Dear Diner: Is there any real Greek food in Pierce County?

Welcome to another installment of “Dear Diner,” an advice column in which food writer Kristine Sherred answers your specific questions about the Tacoma-area dining scene and other food-and-drink topics. Submit a question anytime through this form.

Q: Is there any place left to get Greek food in Pierce County? — David, Steilacoom

When It’s Greek To Me closed in 2024 after 35 years in Central Tacoma, David of Steilacoom was far from alone in asking that question.

Owner Jim Wick, who is not himself Greek but formed the restaurant with a Greek chef in the late 1980s, had moved the business from what is now Memo’s Mexican Food at 6th and Sprague across the street, to 1702 6th Ave., in 2012. Balloon Roof Baking Co. officially opened there in March.

Wick, meanwhile, had started a new venture: Bomb Burger, a canary-yellow food truck with roadside-style burgers. He teased that It’s Greek To Me might make an appearance, and now you can order a gyro for $10.99. “Same recipe. Same flavor. Same reason people kept asking us to bring them back,” Bomb Burger wrote on Instagram this spring.

But gyros aren’t exclusively Greek, and the protein we usually see in the U.S. — ground lamb and beef pressed into a cone and roasted on a spit — is not the original choice. It’s actually pork, which inspired the Mexican al pastor, just lamb or in the modern era sometimes chicken. The history of the street-side tradition dates to the 1920s, when war in what is now Turkey forced refugees, including Armenians, into Greece. The process of making the rotisserie was commercialized in the ‘70s; in the U.S., much of the supply of meaty spits originates with large commercial producers and importers of Greek products in Chicago and New York.

Those two metropolitan regions plus Boston are still home to more people of Greek descent than anywhere else in America, followed by pockets in Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. West of the Mississippi River, only Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Nevada clock in the Top 20 states, according to Census Bureau data compiled by Insider Monkey. So it makes sense, perhaps, that traditional Greek food feels rare in Washington, where an estimated 25,000 residents claim Hellenic heritage. Compare that number to the roughly 20,000 believed to live in the Cleveland area alone.

If you’ve traveled to the nation on the Mediterranean Sea, you might rightly feel there is no real option here to recreate a meal you had in Athens, Crete, Corfu or Santorini. You might consider a domestic voyage to Astoria, Queens or Tarpon Springs, Florida, where more than 1 in 10 residents hold Greek history — and 7% reportedly speak the language at home.

Not so Greek, not so full-service

Before researching the scene for this story, I had an immediate sense that there weren’t many — if any — real destinations in Pierce County. There are a couple handfuls of storefronts serving what is loosely defined as “Mediterranean” food, with some that are sort of Greek and others more Persian (The Palace Kebab at Freighthouse Square) or Lebanese (Beirut Bites in University Place). Ikonos Greek Souvlaki in Gig Harbor is now owned by a young man whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Yemen, and he recently opened another location, Gyro Real Kebab, in Parkland.

The menus also tend to feel repetitive, and the model is fast-casual in all but two cases. Only Giorgio’s Greek Cafe in Puyallup and Beirut Bites in University Place offer a sit-down, server-to-your-table experience.

I scoured elsewhere in the region, but the counter-service reality persists in King County with just a few exceptions. And hardly anyone seems to be making their own pita.

I reached out to the team at St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church, which turns 101 this year. For more than 60 years, the parish has hosted the Tacoma Greek Festival, a fundraiser for which volunteers spend months preparing, baking off thousands of traditional Greek pastries. The three-day event also offers savory fare, including souvlaki, loukaniko, loukamades and, yes, gyros. Thousands show up year after year, Greek or not Greek — a testament to the desire for the food (and the Greek wine, beer, dancing and generosity of spirit).

Anthony Panagiotu, a longtime parishioner and active volunteer, confirmed my — and David’s — suspicions.

