Hours: Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Cuisine: Greek! Gyros, hummus, meat shish-ka-bob, salads, soup, Greek spaghetti, seafood, lamb, pizza.
Scene: Casual, limited seating in cozy quarters. Kid-friendly, well-lit, open kitchen.

It's Greek To Me on South Meridian at Puyallup's Pioneer Park Pavilion opened in the fall of 2010 in the space previously occupied by From the Bayou.  It's owned by the same folks behind the casual drive-thru/take-out Greek restaurant of the same name in Tacoma. They offer approachable, affordable Greek cuisine in a kid-friendly atmosphere that has tables covered in large sheets of paper perfect for impromptu crayon art. For adults, a tiny full-service bar area offers a secluded place to wait for a table in the cozy dining room overlooking the open kitchen.

Tzatziki compliments everything, even meat. Usually we just can't get past the appearance of ground and pressed gyro meat, but add some tzatziki - not too salty, nicely spread - and things improve for us.  Lightly toasted pita triangles smeared with tzatziki, loaded up with tomato and white onion slices, pieces of lettuce, feta crumbles and that meat does make for a good gyro. Generous portions of mousaka and pastitsio occupy opposite sides of the platter. Resembling layered lasagna, both have béchamel - a rich custardy cheese sauce - and ground sirloin in spiced tomato sauce. Where mousaka has layers of eggplant and potato, pastitsio has mezzani noodles. 

Dolmades, grape leaves stuffed with rice and seasoned ground sirloin, had a seriously flavorful lemon sauce over top. Green beans represented the only fresh vegetable.

The Greek Village salad had all of the traditional veggies of cucumber, tomato, onion and green bell peppers laid atop a bed of shredded romaine and iceberg lettuce. Sprinkled feta cheese was accented by drizzled house-made dressing of olive oil, vinegar, spices and herbs. Love that dressing.

We opted for the meatballs over flaming cheese saganaki appetizer. What a treat! Four hand-formed meatballs as big as nectarines came in a boat dish with marinara and a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. Pita triangles sopped up the herbed red sauce nicely.

Retsina wine in all its pine-y glory or even a nice, clear pinot gris if Pine-Sol doesn't do it for you, sets Greek food off beautifully. There's a full bar for beers and cocktails, too. Opa!