Los Angeles, CAGyros

A diner-sized family room wedged between a car wash and an apartment block in the shadow of the LAX parking structures, which The Infatuation rates 7.7 and calls excellent Greek food at very low prices. The menu runs long through hot and cold appetizers, and the reviewers' standing order is the Greek salad with lamb gyro piled on top. The juicy lamb souvlaki and the sizzling feta plate are the other two things they reach for.

A family-run counter in a Cherry Avenue strip mall a short drive from the Long Beach airport, squeezed between a sushi bar and a doughnut shop. The Infatuation says the takeout staples are done well and singles out the gyro wraps along with spicy feta dip and Greek salad. The kitchen also turns out rice-stuffed peppers, beef and eggplant moussaka and lemony roasted chicken, and for a table the mezze combo and the Pitaki Apola special are the value orders.

A Greek and Armenian room south of downtown Glendale that has been operating since the 1980s, with marble columns, Greek music over the speaker and a massive flatscreen airing MSNBC. L.A. Weekly's gyro roundup notes you can take the gyro to go or sit down with the plate, which arrives with the usual fixings plus a roasted tomato and pepper that deepen the flavor. The Infatuation adds lentil soup, lule kebabs and lemony stuffed grape leaves, plus the warm flatbread with whipped garlic sauce that starts the meal.

A Ventura Boulevard institution since the 1980s, built for long family dinners with live music. L.A. Weekly's gyro roundup calls it mainly a special-occasion dinner room that also turns out a good gyro at lunch, served on lightly grilled pita with tomato, red onion and bell peppers, and portioned so you leave full. Time Out points to the house-made tabouli, stuffed grape leaves and spanakopita, plus moussaka and chicken kebabs on the large-plate side.

George Loizides opened his first Long Beach cafe decades after running a Greek import store, and The Infatuation prefers this Belmont Shore branch for its painted murals, fake columns and all-day crowd of regulars at the bar. L.A. Weekly describes the gyro as a lamb and beef mixture that is seriously flavorful, topped with tzatziki, diced cucumber, red onion and red bell pepper inside thick chewy pita. Order the flaming saganaki and the lamb chops alongside.