The Greek Kitchen Now Open in Ellisville

A family of four walked into The Greek Kitchen while we were waiting for our takeout order and owner Lisa Nicholas immediately asked them if they’d been in before.

“Not to the new place,” the dad answered. “But we loved coming here before.”

The strip mall location at Manchester and Clarkson roads—the best-known business still operating there is Chuck E. Cheese’s, although food people probably know it best for the original location of Lukas Liquors—formerly housed “the old place,” Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurant Café Kebab. As of Nov. 1 The Greek Kitchen took over and geographically focused its cuisine on its namesake country.

The menu comprises the usual gang of suspects – gyros or chicken souvlaki pita wraps, pastitsio, spanakopita, moussaka (although not always) and dolmathes. Oh, and chicken wings, which I suppose fit as a nod to democracy. A display case near the register houses a variety of Greek pastries, which Nicholas and her co-owner, Joe Kandel, previously sold wholesale under the name Sinful Creations.

The dining room is predominantly blue, with strategically placed Greek tourism and café pictures interspersed throughout. Kandel (pictured below) cooked our meals in a sort of semi-display sort of way in a kitchen that runs about halfway down one side of the room, partially shielded from view by a five-foot wall.

The food is both well-prepared and affordable. Both the gyros and the chicken souvlaki are sufficiently stuffed with the main protein and complemented with colorful and flavorful vegetables and sauce, $6.95 for a basic sandwich and $8.95 adding a side.

The full entrees – the pastitsio and spanakopita, plus a chicken kebab platter – are $8.95 to $11.95, with the moussaka topping out at $14.95 when available. A meze-style appetizer platter complements the dolmathes with bright white feta, Greek olives, hummus, pita and tzatziki at $9.95 to serve two and $18.95 to serve four.

The dining room seats about 30 with some additional outside seating that’s likely to be irrelevant until next spring. Our takeout order, which we put in on the spot, took about 12 minutes.

Along with St. Louis Taco & Pita Grill and Karma Café, The Greek Kitchen is at least the third restaurant we can think of within about a mile on Manchester Road that does the gyros thing – but all three of them do it well, so there’s more than enough room.