“Sadly, there are few true Greek restaurants around today,” he told me in an email. (David, the reader who inquired, had also recalled a since-closed restaurant in Lakewood, Greek Cafe at 10924 Bridgeport Way, now home to Birrieria y Mariscos La Cocina.)

“We do see a number of ‘gyro’ type places around, and they are a cross between Greek and more general Mediterranean,” continued Panagiotu. “So, for truly authentic Greek food you almost have to go to someone who is Greek and eat at their home.”

He nodded to the “several fabulous cooks” at the church who pour their hearts into the festival, which will run Oct. 9-11 this year.

“They, of course, are responsible for the authenticity of our festival food, and they take that very seriously,” he said.

He agreed that Giorgio’s would be the only other local source — even his father concurs!

So as to not just list a single restaurant, below is a look at my picks for “Mediterranean” restaurants in the area, with a few bonus entries farther north that were recommended.

Giorgio’s Greek Cafe

• 328 S. Meridian, Puyallup, 253-200-2333, giorgiosgreekcafe.com

What a lovely getaway in downtown Puyallup! As you enter, a cute little round bar with a mosaic facade feels as tight as you might find in the old corners of Europe. The dining room is modern and bright (by day) with simple tables lined with white paper and occasional references on the walls to the homeland. On my recent visit, it was a gorgeous spring day, in between lunch and dinner service, so I sat on the Pioneer Park-side sidewalk patio — a premier move if you can snag a table. Much of the wine list is imported from Greece, although the server said they have had some difficulty keeping them in stock these days due to complications of tariffs and war on imports from Europe and the Middle East.

A pretty platter of dolmades, heartily stuffed with rice and ground sirloin, surprised with a fluffy lemon sauce and a lot of paprika. The supple lamb souvlaki (also available in chicken or beef) paired nicely with the tomato-bathed butter beans, rice with more tomato and a spry green salad with crunchy bell peppers and fresh lemon. Dab in tzatziki, scoop with pita, and try to finish it on your own — at $25, it’s a steal.

For David and others seeking classic dishes, Giorgio’s has moussaka (layered eggplant, potatoes, beef and bechamel), pastitsio (more like a lasagna) and saganaki (breaded and pan-fried chicken with feta, sundried tomatoes, olives, basil and spinach in a cream-tomato sauce — also offered with shrimp in white wine).

Textural housemade hummus, falafel, fried calamari — the steaks sliced in-house, meatballs, pasta and the Doumakis family’s signature hand-tossed pizza (10-inch and 14-inch) completes the well-rounded menu. If you have room for dessert, mainstays include baklava, of course, loukamades and galaktoboureko, a lemon custard cake.

Narrows Gyro

• 6603 6th Ave., Tacoma, 253-503-1674, order.narrowsgyro.com

Narrows is not really Greek, although the logo bears the typical typeface. It’s still one of the best options in town for the umbrella topic at hand — especially the creamy hummus and toum that will have you contemplating all of your life choices until the moment you dipped some pita into this crisp white garlic sauce with lemon, garlic and olive oil. Beyond gyros, falafel, shawarma and shaish tawooq satisfy for sandwiches. Plates also reach past skewered meats into lamb chops, a lamb shank and a mixed grill packed with a little bit of everything. Add tabbouleh and fattosh, a dessert of basbousa (semolina cake soaked in honey) and say yes to a strong Turkish coffee. The interior is modest, but the service is kind. Order online for quick pickup and consider for your next party at home or work — they happily take catering orders and your guests will appreciate you for not getting pizza again.

The Palace Kebab

• Freighthouse Square, 430 E. 25th St., 253-988-0444, thepalacekebab.com

The Palace Kebab has quietly been grilling some of Tacoma’s best spiced meats for a few years at Freighthouse Square — get there while you can! The succulent koobideh skewers (lamb and beef, $20.99) soak into saffron-dotted rice, as do juicy chicken thighs and grilled salmon. Instead of the typical gyro meat found elsewhere, get one of the aforementioned meats or homemade falafel in a pita. Pair with a textural baba ganoush, garlicky hummus made in-house with sesame oil and mast-o moosir (yogurt with shallots). The menu also offers other Persian specialties including ghormeh sabzi (heavily herbed beef stew), vegetarian dolmeh and rose-cardamom tea — best enjoyed in the food court. Order online for quick pickup and inquire for catering.

