Med Mix

When this place opened a few years ago, I was psyched to see it was going to be a mediterranean restaurant. This neighborhood has some standout eateries, but unfortunately, they tend to fall into the «unhealthy indulgence» category.
Nothing wrong with unhealthy indulgences. Med Mex certainly has a few on their menu (including my favorite pastry of all time, the walnut-​honey-​and-​phyllo calorie bomb known as baklava.) But unless I’m going for a rare treat, I’m always going to look for the fresh and healthy option. If it happens to be fresh, handmade, and subtly infused with flavorful spices, all the better.
Med Mix is conveniently located at Union and 23^rd, close to downtown, Capitol Hill, Madison Park, and most importantly, my house. Unlike some of the other restaurants in the area, it has a large and easily-​accessible parking lot, so it’s a perfect spot for meeting someone for lunch, or grabbing takeout after work or a trip to the beach.
I like the chicken shwarma, which is available as a salad or sandwich. Gyros can also be ordered in the same way. The lentil soup is Greek-​style, which is lighter and has more vegetables than your typical Western recipe. And don’t get me started on the garlicky hummus and fresh pita. Or the baklava, unless that’s all you’re getting for dinner (which isn’t recommended as a rule, but a gal can’t have her baklava and eat it, too).
As of 8÷28÷13, Medi Mix is temporarily closed for business due to a small fire in their storage area (some assholes arsoned the place), but since the kitchen and dining areas weren’t damaged, they plan to reopen soon. And I’ll be there, likely banging on the door, jonesing like crazy from shwarma cravings.

This is a solid neighborhood fast food option. I often call in an order while my son is at swim practice, let them know when I’ll be in to pick it up & it’s ready for me when I pop in.
The food is always fresh, the folks there friendly & the place is never too crowded nor completely empty. I hope they are doing good business there because I’d love for them to stay put!

I’ll admit it. Based on the history of the intersection this place is located at, I was leary to even try this place out. That being said, the delicious gyros have converted me into a now semi-​regular customer.
+The gyro. It’s a hit people. Get one.
+The customer service.
+Prices are fair.
–The location.
–The small environment.
Try it out. It’s solid.

I’ve only been here a handful of times, but something’s been wrong with my order almost every time. Once an under cooked eggplant in sandwich, two others with missing items, and a third I got the wrong thing – a gyro instead of falafel – and didn’t find out until I had walked all the way home. Service is pretty indifferent (but it IS Seattle, after all…) and it isn’t quick.
I do appreciate their extensive menu and I’ve heard good things about the moussaka and baklava but I’ve gotten so «Meh» about going there when it’s suggested that I haven’t tried either yet.
Bottom line: DEFINITELY check your order before you leave and don’t go here if you’re expecting to get in and out quickly.

I had one bad experience with this place and was it a doozie. Kept getting my take out order wrong (three times on the same day). BUT that was about a year ago and I’ve visited a few times in the past couple of months and I’m happy to say I’ll keep going back.
The food has never been an issue — delish! Seems they have new staff and I’m a happy connoisseur of cheap, on-​the-​fly food with different flavors. 4 out of 5 simply because I’m a self-​entitled bitch.

Been wanting to check out Med Mix for a while now. Caught it on MLK day, and was impressed with my falafel wrap. A lot of good food for a good price. The girl at the counter top was less than tops, however.
I do love all the windows, and being on the corner, it’s a great place to watch the world go by!

After my first time here in September, I thought I found a diamond in the rough. The service was fast and friendly, and the food was excellent. I had become a fan of their, at the time special, BBQ Chipotle burger. However, all of my subsequent visits were terrible. I either had to wait 30 – 45 minutes for my meal (during very slow times), the person taking orders was incompetent and rude, or my order wasn’t correct. And mind you, I consistently order the SAME thing each time: a burger with fries.
After my last visit, I didn’t even complete my order and walked out, because the young lady at the front counter argued with me about what I could have or couldn’t have on my burger. Again, it was the same thing I had ordered every other time: Cheeseburger, no mayo, no ketchup, no mustard, with fries and side of BBQ sauce. Not an unreasonable request considering it’s a build your own burger menu.
And on more than one occasion I have witnessed an older man (presumably the owner) grab fries out the fry bowl with his bare hands and stuff his face after touching unsanitary items on the floor. Gross. Plus, it’s totally unprofessional to eat food from the cooking line. Ugh.
Despite the yummy baklava, I’ll never go back to this place again. Too inconsistent, dirty, and for the most part, the staff is rude.

This place serves large amounts of hot, fast Mediteranian goodness – and they don’t skimp on the hot sauce for the gyros. I do feel like the price point is a tiny bit high (by a dollar or dollar fifty per item), but not so bad that it puts me off my feed :)

That’s right. I gave you guys 3 stars. I love you guys, the food is on point, but your customer service, sucks!
And as for you’re cooks. They need to stop talkin and get to cookin. I’m serious. It’s probably the reason why you guys take so damn long.
Have you guys ever heard of the sign ‘Got time to talk, Got time to stock’? So chop chop.
Come on you guys get it together.

