Day 3: Greektown

This is exactly what Greektown in Chicago looks like. And look who we (Liz and I. Liz is my best friend. Only friend.) met in Greektown:

He was checking out the area for the Chicago 2016 (A.D.) Olympics.

But seriously, Liz and I went to Greektown in Chicago today. For me it was only a 12 minute journey on the number 8 bus North (it should have only been 7 minutes but there was a stupid 5 minute driver change between Roosevelt and Taylor street). It should have taken Liz only 30 minutes to get there using the 151 bus, but Liz is worse at getting around Chicago than I am, and she got off about five stops too early. So, it actually took her 45 minutes to get there... sorry Liz! When we both finally arrived, we ate at the Greek Islands, located at 200 S. Halsted:

The atmosphere was nice, or rather, it was clear that half of our bill was going towards the ambiance, and the food was good, but the service was a tad lethargic. The first thing we ordered was the well-hyped saganaki. Typically, this is a square of cheese that the waiter lights on fire and the entire restaurant shouts "opah!" However, our waiter clearly did not like us, or cheese, and whispered a jaded "opah..." and allowed me to take a quick picture of our flaming cheese:

He asked us if we were tourists... We are not tourists...

Half of the fun of this project is being allowed to order a bunch of different types of food and only feel slightly guilty for charging money to my parents' credit card. So, we ordered dolmades in addition to the saganaki. These are grape leaves wrapped around a mixture of rice, meat, and spices. Unlike in "Rice Meat Wrapped" from my dim sum experience, we are supposed to eat the leaves in this dish:


Liz and I both ordered combination plates. My plate consisted of gyros (pronounced yee-ros) and keftedes. The gyros is on the left, the keftedes are on the right:

Gyros are roasted strips of lamb mixed with beef. "Gyros" comes from the Greek word for "turn" which is sort of interesting because the way gyros is usually cooked is by roasting a huge stump of meat on a spit. The spit then turns to cook all of the meat. So "gyros" = "turn." Usually, the meat is served with onions, tomatos, and tsatsiki sauce, on a piece of pita bread. Here is what gyros should look like:

My meal, however, did not have tomatos or pita bread, and I was a little bit upset. But it did have tsatsiki sauce. Tsatsiki sauce is a yogurt-based sauce that can double as a dip. Usually there is some lemon, garlic, cucumber, and dill mixed into it:

Keftades are beef and lamb meatballs, that were, in this case, served with a tomato-based sauce that was actually delicious. Liz ordered moussaka and spanakopita. Moussaka is on the left, spanakopita is on the right:

Moussaka is a little bit like a noodle-less lasagna, but with eggplant. It is generally layered with lamb on one layer, eggplant on another, cheese on a third, and all of it is covered with tomato sauce. Spanakoptia is a spinach and cheese pie (which is actually what the menu called it, even though the real name for it is "spanakopita"). It is layers of philo dough ("philo" means love in Greek) with layers of spinach, feta and ricota cheese, and usually onions or other seasonings.

Greek Islands was actually very expensive. The bill for the two of us was $48, but now that I think about it, between the two of us, we probably have more than one full entree that we took home. But, they totally cheated me on Diet Coke. A $2.25 order of Diet Coke should offer more than a 6 oz bottle.

We stopped at a smaller, less expensive place called Greektown Gyros to get baklava for dessert:

Baklava is made with layers of philo dough, nuts, and honey and sugar to add sweetness. Baklava at Greektown Gyros was only $1.95 as opposed to the prices at the Greek Islands that would have forced us to empty our entire Gringotts accounts.

I would like to thank Liz for eating with me! *Thank you Liz!* But, tomorrow there will be no update because of the economics AP tests all day, so if you are really upset by this, feel free to call the College Board and complain about how the AP tests are ruining everybody's lives. However, on Friday I will be going to Lakeview and eating at A La Turka with Linnea, so check back then to keep yourself updated on my fascinating gastronomic journey around Chicago. Until then, happy eating!