for on top, just cut from the vertical spit of meat, crispy here, tender there. Baklava and sometimes other things for dessert.
Order at the counter. Covered outside seating available.
Vinnies Italian Beef and Gyros
3208 Ivanhoe Ave.
314-644-7007
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Lunch and Dinner Mon.-Sat.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Sandwiches:$7-$9
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