Olympic Flame

If you are a new student in Eau Claire and still confused about a local place with affordable prices to fill your stomach and you would like to eat authentic and appetizing food, Olympic Flame is truly an ideal destination for you. It is located on 2920 London Road. My friends Shelby, Taylor, Ben and I had a chance to visit Olympic Flame, eating bona fide Greek food. Even though my initial notion of this restaurant had not been nice, I became interested in this restaurant after hearing about the chef’s stories, as well as experiencing the intertwining features of atmosphere and tasty and healthy food.
Since this was the first time I went to Olympic Flame I was really excited to taste Greek food. However, my first impression of this restaurant was not very positive. The restaurant was relatively quite small-only one long table which would have seated ten people and the other tables were for four or two people. In fact, only two tables were filled by clients when we arrived there. Therefore, I felt the pace of this restaurant was less hectic than other restaurants such as Shanghai Bistro or Tokyo restaurant. This atmosphere became more cheerless and gloomy because of the Greek music. It was supposed to be special and extraordinary since this was the first time I listened to it. Nonetheless, due to a slow melody it seemed to be a sad song, making me feel uninspired, tedious, and unenthusiastic. Another factor that also caused me to be disappointed was limited food offered on the menu. It just consisted of Greek food: Gyros sandwich, Gyros dinner, salads, and baklava beside the classical American food of burgers, hotdogs, and fish and chicken sandwiches. This restricted me to choices of Greek food. As a result of the small place, sad music, and limited number of dishes, my expectations of the restaurant gradually were diminished.
However, chatting with the chef generated back a lot of pleasure and excitement for me. He welcomed me with open and friendly conversation. He expressed to me the secret of how to make gyros stand out. They included their spices and the cooking method. For spices, he expressed that they are garlic and oregano sauces. Also, to demonstrate the cooking method, he used cool and nice gestures about how to cook gyros. It was a great experience to observe a live cooking performance. Our amiable and genial talk was finally continued by the chef’s stories about establishing his restaurant. The story was launched by the desire of a young man strive to seek fortune for himself in a new land. He went overseas to America and began working in a restaurant in Madison where his foundation of cooking was formed. This helped him gain valuable experience in cooking procedures. Therefore, he ventured to open a restaurant himself though there were a lot of intricate tasks and impediment ahead of him. He chose the location in Water Street. Since this area was small his restaurant was moved to London Street, which people have now known and noticed. He also started hiring employees and one of them was his daughter. She was like a representative of the family who could give support as well as cheer- fully helping her father with his nonstop efforts. Although duties were still endless, he continued to search for businesses that provided meat for gyros. This job was both complicated but also crucial because it affected the notoriety achievement. With a lot of effort, he found the company in Chicago that supplies gyros without a delivery payment. It was a good deal and news for his business. Overall, the more we conversed with each other, the more I was interested and admired him for his life story.
Furthermore, I was engrossed by a warm, nice, and dainty atmosphere that Olympic Flame embraced. Even though the room was quite small with sad music, but you would feel comfortable, cozy, and relaxed here because of enthusiastic and sincere wait-staffs. By decorating with yellow, flower- shaped lights and artificial plants, Olympic Flame created peaceful, calm, serene, and natural feelings for me. It is especially suitable for a couple or family who loves nature, does not like to be bothered by others, and enjoys a family or couple atmosphere.
Not only the atmosphere, but also the food, gyros, was authentic. Since I did not have many choices and much experience in choosing food here, I asked a waitress about the menu, posing the question about which food stood out there. With no doubt, she responded to me that it was the gyros. Because I could only eat small portion, she recommended me to opt for the gyros sandwich. Gyros sandwiches are one kind of Greek sandwich which are made of well seasoned beef-lamb, tomatoes, onions in a cucumber and garlic sauce, wrapped in warmed grilled pita bread. With a blend of contrasting colors (black, white, and red) the gyros sandwich seemed to be more scrumptious and tasty. Moreover, this sandwich was a product of unique and special combination: hot-served, flavorsome beef and lamb, a palatable sauce, a strong taste of white onion, and cool veggies.
As I experienced each ingredient, I felt the texture. The meat was soft and tender, veggie was fresh; a sauce was cool and watery, melting in my mouth which was compared to the feeling of taking a shower from a waterfall. Besides the feeling of the food in my mouth, my other sense, my eyes, were somewhat affected. Because of a strong taste of raw onions, my eyes were watery. This gave me new memories of crying while enjoying the appetizing Greek food. On top of the atmosphere, feelings, food combination, and texture was another feature of gyros, which gave me unforgettable memories-nutritional value. Most of the ingredients were fresh and diverse. They retained natural flavors of beef, lamb, garlic, onion, and tomatoes, which provided carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and protein necessary for a healthy body. Therefore, gyros sandwiches are nutritious and wholesome food for your body.
In conclusion, Olympic Flame is a good place for everybody to eat. Despite of not good impression at first glance, the restaurant will give you beautiful memories: interesting stories from the chef; a warm, friendly, and tranquil ambiance; and healthy and flavorful food with low prices ($5-$12). Personally, I like the restaurant and I will come here often when I have free time. Thus, I highly recommend this place for students who really love authentic food at a low cost.