After reading all of the three– and four-​star reviews for Med Mix, I felt a little self conscious leaving a five-​star. Am I being too generous? Am I missing something? Then I realized that if we’re being real with ourselves and reviewing this place for what it is, we should probably all be giving it five stars because it’s totally awesome.
I’ve been here a dozen times and every time it’s been a super cute experience. The people who work here are all very cool and nice (especially the super goth manager who I rarely see but am totally in love with), the menu’s huge, the food is of pretty great quality for what you’re ordering, and the prices aren’t out of line.
I love their gyro plate, their chicken strips are delicious and on par with Ezell’s (though no spicy option), and they have a ton of interesting looking desserts. The food takes awhile for what you’re getting — it’s usually about 10 or 15 minutes for an order — but that’s because they make most everything fresh and I’ve never gotten a container of cold food. Also, the new photo menu is mind-​boggling.
Do you live on the Hill or in the CD? Do you wish you had a gyro right now? Med Mix is here for you. You won’t be sorry.

We used all of our lazy saturday energy buying groceries, so on our way home we were brainstorming where to pick up a quick dinner. Hubby was craving a big burger, meanwhile I wanted something lighter. We remembered this spot down the street and decided to give it a go.
The menu is hilarious in the variety of selections. We had the lentil soup, cheese steak sandwich, and two lamb gyro plates. Everything was exactly what I would expect for the price point. It gives you a really great option for a fast food type meal with fresh ingredients and something better than burgers or a chain place.
Comparable to the pioneer square location and it will be a regular neighborhood stop for us!

Heaping portions of delicious Mediterranean food! I highly recommend their shwarma salad with lamb-​beef. And if you can handle it, get their «hella spicy» option (really, that’s the official option). It adds a delicious kick to the salad. I’ve found the chicken option to be a tad dry.
Their gyr-​aco? Fun AND delicious. It’s the perfect combination of gyro and taco — and if you aren’t ready to jump on the bandwagon, they sell them in singles, so you can just try one for $ 2.50.
Their rice, falafel, and gyro were all delicious and because they really don’t hold back on portions, I’ve always had left-​overs, still delicious upon reheating.
Most of their staff are very friendly — but the real treat is their owner (manager?) have you met him? He sports black leather pants, black shirt, long black hair, black eye liner, big rings and black finger nails. If getting delicious mediterranean food from a dead-​ringer for slim version of Ozzy Osbourne doesn’t put a smile on your face, you need to relax a bit more.
If you are in the area and in need of a quick bite, definitely check out this place.

UPDATE: I was recently craving some gyros so I decided to give Med Mix another try. This time the food was great, meat was tender, sauce was excellent, and the wrap had the right mix of meat, veggies, and sauce. Med Mix earns two more stars in my book!
PREVIOUS POST: I was eagerly anticipating the opening of Med Mix in the CD because this neighborhood can use more quality restaurants. Yet, Med Mix has some huge problems. The first warning sign should have been the fact that they try to make too many items. Fried chicken (seriously, only a few blocks from Ezell’s!), gyros, fish & chips, cheesesteak, and many more items clog up a menu that resembles a huge chain sit-​down restaurant. Med Mix would probably make you a bland PB&J, fried rice or steak tartare if you asked. There’s a reason why good restaurants specialize in a certain type of cuisine.
Since they make too many different types of foods, the quality is terrible. We ordered the gyro plate and the cheesesteak sandwich. The staff was nice but there were an awful lot of employees standing around and waiting for two guys to cook all the food. It wasn’t very crowded but the food took a long time to make. The meat in both the gyro plate and the cheesesteak were dry, tough, and tasteless. It seems almost sacrilegious that Med Mix makes a pathetic attempt at the cheesesteak sandwich since they occupy that particular building.
Pass on Med Mix because there are much better restaurants nearby.
Since posting the original review above, I’ve had one gyro from Med Mix because a friend brought one over, although I think it was from the downtown location. It was good, but nothing to rave about. So, it seems that the downtown location cooks much better food.

It’s a great, fun group that works here. The folks running the counter for lunch every day are top-​notch and will brighten your day.
The food is really tasty, inexpensive, and generously portioned. I’ve tried a number of the dishes, and I have yet to try anything that hasn’t been awesome, flavorful, and too much to eat in one sitting.
Additionally, I deeply appreciate that I have the option of ordering things «HELLA HOT,» which means ‘dump a serious amount of chili sauce on this food.‘
If this review doesn’t make it clear, this place probably isn’t for food snobs or for folks who prefer perfection over personality. For the rest of us, we are very lucky to have Med Mix in the Central District.

