Greek restaurants Archives - Good Food St. Louis

Apollonia Greek Restaurant

March 31, 2019

I visit with restaurant owner Behar Mehti, an affable and cordial gentleman, who takes pride in the quality of the food served from his Greek kitchen.

Cyndy and I were driving through Dutchtown near Bevo Mill last week. It was past the noon hour and we were hoping to find a place open on Tuesday—some restaurants in the area are not. In a purely serendipitous moment, we came upon Apollonia.

I Love an Unexpected Discovery

Sensing a new adventure in the making, we went in. The cozy Mediterranean taverna had a small, but colorful bar and about a dozen booths and tables. I immediately had a travel flashback of sitting in a small cafe in the Greek isles years ago, eating Saganaki, the gooey, buttery cheese dish that’s flamed in brandy table side.

Awards from Sauce and River Front Times hung in the entryway to alert the diner of the feast ahead. Even so, I made a quick Google search and found Apollonia in every listing of the top Greek restaurants in the city. My expectations soared!

A Greek Oasis in the Heart of Dutchtown

Our server, Amy, was pleasant and chatty and willing to discuss the features of the various items on the menu. The offering included such classics as gyros, souvlaki, burgers, shish kebab, moussaka, dolmades, spanakopita, eggplant parmesan, avgolemono soup, and chicken picata.

Cyndy went with the tilapia. Being an eggplant aficionado, I headed for the moussaka. But first we indulged in a fine pita platter of baba ganoush, tzatziki, and olives.

I later visited with the owner Behar Mehti. He’s Albanian and a geologist by profession. Behar and his wife and two sons have been here since 1994 and operated the Gravois Avenue restaurant for the past 16 years. Behar said that everything on the menu is made in house, except the pita. The extra effort gives a robust, freshly prepared flavor boost to each dish.

Yes, this is true Mediterranean cuisine prepared and served with gusto—or maybe I should say“Ompah!”

A smear of tzatziki and baba ganoush on wedges of pita awaken the taste buds for the dishes to follow.

Grilled tilapia plate topped with tomatoes, onions and capers in a white wine-garlic-butter sauce alongside grilled vegetables. Awesome, ample and healthy!

A Mediterranean-style salad comes with the entrees.

This tasty Baked Moussaka features layers of eggplant, potatoes, meat sauce, onions and tomatoes, topped with bechamel sauce.

Crema Caramela, a homemade caramel custard, is so smooth it just glides down your throat.

Cyndy removes the cherry from atop the Zupa, a layered yellow cake and walnut dessert.

Apollonia Restaurant. 6836 Gravois Avenue. Bevo/Dutchtown neighborhood. Open Mon-Sat 11a-10p; Sun 11a-9p. Owner: Behar Mehti.

Olympia Taverna & the Big, Fat Greek Gyro

September 24, 2017

It’s been some time since I was in Greece. One of the highlights of my visit was eating in the home of a friend just outside Marathon. Her parents lived in a second-floor apartment in the ancient city. It was supposed to be a stop-by, but when we arrived our group was astonished to see a dining room table laden from corner to corner with food. It was the best meal of our trip!

I’ve enrolled in a Greek History course this fall with Wash U’s Lifelong Learning program, I thought it might be good to get into the spirit of the thing with an authentic meal. Since a return trip to Greece was out of the question, I decided on a meal at the family-run Greek restaurant, Olympia Kebob House and Taverna on McCausland.

Classic styling and Old World charm welcome guests at Olympia. Founder Peter Nicholas came to St. Louis as an immigrant 35 years ago and the place has remained in the family since then.

It was such a pleasant evening, just right for sitting on the patio, but there were no seats available. Indoors we had the choice of a table or booth. I had no sooner slid into my seat, when I felt a warm glow over my shoulder and turned to see the Flaming Cheese being ignited at the next table. The kasseri cheese dish known as saganaki was being flamed in brandy tableside. The show of pyrotechnics caught me off guard. I fumbled for my iPhone camera, but was not quick enough to catch the display.

Greek Comfort Food

With, or without fireworks, the place has a warm and welcoming feel of a neighborhood restaurant, which is one of the reasons it’s been around for the last 35 years. My son and I ran onto several tables of people we knew, which always add to the ambience of an evening.

The menu had every Greek dish on it I could think of—and then some. We ordered the Greek Salad, that was sprinkled nicely with olives, tomatoes and feta and two entrees: Eggplant Parmesan and Moussaka.

Greek Salad

Menu Mirth

Because I’m always looking for humor, wherever it can be found, I was amused by the menu entry for Moussaka. The ground beef-tomato-potato-onion layered dish was described as being, “topped with cheese and béchamel, a light sauce made with butter, cheese, milk and egg.” Now I would never use the word light and moussaka in the same sentence and apologize for doing so now. But any dish with a proper béchamel sauce—as this one had—is best described as glorious. Calories be damned.

Greek Moussaka

Kebob, Rice, and Pita (Photo from Website)

There’s so many reasons to return—and soon. In the interest of my Greek History study, I need to develop a cultural and culinary perspective and there’s so much on the menu to facilitate that. My research will definitely include their highly acclaimed gyros, the Saganaki (flaming cheese), the Mediterranean Combination Platter, and the Tzatziki Sauce with pita along with a hearty: OPA!!

Olympia Kebob House and Taverna, 1543 McCausland. Open: Mon-Wed 11a-10p; Thu-Sat 11a-11p; Sun 11a-9p. Parking: Large parking lot directly across the street.