Review: Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, The Nosh Show Ep. 60, & I Don’t Understand Sneakers with Suits

JFG Nation, it’s Monday Monday Monday! Here in DC, tons of people travel on the subway on the way to work at banks, firms, government…and every day, I spot tons of dudes wearing sneakers with their suits. And I’d like to call them out and say STOP IT.

Whenever I see women wearing sneakers with their suits, to me it makes sense – heels hurt, so if you don’t have to wear them while commuting, don’t. There’s a general acknowledgement that heels often have more aesthetic appeal than comfort. I get it – do what you gotta do.

But men’s shoes? I just don’t buy that it’s the same thing. If your shoes are uncomfortable, you shouldn’t own them in the first place – buy shoes that fit and feel ok. Are you wearing wingtips that squeeze your feet and have spikes on the sole? Why do you own those? What’s happening there, partner? Because when you wear a suit and then have on neon orange Nike kicks on, you look like you’re in high school. Are you on your way to your office or to study hall, sir?

I’ve heard the argument “But I don’t want to get my shoes dirty during my commute.” WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. Shoes are designed to HELLO touch the ground. To walk on the ground. Maybe stop worrying so much about your shoes getting dirty and get on with your life, chief.

I’ve also heard the argument, “I’m on my way to the gym.” Oh, I didn’t realize you run on the treadmill with your suit on. Wait, you don’t? Oh, you actually change AT the gym into workout clothes before lifting? So, the sneakers are gonna have to come off anyways, and you could always change from shoes to sneakers then? Mind. Blown.

I know – I’m not really making much sense, and I’m just griping about something that is not important. Ok then – if your shoes hurt your feet, FINE – wear sneakers. Your Brooks Brothers suit looks awesome with those faded white New Balance that you clearly mow the lawn in. So fashionable.

What do you think, JFG Nation? Needless gripe, or something that bothers you too? Am I totally off base and just don’t understand? I want to hear all angles – tell me why I’m right/wrong. Let me know in the comments below.

In the meantime…EPISODE 60 OF THE NOSH SHOW IS HERE!

For you new arrivals, The Nosh Show is a podcast started by Marvo from The Impulsive Buy, featuring Ryan from GrubGrade, Dubba from On Second Scoop, and, of course, me, your friendly neighborhood JFG. Today marks the release of The Nosh Show, Episode 60: Eat More Reubens.

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This week, “find out which of the four Lay’s Do Us a Flavor finalists we’d nosh. We also share our thoughts about Oreo Thins and Limited Edition Key Lime Oreo Cookies.” You can listen embedded here:

You can subscribe to The Nosh Show using various services: iTunesStitcherTuneInRSS, or, you can also download the episode.

Today’s junk food: Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips!

Lay's Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips: The Money Shot

Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips: The Money Shot

Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips is one of the four Lay’s Do Us A Flavor varieties this year. The Do Us A Flavor promotion, for those who don’t follow the junk food world religiously like me, is basically a user-submitted flavor competition. People submit flavor suggestions online, Lay’s will pick four flavors, everyone then tries them and votes, and a new flavor is added to the Lay’s line. Past winners: Cheesy Garlic Bread and Wasabi Ginger. This contest has been happening in Canada and the UK, too!

This year, an added wrinkle: regional ties! Lay’s wanted people to not only suggest a flavor and a style of chip, but also a region to link the flavor to. So, with that in min, first up is Greektown Gyro!  

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I do love gyros. Layers of meat with veg, covered in tzatziki sauce and placed in a warm soft pita. What’s not to love? Plus, I’ve been to Greektown before – the Greektown I’M thinking of is the one in Detroit, where I played poker in a shady casino room, sucked out trip-sevens to win an all-in over pair of aces/pair of queens, and had the dude stare at me angrily for the rest of the evening. He was scary. Ah, Greektown. But I recognize that Greektown is sort of a general generic term for pockets of Greek neighborhoods in many cities like…

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…WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS???

This dude James suggested this flavor because there’s a great Greek place in town? How the heck does that make this flavor “Greektown”?? I protest. You couldn’t link the Greektown flavor to Detroit or Baltimore? BS. Sorry James. I’m sure that Greek place is great, but WTH, Lay’s?

