Terrific Takeout: Greek Eats Inaugural Feature Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Some of the best skewers in Manhattan! Perfect for summer.
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It's not who you know, it's WHOM YOU KNOW and we are thrilled to tell you about Nikos and Gerie Karaiskos, husband and wife team owners behind the hot new spot Greek Eats! This is their first restaurant. Open since November 1, 2015, they celebrate their family recipes with Manhattan and therefore the world as first generation Americans. We understand Gerie's family is from the Greek Islands while Nikos's family is from the mainland of Greece. This neighborhood concept is committed to quality ingredients mostly locally sourced in the tri-state area (Connecticut, best state of the 50, New York, New Jersey.) Peachy Deegan began with the Marouli Salad: Finely chopped crisp romaine dill and scallions with feta and extra virgin olive oil, which they thoughtfully placed on the side. It was perfect and finely chopped.
Here it is smiling at you!
Summer salad is fantastic in August.
Nikos suggested we also try the Greek Salad, which is uber-colorful which is a harbinger of nutrition, particularly this time of year. Fresh seasonal tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, capers, kalamata olives and feta have a celebration in extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. Every component was fresh and delicious, and again, the dressing was thoughtfully placed on the side for the picky one here.
Now the review is going to start becoming bathing-suit dangerous, but you don't have to eat everything all at once and although we like salad always every day as a meal component, we would never order salad as a main course! Never! Peachy is not that kind of girl and we wonder about those that starve themselves on only salad. She is IRISH and therefore an expert on potatoes especially since she once lived in Ireland and ate them there. Potatoes are otherwise known as crisps or chips on the other side of the pond, depending on if you are eating chips or french fries. You are going to absolutely adore the Greek Fries which trump french fries: hand cut and topped with oregano and feta, these will wow you.
Starting at the bottom left going counterclockwise, please meet:
Tzatziki: Classic Greek yogurt spread with cucumber garlic and fresh dill
Melitzanosalata: Smoky roasted eggplant spread with garlic and extra virgin olive oil
Tirokafteri: Spicy Whipped Feta spread with sweet and hot peppers
Hummus: Fresh chickpea tahini with lemon and extra virgin olive oil
Tarama: Salty and creamy carp roe spread with lemon and extra virgin olive oil.
We loved the Tzatziki and the Tarama the most, however, we loved them ALL.
How often do you see the words "we loved them ALL" ever on this website, nevermind in someone's inaugural review? We can't remember the last time either.
Like shoes by Paul Mayer, you cannot have only one. You need to have all the options because the Dip and Eat section is absolutely addictive too.
This is the perfect thing to eat at the beach, by the pool, or while you are watching the Olympics on tv!
We love love love love dill and you see it swimming on top of the Avgolemono Soup. The classic greek chicken soup is smooth and delicious with rice, lemon and egg.
Zucchini Croquettes filled with fresh mint, onion and feta with a mint and lemon yogurt dipping sauce are tremendously flavorful and convincing; Nikos suggested we try them.
He also suggested the Halloumi, and he found all the menu high points that we did not pick in the first place. Grilled Cypriot cheese is topped with Ouzo (that reminds us of our friend Dennis from Rafina which has sadly closed!) and fig marmalade. We are not personally crazy about fig marmalade but if we were, we'd pick this one. The combination of cheese and ouzo is superb! Overall this was the best item that Peachy should have picked out in the first place, and she often does not feel that way about any item she does not pick out in the first place.
Under main eats, you will befriend skewers galore. As you know, someone here is not a fan of lamb so she reveled in the glory of the Chicken and Pork skewers, along with the vegetable. Peachy preferred the Pork and all were fresh and amazing. The chicken is amish and the pork is from the Carolinas. Red onions, yellow and red bell peppers and portobello mushrooms compose the vegetable skewers.
We really love Greek food and wish we could find more of it worth telling you about in Manhattan. Peachy's personal favorite in this cuisine is Spinach Pie! It is made fresh every day at Greek Eats, and you can tell. Fresh spinach, feta, dill and scallions are wrapped like a beautiful present in a flaky fillo crust. It is absolutely sensational!
Finally, we tried the Gyro Pita at Nikos's suggestion: chicken or pork is available and it arrives in style with red onions, chopped tomatoes, dill, parsley and fries with tzatziki sauce. It hits the spot!
The perfect ending to this wonderful new venue is Greek Rice Pudding: creamy rice pudding topped with freshly ground cinnamon proves less is more and quality rules.
Bravo Nikos and Gerie!
Greek Eats is Terrific Takeout and we look forward to seeing what you do next.
