Recently, I have tried the new place out on 17th and Wanamaker called Manny’s. Featur- ing Greek cuisine, pasta and burgers, Manny’s includes a dine-in or a car-hop experience. ThefirsttimeIdinedin and the second time I tried the car-hop. Inside is pretty small though, with only three to four booths, four window seats and a small bar- like area.

The place was busy both times I went, and the people working did a good job serving ev- eryone. It wasn’t fast – I waited a couple minutes to be served – but only had to wait seven to 10 minutes for my food, and they were busy the whole time. The first timeIvisited,Iordered the cheeseburger and French fries, the second time I got the gyro and onion rings.

The French fries are the thick restaurant-style kind and can be ordered plain or with seasoning – I ordered plain. The second time I went, I ordered the onion rings and would recommend those over fries, every time. The onion rings were crispy and traveled well, unlike the fries that were soggy by the time I got home. Even when I ordered them the firsttime,whenIdined in, they weren’t that memorable – just basic French fries. The burg- er was pretty tasty, but was a basic cheeseburg- er. Good but there are much better things on the menu than a boring cheeseburger and fries.

What really stood out to me was the gyro. If you don’t like meat, they offer the veggie gyro, too, but the meat was the best part. It’s usually a combination of lamb and beef and Man- ny’s has cone-style gyro meat, which means it isn’t the frozen, already sliced meat. It’s on a huge spit that rotates and they cut the meat off in strips. The tzatziki sauce was tangy and garlicky with a robust cucumber flavor, (tzatziki is a cu- cumber sauce) and they  added plenty to the sandwich so it wasn’t dry like some gyros I have tried in the past. They give you a choice of grilled or raw onions, I chose grilled, of course – I don’t like raw on- ions. The pita bread was grilled, but soft and held up nicely to the hot meat and sauce. It comes with lettuce, tomato and feta cheese. Instead of crum- bling the feta on top, they place a cube of feta for you to crumble your- self. I like this because you can control how much cheese you want, and it doesn’t get lost in the tzatziki sauce, which is a whitish color and has chunks of cucum- bers in it.

Everything tasted homemade, and I know for a fact they make their baklava from scratch. This is another thing I look forward to trying when I go back in the near future.

For a look at their menu and to see what others are saying about Manny’s, check out their Facebook page at https://www.face- book.com/pages/Man- nys/544025782274259. I am looking forward to returning and trying their souvlaki dinner, which is like skewered chunks of meat and veg- etables and it looks like they have chicken in the dish.