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Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips have average calorie content, and nothing too special about the ingredient list – it’s clear that anything special will fall in the “Gyro Seasoning” and “Natural Flavors” category.

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I opened this bag of Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, and definitely smelled ….something. It wasn’t meatiness, per se, but I caught hints of herbs and a when I breathed SUPER deep (like I was hyperventilating into the bag), I DEFINITELY caught that tangy feta smell. But honestly, I think I smelled fried potato chips more than anything. Time to munch.

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I shoved a bunch of these Lay’s Greektown Gyro Kettle Cooked Potato Chips into my mouth and crunched. The first taste I got, it was hard to tell what I was eating. A general savoriness, with some definite creaminess. This was definitely one of those chips I had to eat a bunch with my eyes closed, really trying to focus on the flavor.

The more chips I ate, the more I got the gyro flavor – and pretty acutely, in fact. There was a definitely lamb-flavor on these chips – more chewing made the flavor more recognizable. Like a nice spiced lamb taste. I didn’t think it was super strong, but it was definitely there. On top of that, the creaminess and tang untangled as I tasted more tzatziki and feta cheese flavor. The crunch of the kettle chip was nice. Was there the lettuce, tomato, cucumber flavor? Maybe…I’m sure they were all muddled into the general savoriness of the chip.

The more I crunched, the more I got those three distinct flavors – lamb, tzatziki, feta, lamb, tzatziki, feta. The flavor profile was pretty clear after a few mouthfuls. Tasted like a Gyro? Yes. Successful flavor? Eh…I guess. It didn’t taste bad, but it wasn’t QUITE my favorite. I’d certainly eat them again, but not sure I’d go out of my way to buy them again. Even if I were a gyro lover, this wasn’t enough to make me re-buy, like the Wasabi Ginger.

So….not bad, Lay’s. Decent flavor, questionable geographic assignment.

PURCHASED AT: Walmart, Germantown, MD

COST: $2.48

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy

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Discuss - 27 Comments

  1. Jessica says:

    I don’t see any reason for a woman to be wearing sneakers with a suit either. I’m a hair under 5’3 and the only pair of heels I own are 3″ wedges that are actually quite comfortable and I can wear all day if I wanted to. If heels hurt, wear flats.

    (Having said that, my work uniform is a polo and cargo pants with whatever solid black shoes I choose to wear – which do happen to be sneakers)

  2. Radium says:

    Ha, my cousin is the mayor of Wichita Falls. There’s definitely no Greektown per se there!

  3. Brugtown says:

    I reviewed these the other day too. I ripped on James’s inspirational story as well. All he did was identify what a gyro was and say “I know a random place that sells them.” Lays did a good job with the seasoning, but I don’t want a lamb-ish aftertaste sticking around when I’m done. No repeat buy for me.

  4. Amber says:

    The ones I got were terrible, worst of the four flavors. They were burnt and tasted like an old gyros. I tried the other three and I have to say the Reuben is my favorite. I can taste the rye immediately and the meatyness cheese and sourness really work into what I think it’s the best chip I may ever had.

  5. About 80% eye-to-eye with you here. I got these yesterday and tried them before reading your review to avoid any influence…I had to eat a bunch to start to place the flavor. The gyro seasoning is spot on, that’s pretty easy, there’s not much of a secret to gyro seasoning. I also, after eating a bunch, got some feta-ish…fetish?…flavor. However, as to the lamb, I’m not so sure. I sort of thing the seasoning makes you think you should be tasting lamb gyro, so you do. But that’s all I got…reminiscent of lamb, not really lamb flavor. Unable to pick up any side notes, also think those are just suggested because you expect them to be there. Was most interested in this flavor and will happily finish the bag, don’t know that I’d buy more.

    How can they keep doing this and keep adding a flavor? In a few years they’re just going to have one bag of a bunch of flavors on shelves?