Beirut Bites

• Marketplace Flats, 3555 Market Place W., University Place, 253-267-5550, beirutbitesnw.com

Like others on my short list, Beirut Bites is not Greek but Middle Eastern — specifically Lebanese, which is why I can’t recommend the $17 tabbouleh here enough. The kitchen must chop 10 bushels of parsley to make each batch — to order, mind you — and mixes with bulgur, tomatoes and red onions, resulting in a version of this salad that so often does not have anywhere near enough parsley to call it tabbouleh. Meat platters ($27-$38) include beef, kafta, lamb chops and tawook all cooked in beef tallow and ghee, generously portioned with rice, salad, pita and housemade hummus. Wraps abound, and you can also snag the lightly breaded and fried chicken escalope or mutabal batenjen (crisped eggplant). They have a sandwich platter to share for $65 (dine-in only) and fresh-squeezed mint lemonade. Order online for pickup and check out their catering spreads.

Ikonos Real Greek Souvlaki & Gyro Real Kabob

• 4920 Point Fosdick Dr., Gig Harbor, 253-449-7350, ikonosrealgreek.com
• 11814 Pacific Ave. S., Tacoma, gyrorealkabob.com

Despite the name, the menu at this counter-service spot next to Met Market weaves around the Mediterranean with gyros, kafta kabab, shawarma and chicken souvlaki (just chicken, no beef or lamb). Wraps are the only things described overtly as “Greek,” including the Ikonos lamb and beef version as well as the chicken, both with tzatziki. Hummus, baba ganouj, falafel and fried cauliflower comprise the veggie options. The Gig Harbor restaurant opened in 2016 but was sold in 2021 to Saeed Saleh, who added a Parkland location, called Gyro Real Kabob, with a larger dining room earlier this year. Call ahead for convenient pickup; order delivery through Grubhub or DoorDash.

Other fast-casual options in the area for Mediterranean include Al Bacha in downtown Tacoma and Gyro Zone and Gyro Bites in University Place. (I prefer Zone over Bites, but the latter is locally famous for 24-hour service.) In terms of full-service, because there aren’t other specifically Greek choices in Pierce County, look farther afield (a.k.a. north to Seattle) for the right occasion.

Seattle-area Greek restaurants

• Mykonos Greek Grill, Green Lake: A full-service halal restaurant with many of the same Greek and Mediterranean staples plus some dishes not seen on other menus such as kolokithakia tiganita (fried zucchini), keftedes (herbacious fried chicken and beef served with orzo) and garides saganaki (pan-seared prawns in tomato sauce with feta).
• Yanni’s Greek Restaurant, Greenwood: Established in 1984 as Lakeside Cafe, Yanni’s — once on Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay — has stuck around in Seattle by keeping it in the family. Find many more variations of Greek specialties here, including saganaki flamed tableside, baked bakaliaros (rolled and baked cod), souvaliki also made with pork, a rotisserie chicken and plenty of mezedes. Drink some ouzo, too!
• Lola, Belltown: Self-described as “celebrating Greek-influenced flavors,” Lola, from chef Tom Douglas, is the contemporary Greek restaurant that apparently doesn’t exist elsewhere in the region — even though it opened in 2004. Start with spreads for the table and mezze on mezze, then dive into a giant-bean shakshuka, shellfish tagine, roasted leg of lamb and kebabs featuring meat from Washington farms, accompanied by Greek spaghetti with blackened butter, saffron couscous and braised chard. Cocktails also lean in with ouzo, limoncello and a baklava-inspired flip with pistachio orgeat and Metaxa, a rose-infused brandy.