My hunger for campus food is often initiated by a single dining location. Every time I walk past the giant windows of this restaurant and peer at the beautiful offerings of pastries and the sights of people munching falafels, I become weak.

So, naturally, when choosing a location for the FINAL GYRO GAUNTLET, I went with the tried and true.

 I went with Buckeye Donuts.

But before getting to the gyro, let me tell you a story.

When I was a freshman, young and naïve, I made it a point to seek out like-souls. Fortunately, I didn’t need to look far. My roommate was pretty much my exact replica. We originally bonded over Lego Star Wars on his computer, where we would play sharing a keyboard and try to see who could get more ‘studs’ (moneys). Obviously, I dominated.

Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to have a roommate that is two parts geek and one part runner, and before I knew that my roommate and I would be writing post-apocalyptic screenplays, running marathons and traveling across the nation/world together, we needed to start somewhere.

That launch pad was Buckeye Donuts.

Food, it seems, creates bonds stronger than jelly filling. And one late night, my roommate and I made our way to the 24/7 campus staple that is Buckeye Donuts. His brother had gone to OSU, and so he knew all about the glazed circles of warmth that melt like Wicked Witches+water in your mouth. I was from the area (Upper Arlington is a hop-skip-and-a-jump from campus) and had occasionally had a late night donut at the spot while still in high school.

Our first bonding experience was a shared love of donuts. Because at Buckeye, when you buy 4, you get one donut free. So naturally we bought five and had eaten them before making it back to our residence hall. 2.5 each. Under ten minutes.

And a wonderful friendship was begun.

So, when appraising campus gyros, I knew that I could not skip this spot of particular sentimentality. I have had Buckeye Gyros before, last autumn I spent much of my quarter sitting in the window there and reading theological texts while eating the delights. But, the GYRO GAUNTLET was particularly sensitive to past affiliations, and so I will stick stricktly to the gyro itself.

I picked up my gyro yesterday on the way home from an English class. I waited inside while they cooked it up in the open kitchen, casually chewing on a pumpkin spice donut and sipping my coffee while waiting. It cost $5.49 for the gyro combo meal (a special, down from $6). This puts Buckeye Donuts in the lower half of the GYRO GAUNTLET price range.

I left the spot after getting my gyro, unwilling to let the atmosphere affect my opinion of the food. I instead brought it back to my house where I ate it at my desk, reading for class.

The gyro was good, but the portions were a bit on the heavy side. There was more meat than I would have liked and I couldn’t seem to put my finger on the sauce. But the French fries were perfection, and I really enjoyed the option offered of coffee instead of soda.

In general, Buckeye Donuts makes a great Americanized gyro. It certainly isn’t as authentic as Ali Baba’s Shwarma, but it definitely hits the spot.  Plus, I just really like Buckeye Donuts.

So, I have eaten at four gyro spots on campus, and have sampled their various fares. While several (probably dozen) gyro locations are still around the High Street area, my budget and taste buds aren’t going to be able to handle more. Sorry, Charlie.

• In general, the idea summarized by this series is:
  ·      Gyros are good, but varied.
  ·      High Street has many dining options
  ·      I have many weird adventure/tangents when eating gyros.
  ·      I am no food critic.

And, of course, the round up:

·      Ali Baba’s is the most authentic.
·      Falafel and Gyro House is the cheapest.
·      Pita Pit is not for me.
·      Buckeye Donuts is the all-around.

So: listen up. I hope you have enjoyed the gyro sampling. I will now move into various other and unexpected blog entries. I just hope it doesn’t involve me eating gyros for some time.

-Andrew