  6. MP says:

    “and, of course, me, your friendly neighborhood JFG.” Starting to wonder about this… 😛
    I’m all for people not dressing like they crawled out of bed or came from the beach while out. But then again, I hate dressing up, I don’t own a suit, tie or dress shoes. I find suits pretentious & if forced to wear one, I’d wear the same one every day.
    “Same brown suit, MP?” “Yup.”
    Maybe JFG needs to start driving to work / avoid public transportation 😛

    • Kahnfucius says:

      Indeed! And then there would be all the great awkward stories of how many cars he should let in who are stuck behind a bus in the right-hand lane. Let’s make this happen.

      None of my dress shoes are as comfortable or breathe as well as my sneakers. So why not wear them if you have far to walk or it’s hot out? Why not wear something that doesn’t get your socks wet when it’s raining and/or no one has shoveled the sidewalks? Definitely caught off base here, JFG.

    • junkfoodguy says:

      @Kahn: No, you pointed out a good exception – when you’re walking home. Good point!

  7. Elisa says:

    I think I’ll get the real thing!

    There’s a Greektown in Chicago–that would be a better choice.

  8. Michael says:

    I always wear Nike’s with slacks. But shoes with a suit. Maybe I should fix my habit, but I feel like most Dr. Probably wear sneakers.

  9. Elizabeth Dahlgren says:

    Whoa…definitely road kill on a chip.I’m putting the whole bag in our chicken kitchen waste bucket, but doubt they will eat it. Did any one actually put a sample in to their mouth before beginning production ? This old lady will definitely NOT be picking up a bag of unknown chips on a whim again.
    I actually had to find something else with which to cleanse my palate after trying the chips. Oh, my…don’t even know what to tell you to do with the unsold bags. Sorry.

    • junkfoodguy says:

      @Elizabeth – no worries! All of our tastebuds are different so I’m not surprised some people hated this flavor. Not my fav, either!

  10. Icedus says:

    Oh hey, I went and found these. I’ve got more to contribute than redundant snark now!

    The flavors were hard for me to identify for a while until I ate something else; then they rebounded off of that and I could legitimately identify the components of what they were going for. Have you tried pairing them with, say, a sandwich? Or your favorite vodka? I recommend both!

  11. Chris says:

    these things are gut grenades, you will taste/burp them all day after you eat them but they are tasty!

  12. Perry says:

    I have no idea what type of gyro this guy ate. I just tried these chips and what they reminded me of was cardboard. Maybe we should rename these cardboard chips. These cardboard chips taste nothing like a gyro. Here’s a idea before there is a invention of a chip why not ask either a Greek person or maybe a Lebanese person. If these chops get any more attention I’m gonna start eating sprites.

  13. Perry says:

    I have no idea what type of gyro this guy ate. I just tried these chips and what they reminded me of was cardboard. Maybe we should rename these cardboard chips. These cardboard chips taste nothing like a gyro. Here’s a idea before there is a invention of a chip why not ask either a Greek person or maybe a Lebanese person. If these chops get any lmore attention I’m gonna start eating doritos.

  14. C. says:

    This was the second flavor of the four in the series, so here is my second review.

    I really liked these. If Lays made these a regular part of its product line, I would by them with some frequency. The chip doesn’t clobber you with huge flavor (as for instance a JACKED Dorito might) but still it was slightly amazing to me the way they nailed the gyro flavor. Pretty near spot on. I could taste the spicy lamb for sure; and ‘ziki sauce; only the veggies were a little hard to make out.

    But this is definitely a pleasurable chip. Mild, but zesty and fun to munch.

    I liked it so much I was ready to nominate it my #1 choice. I figured Lay’s got lucky..because no way would they be able to mimic a Rueben and Souther Gravy was probably gonna be a weak-sister like Truffle.

    Yep. I was ready to slate Gyro Flavor as top chip. A shoe-in. Could not understand how anyone could find it ineffectual or weak. This is some interesting snackin’…

  15. Radium says:

    Oh man, these tasted like gyros one gets from Dumpster diving. Or, what I imagine they’d taste like. I think kettle cooked might not have been the best format for the flavor.

    On the plus side, they made me crave actual gyros, and I ended up getting an awesome date out of it!

  16. Dave says:

    Definitely a disappointment. Mediocre taste; I could pick up the gyro seasonings but there really wasn’t much else there. I love gyros, too. Not these chips, though.

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