The Greek Spot

The first time I went to The Greek Spot I was visiting a friend-of-a-friend who lived in the house next door. I was completely envious of the fact that both a Peruvian chicken place, Chix and The Greek Spot were a mere ten steps away. But maybe there not all that good, I wondered, trying to make the jealousy go away. That night I got a piece of Baklava to enjoy when I got back to the dorm, but it didn’t even make it through the cab ride home. I ripped open the plastic box when I was comfortably seated in the cab and proceeded to crunch through the flaky phyllo and pistachio pastry becoming covered in the honey that slowly dripped out of the box. Next time I was going to be in control.

I found myself back at The Greek Spot last Friday evening, the horribly cold and snow filled night. As I entered the Spot I glanced around the little room filled with old photographs of a Greek island, and I was immediately transported back to a vacation on the island of Ithaki better know as Ithaca, making the brisk evening outside seem like a distant memory. I was probably dreaming a bit more than the average visitor to The Greek Spot who might have not had the opportunity to visit Greece. In reality, the shop is little more than a takeout window over a case filled with feta cheese, olives, cheesecake and baklava. The small waiting room has a case of fountain drinks, a small metal table and a laminated menu taped to a blue door.

Greg, the young owner, was manning the window that night alone in the kitchen save for one employee that was spooning out heaping bowls of tzatziki. I asked him what island the pictures were taken on, “Keflalonia, the city of Fiskardo in the 1950’s” he replied quite delighted that someone had asked. In chatting with him a bit more I learned that his father had grown up in Fiskardo and had emigrated to DC following the Earthquakes in the 1950’s. His father owned a Greek restaurant on Capitol Hill and Greg spent time working and living around the kitchen there. Greg’s restaurant is perfect for my needs, cheap, good and ethnic and when I asked him why there weren’t many places like his around, he responded, “My father told me there were scores of good cheap places before the riots. Then the riots came and decimated this area and only Ben’s Chili Bowl remained.” The riots basically destroyed the cultural landscape of U Street, not only taking down the jazz scene but also devastating thriving cheap restaurants as well. Greg made me believe that without the riots, U Street would have been a college students eating dream. But that’s what Greg has decided to do with The Greek Spot, make good food affordable to those who crave it while keeping his place open till 2 AM Friday and Saturday nights.

The Greek Spot not only offers up standard Greek fare, like custardy pasticho, fresh moussaka, and garlicky tzatziki, but also damn good cheeseburgers and fries. This is the place to go after seeing a show at the 9:30 Club or just cruising around the area. Besides the platters, everything is under $10, and I think the next time I go I’m stocking my mini-fridge with feta, hummus and tzatziki, and then I shall be happy until my next trip.