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If you thought there were enough Greek fast-food joints in the Salt Lake Valley, you would be wrong.

Or, possibly right. Only time will tell if the newcomers — GR Kitchen and Padeli's Street Greek — will survive. I'm guessing location will be a factor in this tale of "Survivor: Greek Casual" because, honestly, it hasn't been hard to find a good gyro in Salt Lake County. The exceptions being: if you got a hankering while walking on 300 South between State and Main streets in Salt Lake City, or while passing Union Heights shopping center in Midvale.

There was a dearth in those exact spots, which is why Padeli's Street Greek set up shop on Salt Lake's Broadway, and GR Kitchen chose Union Heights. But there is one critical thing that distinguishes these upstarts from the competition: Both offer diners the option of building their gyros, bowls and salads, sort of like Barbacoa or Café Rio. You order at a counter, where you can see all the ingredients and watch someone put them together to your satisfaction.

That system expands a list of limited ingredients into a mathematical permutation that I can't even wrap my head around. This alone elevates them beyond the standard gyro outlet, but I also found that in both restaurants, the ingredients were fresh and high quality.

So, if you haven't already had the pleasure, let me introduce you to the valley's newest quick, casual Greeks.

Padeli's Street Greek

I was impressed with this little eatery, not only because the menu offered good variety, but also because almost everything I ate there was worth eating again.

From gyros to bowls, salads to wraps, the food is fresh and well-executed. Diners choose from traditional gyro meat (ground lamb and beef formed into that conical shape on a spit), ground chicken or pork (also on a spit), or falafel. Then, they select one of four sauces and a list of toppings that range from chopped tomatoes and onions to crumbled feta cheese and pitted kalamata olives. Or, a short list of featured menu items makes those decisions for you.

I ate at Padeli's both ways. Every gyro featured the same fresh, soft pita bread and sauces that nicely blended all the elements. While the traditional gyro ($6.50) is good, I would encourage you to be more adventurous. One of the best I sampled was a featured item, the shishito gyro ($7). I chose pork for the meat, which was then layered with onions, tomatoes, feta and grilled shishito peppers (two is not enough!). The finale was a good dollop of creamy sriracha sauce that added a nice kick.

Another favorite was a gyro made with a falafel "bomb" ($6.50) for which I chose traditional fixings: tomatoes, onions, feta and tzatziki, that traditional yogurt-based sauce spiked with grated cucumber and lots of garlic. The round falafel, made from ground garbanzo beans, was fresh and soft, nicely seasoned with cilantro, parsley and a bit of feta. It's some of the best falafel I've had.

The wrap ($8.50), made with a flour tortilla, is packed with a meaty blend of traditional gyro meat and chicken, along with romaine lettuce, garbanzo beans, onions, tomatoes and creamy mustard sauce. But if I try it again, I'll switch out the mustard for sriracha.

I'm not Greek, but I'm married to one, so I've learned the ins and outs of avgolemeno soup, dolmathes, spanakopita and baklava, although the latter was so much work I let it be a one-hit wonder. Padeli's does a good job with dolmas, or stuffed grape leaves (five for $2.50), made the traditional way without meat. They were two-bite-sized, and meltingly tender.

The tiropita and spanakopita, those triangular pies made of feta, or cheese and spinach, folded inside filo dough ($2.50 each), are not as crisp or buttery as mine, but they're respectable for a fast-food place, crisp on the outside and stuffed full of cheese on the inside.

I was less happy with the avgolemeno soup ($2.50 per cup to $7 per quart): It was creamy enough and chock full of diced chicken and rice, but the lemon flavor was so subtle that you could miss it.

The décor is pleasant if somewhat sterile, featuring mostly booth seating painted white with accents of blue. Counter seating at the window facing 300 South allows a view of the hipsters at Junior's tavern next door as well as Padeli's small streetside patio.

The staffers who built our order were friendly, but twice when I ordered salads at Padeli's (they're fresh and big enough to share, $6.89 to $7.39) they forgot the dolma, so pay attention. A salad without dolma is like a martini without olives!

GR Kitchen

As befits a fast-food place in the sprawling suburbs, GR Kitchen is larger than its downtown counterpart and feels more like a restaurant. It also has beer, albeit a limited selection (as in four). But the MO here is similar: Order at a counter where you choose meat, sauce and sides and how to build it.

The menu is more limited, but there is some different stuff here, like chicken souvlaki (seasoned meat on a skewer) and grain side dishes such as quinoa and couscous. And the vegetable choices are more varied, from raw kale to a roasted medley that included broccoli, carrots, squash, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, peppers and onions. With all that, a meal at GR Kitchen can seem like health food.

Indeed, GR Kitchen bills itself as healthy, casual food. First, you decide a format: plate (which includes protein, a grain, two sides and pita, $9.95); gyro ($6.95 for just a sandwich or $9.95 for a sandwich and two sides); or salad ($9.95 for protein on your choice of greens plus two sides and pita).

On one visit, I opted for a plate, choosing sliced pork, quinoa and a side dish of chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, plus another of seasoned kale. If I had life to do over, I would choose souvlaki instead of the sliced pork. While tasty, the pork needs to be part of something, for visual and textural reasons. It looked gray on the plate and parts of it were a bit chewy. And while I love kale, it has to be prepped right. If it's not chopped small, it has to be tender, and this kale wasn't.

But the other vegetables were fresh and crisp and the quinoa was cooked just right and plentiful, although it needed the flavor and moistness of tzatziki I chose for my sauce.

The souvlaki plate with pilaf was better. Two skewers of tender, perfectly seasoned meat nestled against tender rice that was just the right amount of salty. The pita here is a little more firm that at Padeli's, but it's fresh and tasty.

A traditional gyro at GR Kitchen featured a tender, sliced mixture of lamb and beef from the spit, slathered with piquant tzatziki and a generous portion of sliced red onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. It held together well, even when manhandled. The roasted vegetable medley we paired with it is not something you'll find at many fast-food restaurants, if any, and was crisp tender. It could have been a bit more caramelized, but that's nitpicking.

GR Kitchen has windows on two sides so it's light and bright. Seating is at wood tables and chairs, and high chairs are available. Again, there's no service since you get your food at the counter, although state law apparently requires someone to deliver beer to your table.

Neither of these casual Greek spots are destinations. Rather, they're neighborhood joints that can satisfy your craving for a gyro — and more — with fresh and reasonably priced food. I'd give Padeli's a slight edge for its bigger menu variety, but if you like the build-your-own concept, you can't go wrong with either one.