Business & Tech
The Vlahakis Family Dishes Up a Greek Feast
Opened in March at Dundee and Pfingsten roads, new restaurant Greek Feast is already packing 'em in.
When Georgie V's Pancake House owner George Vlahakis decided to get back to his Greek roots and open a restaurant with sons Peter and Ted Vlahakis, the idea was to serve up fresh and reasonably priced classic dishes quickly. Greek Feast, at 2784 Dundee Rd., does just that, with an upscale glass-and-wood atmosphere and counter-order table-delivery service.
Opened March 15, the restaurant was packed on the Thursday night I visited, including many happy repeat customers enjoying generous portions and reasonable prices. A small but interesting selection of beers is available, along with red, rosé and white house Greek wines that are perfectly quaffable for their $4-a-glass price.
The open dining room was furnished with dark wooden booths and tables, including some long, high-topped sharing tables that made my 6 feet 4 inch boyfriend happy. Two large flat-screen televisions hung unobtrusively far above eye level, mutely broadcasting ESPN.
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We ordered from a cheerful teenage girl, and were sent with our drinks and a flag-on-the-table number to find seats. Though it arrived within five minutes, the food was somewhat uneven, with notable hits and misses. A generous brick of pastichio ($9) (the menu says to think of it as Greek lasagna) was excellent, with a deep layer of beef and tomato macaroni drizzled with béchamel and nestled under a comforter of fluffy mashed potatoes. The Greek sausage ($6 as a side, $9 as a dinner) had an excellent char while staying moist and fennely-flavorful inside.
When I expressed surprise that the menu included a fried cod sandwich ($5.29), I was told it was breaded in house and so I ordered it. The fish was thick, flaky and moist and the pita held a surprise: a thin layer of skordalia (potato, garlic and olive oil puree) in addition to the fresh lettuce and perfectly ripe tomatoes. It was one of the best fish sandwiches I've had in quite a while.
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The two items we tried with phyllo—the spanakopita ($4.50) and the baklava ($2.50)—were memorable versions tilted more heavily toward the fillings than most. The large rectangle of spanakopita had a light and crispy exterior encasing moist. dense filling happily punctuated by mint in addition to the spinach, onions and feta. The baklava, rather than having many crispy layers of phyllo, came with a top and bottom crust surrounding a thick layer of spiced nuts and honey. The result was delicious, if a bit heavy.
Other items were less successful. The combo plate ($8.29), which came with an excellent lettuce-tomato-cuke-feta Greek salad and toasted pita bread, featured a generous pile of unremarkable sliced gyro meat and a nicely charred and seasoned but sadly dry skewer of chicken. The three-dip appetizer platter we ordered ($9) had huge ice-cream scoops of good, thick tzatziki, average-at-best hummus and a dyed bright-pink version of taramosalata that was almost devoid of carp roe and thus of flavor. My dining companion was right on when he said, "it looks like strawberry ice cream." It didn't taste like much of anything. Another of my Greek favorites, the avgolemono soup ($3) was chicken-gravy-textured and under-lemoned, but came in an impressively huge bowl considering the price.
Overall, the atmosphere was upscale, the service was friendly and quick, and Northbrook regulars should have no trouble finding some favorites on the menu to keep them coming back. The smallish lot may make parking difficult at peak hours.
Greek Feast is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 2784 West Dundee Rd. A menu and further information can be found at www.thegreekfeast.com.