Service is very nice and cheerful, but their mixed up menu leaves a little to be desired. My party stuck with the Med (since it is called MED mix) and got a gyro plate, a falafel plate, and a chicken & rice.
Everything was served with a smile, but I noticed that they had messed up my kinda spicy and left it no spicy at all! However, the pepper sauce on the other dish that was supposed to be kinda spicy and had gotten the correct treatment — well, that pepper sauce is very tasty! I would have liked it everywhere.
Unlike previous reviewers, the falafel was quite crispy on the outside yet still moist on the outside. I’m a big fan of their hummous, which tasted rather like I remember from the middle east.
The salad was overdressed, and the tsatsiki was tasty but lacked some acidity that would have made it really pop.
Overall ambiance is much like that of any taco bell, skipper’s, or similar semi-​sit down chain.

I heard so much buzz about this place and finally visited last week. First, what kind of cuisine does this place serve? Mediterranean? Gyros? Fish n’ Chips? Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich? Hummus? Fried chicken? Apple Pie?
And on the outside of the restaurant, they claim «fresh» Mediterranean food. What the heck? How do yo have this much different sh*ts on the menu and prepare everything «fresh»? Seriously?
This place is like a mall food court condensed in one place. The tabouleh was probably fresh, but nothing spectacular.

I’ve been waiting excitedly for the last few months for this place to open. I’ve finally gone in a few times, so I feel ok about writing a review.
My first time — Ordered the falafel sandwich. My companion ordered the gyro, no onions. My falafel was mushy and tasted undercooked. I inquired at the counter, and the cook said they use a timer, and this was the way the falfel was intended. I’ve never had falafel that way, and it struck me as odd. I won’t be ordering it again. My companion said her gyro was tasty, but they forgot to exclude the onions.
Second time — I got the Whiz steak. This was a giant, sloppy mess –in a good way. The onion/​pepper/​mushroom mix was tasty and flavorful, and the bread was crispy with body. However, the meat was almost unflavored, and lacked the caramelized edges that bring good flavor and texture to a philly. The Whiz was, Whiz, but without the flavor on the meat, the sandwich was lacking. In retrospect, the crispiness of the bread actually made eating the sandwich more difficult. I had to resort to knife and fork. Something I don’t have to do at Schultzy’s (best Philly in Seattle, since Philadelphia –where Med Mix is now, closed down).
Overall the service has been friendly and welcoming, but I think they could be more professional and detail-​oriented.
I do plan on going back and getting a gyro, which my friend says he eats there 3 times a week and loves. I’ll adjust the rating up if they can nail that one dish. I think they should focus the menu and work on refining the preparation of a smaller number of dishes.

This place is every bit as good as the Mediterranean Mix located on 1^st. The lamb gyros are so tender, flavorful, and delicious… just like the other location. The inside seems cleaner with kind of a coffee bar style bench area by the windows as well as many tables. In addition, it looks like in time the drive through will be consistently open too. As long as the staffing is good, I would expect great things from this place. I love the lamb gyros and if the fries are as good as the other location, I better stay away from them! Delicious…
This area seems to be growing with some nice local businesses with the new Neighbor Lady restaurant/​bar around the corner…

Too many items on their menu to do anything well — they should be doing less and improve the quality
This place has lots of employees — so many they get in each other’s way. But who ever heard of a Mediterranean place where the help doesn’t know how to pronounce «gyro» — it was foreshadowing of what was to come.
I ordered the gyro plate for consumption at the restaurant (not to go), and was offered a choice of rice or fries. I picked rice when it became clear that they didn’t know what greek fries were (fries with a greek herb combination, plus feta).
What I got was greasy gyro meat with tzatziki, and salad drenched in dressing to the point where the lettuce was wilting, all in a to go container, but on a tray rather than in a bag. There was no rice — not sure whether they were out of rice, or just forgot — but they had asked whether I wanted rice or fries, so I did expect to get the rice.
While I had high hopes when I saw how busy this place was, in the end it was more than disappointing. I won’t be going back. Frankly the lines there represent an underserved community starved for fast-​food options, and not a good restaurant.

I really want this place to succeed and this place is a great addition to the neighborhood. I stopped by today for a late lunch, and the inside looks so different from the brief thing that was Beehive Bakery. Even at 2 PM, the parking lot was nearly full, and there was a steady stream of customers. With free WiFi, and seats facing the street, it encourages people to dine in rather than take the food to go.
I had the Gyro plate, which was very, very good and big enough to feed two. It comes with either rice or fries. While I had to go back to the counter since they forgot my fries, they made up for it with an extra large helping. I loved the salty, slightly spicy (paprika?) kick. The gyro was cut in cubes, rather than the thin slices I’m used to, but the flavor and texture was very tasty. I wish they had two pieces of pita bread because there was plenty of food to make two gyro wraps.
To fill my dessert compartment, I had the Baklava, which was actually one of the best I’ve had. LIght and flaky, with just the right mix rose-​water sugar/​syrup and pistachios.
I’ll let some of the minor service issues slide as they’re new and still working out the kinks. (even if you’re not the one who took my order, please at least acknowledge me when I go back to the counter to ask for something else, rather than look up and ignore me)
But I’ll definitely be back again to try the fried chicken and other things on the menu.