Best Budget Bites: $8.99 Gyro From Ali Baba’s King of Gyros

The cost of things these days? Far too expensive! Tariffs, rent prices, giddy price gouging from proprietors large and small—the boring factors are too numerous to count. To protect our readers, Racket launched the Best Budget Bites series, where we’ll showcase a toothsome, wallet-friendly food item that’ll actually fill you up. Have a nomination? Hit us up: tips@racketmn.com.

What: Gyro
Where: Ali Baba's King of Gyros, 1264 S. Robert St., West St. Paul
Availability: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sun.

Folks, we love ginning up suburban foodstuff wars, don't we? With the Roast Beef Sandwich War settled, we turn to the mighty trio of non-chain gyro joints duking it out in the 'burbs: Bloomington's Gyropolis, St. Louis Park's Ariana Kabob & Gyro Bistro, and West St. Paul's Ali Baba's King of Gyros.

Turns out economics made this an unfair fight, at least from a Best Budget Bites perspective. Gyropolis ($10.95) and Ariana ($10.25) both exceed our ironclad $10 BBB price threshold (ope-a!), thus, we hauled ass over to West St. Paul to sample the only contender that qualified.

A neighborhood fixture since 1997, Ali Baba's King of Gyros evokes an attempted chain that, for whatever reason, never expanded beyond its humble footprint along Robert Street. It still feels like the Clinton era inside the signage-splashed interior, where on Tuesday afternoon we discovered an empty bakery case and just two other diners. (Interestingly, fried Kaufhold’s cheese curds from Ellsworth, Wisconsin, are heavily promoted on posters throughout the Greek/Lebanese shop.) Service was friendly and prompt; the young man who took my order raced back to the kitchen to assemble my gyro and hand deliver it—"Enjoy, boss!"

And that's exactly what I did... as soon as I Math Lady meme'd my way around the logistics. The standard Ali Baba gyro—slices of lightly seasoned beef/lamb hybrid, crisp lettuce, passable tomato, onion, and runny tzatziki tucked between warm 'n' fluffy pita—is enormous. The photo above doesn't do it justice, but once you hoist and fold this thing, there's a two-inch-deep reservoir of meat pilings. My napkin count exceeded seven as grease and sauce funneled out of the pita.

Fresh and hot, the unfussy gyro didn't dazzle in any particular area, though the parts summing the whole satisfied. It wouldn't surprise me if the chopped veggies came from a bag, but they hadn't limpened in the process. The protein came from your standard-issue twirling industrial gyro meat pillar, but it had been hand-shaved to order. The prepackaged pita could've been served cold, but griddle marks testified to the grilling that unlocked its puffiness.

Ali Baba isn't serving destination gyros, if such a thing exists. It's offering jumbo, fresh-to-order comfort food that competes, price-wise, with the McDonald's across the street. It looks and tastes like the gyro emoji (🥙), and that's not a bad thing. If you're bopping around West St. Paul and hungry for lunch, you could do a helluva worse. Speaking of: World Famous Momo, located one block south, is apparently fantastic. Rules are rules, however, and its $13 momo platters don't adhere to BBB's.

Oh, yeah! And another thing: Let's give it up for the jacked and welcoming Ali Baba cartoon mascot, undisputed king of our rigidly defined Suburban Gyro Wars.

BBB Hall of Fame

• $6 Ham ‘n’ Cheese Croissant From Heather’s
• $5 Bánh Mì From iPho by Saigon
• $5.50 Chicken Sandwich From Logan’s
• $1.25 Colossal Cinnamon Roll Doughnuts From Cub
• $9 Chicken Shish Taouk Sandwich From Ed's Deli
• $1.99 Corn Dog From Kowalski's
• $8.75 Egg Sandwich From Sun Street Breads
• $3.50 Tamales From La Loma
• $6.50 Breakfast Burrito From Lito’s Burritos
• $5.49 Roast Beef Sandwich From Wally's
• $7.50 ‘Mini’ Tacos Dorados From Mi Mexico Querido
• $9.99 Pasty From Milda’s Cafe
• $4.50 Slice and a Pop From Fast Eddie's Pizza
• $9 Cheesy B From Band Box Diner
• $6.99 Roast Beef Sandwich From Kevan's Penn Lake Roast Beef
• $5.80 Cheeseburger from Lions Tap
• $6 'Big Slice' From Lucca Pizzeria
• $8.75 Olive Burger From Sandy's Tavern
• $8.11 'Specialty Sandwiches' From Nelson Cheese & Deli
• $9.49 Chicken Sandwich From Zakia Deli
• $1 Veggie Samosas From Pooja Grocers
• $4 Shower Oranges From Aldi
• $8.79 Bacon 3 Cheesesteak From Charleys Cheesesteaks
• $9.95 Pad Thai From Jasmine Thai
• $9.99 Roast Beef Sandwich From Maverick's Real Roast Beef
• $3.75 Happy Hour Tacos From Pizza Luce Duluth
• $8.99 Gyro From Ali Baba's King of Gyros