It's Greek To Me
Where: 328 South Meridian, Puyallup, 253.200.2333
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.
Drinkies: Full bar with Greek wines, micro beers on tap, an array of liquor. Pink lemonade, strawberry lemonade and other standard non-alcoholic beverages.
Prices: $4-$21

ANNOUNCER: It's Greek To Me on South Meridian at Puyallup's Pioneer Park Pavilion opened several months ago 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.

JAKE: The Sixth Avenue location in Tacoma just doesn't do it for me ... I'm thrilled to have an actual sit-down It's Greek To Me. As mentioned in previous reviews, we're huge fans of sampler platters and combo plates for both the variety and the freedom from making decisions. Bring on the Greek Combo For Two.

JASON: The large round platter is covered in food emitting a tantalizing scent all its own. House-made tzatziki sauce, with sour cream, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and cucumber, goes wonderful with salty feta, sautéed scallions and spinach in baked spanakopita - a savory turnover. Golden phyllo dough sends my carb cravings through the roof.

JAKE: Tzatziki compliments everything, even meat. Usually I 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 me.  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. 

JASON: I'm with you on the pressed meat; it's not really my fave. I prefer the actual chunks of grilled beef and lamb in the souvlaki appetizer. The tender meat slid right off wooden skewers and went for a swim in tzatziki before I scooped the delicious rice pilaf onto the fork, too. Cooked in chicken stock and seasoning, white rice takes on a yellow hue, has a hint of mint and gets a spoonful of marinara across the top once on the plate. It's the only time I'm OK with marinara on rice instead of pasta. And the mint! I love the subtle mint in the rice. 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.

JAKE: As if the Greek Combo didn't have enough on it, we added soup and salad. Avgolemono is a soup made of white rice, bits of chicken, fresh lemon juice and chicken broth. It's high on my comfort food scale. 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.

JASON: On another visit, 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.

JAKE: I've long held the belief that kalamata olives are power-nuggets of pungent, tasty flavor. The gyro plate incorporated these, the spiced ground pressed lamb and beef, tzatziki, feta, tomatoes and onions. A pile of toasted pita begged to be gobbled up. A side of rice pilaf and an oven cooked potato as big as a softball had a thin herbed tomato sauce over it. This also goes on my comfort food list.

JASON: Bah bah black sheep, have you any lamb chops? Yes, indeed, and they were a swift ride to Tasty Town. The herb blend and marinade were heavy on the rosemary. The four chops were quite small bringing to mind a recent disappointing lamb dish at Stanley & Seafort's. I wonder if all the lamb left in the world are tiny specimens with tiny chops?

JAKE: 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!