Greek Village of Baltimore
7308 Eastern Ave
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-282-1700
Article & Photos by Allison McAlister
Yes, the restaurants
name is Greek Village, but don't let that fool you. While they serve
up some really delicious authentic Greek dishes, you'll also find
plenty of your American favorites on the menu as well, as my coworkers
and I discovered when we visited for lunch recently. Owners Jimmy
and Yvonne, who opened the restaurant over 30 years ago, treated us
to quite the smorgasbord, so we could sample several of the tasty
offerings on their extensive menu. From traditional Greek fare like
gyros, souvlaki and pastitsio to good old American fried chicken,
steaks, seafood and pasta, Greek Village has something for everyone.
We started our meal with a traditional Greek soup called Avgolemono,
something I had never heard of before. Only one of my coworkers, who
is of Greek descent, was familiar with this lemon, egg and orzo soup.
Warm, rich and lemony, this soup was really very good though different
from any soup I've had before. Unique and flavorful, this one will
warm you right up on a cold day. If you're not quite so adventurous,
the restaurant features five different homemade soups daily, such
as the familiar Maryland Crab, Cream of Crab and Chicken Noodle. Next
came the Greek salad, a delightful mix of fresh salad greens, huge
hunks of feta cheese, not-too-spicy pepperoncini, pitted kalamata
olives and mixed garden vegetables with the house dressing. Superb!
I love Greek salad, as did everyone else at the table. We especially
liked the fact that the olives in the salad were pitted, which just
makes for easier eating. I like this salad so much! one coworker exclaimed,
as she went back for seconds. Then came all the main dishes, and there
were a lot. Let me start with the Greek dishes first. We were brought
out a gyro, made from a combination of beef and lamb, tomato, onion
and tzatziki sauce wrapped in a pita. If you are unfamiliar with tzatziki
sauce, its best described as a white yogurt cucumber sauce. Its absolutely
scrumptious! We also tried the chicken souvlaki and the pork souvlaki,
which are both basically the same as a gyro, but with chicken breast
and pork tenderloin. All three were spectacular! The tender meat combined
with the tomatoes and onions and the awesomely flavorful tzatziki
sauce all rolled into a soft warm pita will have your taste buds rejoicing.
We also had the Spinach Pie, which is baked fresh on the premises.
Its a blend of spinach, onions, eggs, tangy feta cheese and herbs
baked in a flaky phyllo pastry, and its so delicious, even if you're
not a fan of spinach. I don't even like spinach, but I like this!
one of my coworkers revealed. Another traditional Greek food we sampled
was the Pastitsio, also made from scratch. Described as layers of
macaroni with ground beef and topped with a creamy bechamel sauce,
one coworker said it was like lasagna on steroids. We thought we detected
nutmeg, as the dish has a hint of sweetness to it. This one was gobbled
up rather quickly. All of the Greek fare we sampled were very authentic.
One coworker noted, Everything has its own unique, fresh taste. If
you enjoy traditional Greek food, you'll love the Greek dishes here.
But maybe you're not a fan of Greek dishes and that's perfectly fine
too, because Greek Village has you covered. One of their most popular
sellers is their crab cake. After we quickly devoured the two they
brought to our table, we can certainly see why. First of all, we encountered
nary a shell, which is a characteristic of utmost importance in a
crab cake, in our opinion. And second, this crab cake doesn't taste
like your normal, everyday crab cake you'd get from your local seafood
restaurant. There was something different about this crab cake. Yes,
it has pimento in it, we could see that... but it was something else.
Some spice perhaps that gives the crab cake a really nice sweetness.
It was absolutely delicious. When I questioned Yvonne about it, she
was tightlipped. Whatever the secret ingredient may be, it really
makes this crab cake one-of-a-kind. Yum! Greek Village also offers
a huge selection of sandwiches and subs. We tried both the Cheese
Steak and the Italian Cold Cut subs. Both were extremely tasty. One
coworker described the Cheese Steak as awesome, really meaty and the
steak is delicious. The Italian Cold Cut was so flavorful, packed
full of meats and cheese. I even had it leftover the next day and
it was still just as scrumptious. We also sampled something most everyone
enjoys - fried chicken and French fries. The fries were really good,
as they were seasoned which I love. The fried chicken was very tasty
as well. Tastes like good old American fried chicken! one coworker
said. Of course, we couldn't leave without trying a couple of their
desserts - the homemade Rice Pudding and the homemade Bread Pudding
with Bourbon Sauce. Oh my goodness. Both of these sweet treats were
incredibly scrumptious. The rice pudding in all its cold, creamy goodness
was quite yummy. And the bread pudding? Off the hook. One coworker
summed it up best, This is ridiculously good. Actually, that one statement
could describe our whole meal at Greek Village. We were so impressed
we brought back a take-out menu so we can order lunch in the near
future. And I'm taking my family for the mouthwatering gyros they
thought were only available from the street vendors in New York City.
Greek Village of Baltimore is truly a great find! Located at 7308
Eastern Avenue, Greek Village of Baltimore is open Monday - Thursday,
7 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Friday, 7 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 7 a.m.
- 2:30 p.m. Closed on Sundays. In addition to daily specials, breakfast
is served all day. For more information, call 410-282-1700. For this
weeks specials, see their ad on page 29.
