Athena Greek Review

Author and Photographer: Emily Bae

Athena Greek Restaurant is located in Halsted Street of Chicago’s Near West Side community area, commonly referred to as Greektown. It wasn’t always within the bounds of the West Side, however. To give a brief history, Greektown was originally known as Deltaîbut (the Delta). After the Greeks in Chicago started moving up north to Harrison, Blue Island, and Halsted, it acquired its current name. Greektown’s geography has changed dramatically over the past few decades. The construction of the Eisenhower Expressway and the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 60s pushed it further up north.

In 1968, Chicago’s Greektown was the first to introduce gyros and saganaki (flaming cheese) into the United States. From 1970 to 1990, a lot of the Greek restaurants that you see now opened up. Athena Greek also opened in 1997 and the gyro platter and saganaki are two of its signature dishes. For over two decades, this place has served food with preserving authentic Greek culture as its core mission. The moment you step in, Athena Greek gives you the illusion that you’re standing in one of the domes in Santorini. It has an amazing ambience and beautiful decor, especially out on its patio surrounded by walls that are painted blue and white and various majestic patterns. Eating great food and staring in awe at the beautiful Greek-style architecture, I really enjoyed my experience here.

From TripAdvisor

From TripAdvisor

Once you enter Athena Greek, you’ll see huge flames firing up from small pans around the dining room. Don’t worry, it’s not a cooking disaster but a classic performance that all newcomers to Athena Greek have to experience. With a squeeze of lemon juice, the waiters skillfully extinguish the fire and walk away leaving you clueless yet intrigued. Saganaki cheese is a pan fried kasseri cheese, which is made of sheep milk. It comes out as a brick of cheese on a cast-iron skillet and the flames turn the cheese just brown enough to create a layer of crust. At first bite, the cheese is super soft and chewy and the flame does its magic by adding a tiny bit of burnt flavor. Because it’s pan fried, it can taste a bit salty depending on your salt sensitivity. But of course, the performance that comes with the dish is a spectacle to see.

In addition to saganaki cheese, another popular dish, the octapodi, or grilled octopus, is an absolute must-try. Grilled octopus is one of the signature Mediterranean dishes and Athena Greek does not let you down. With a drizzle of lemon juice on top, the chewiness of the octopus and the tangy taste of lemon complement each other perfectly. It’s easy for grilled octopus to be overcooked and have a tough texture that makes you chew like it’s gum but because of the sweet and sour seasoning on top, every bite has a light and savory finish. Personally, this was my favorite dish and it sets a great first impression of your experience here.

Of course, if you go to a Mediterranean restaurant, you can’t miss out on hummus. Their hummus is made of chickpea puree and comes in generous ice-cream sized scoops with brown olives as toppings. As an avid lover of hummus, Athena Greek did not disappoint me. It had less of a buttery flavor than other Mediterranean places and a stronger nutty chickpea taste which made it a perfect complement to the pita bread. Their pita bread dough is not seasoned with any spices or herbs but you can tell it’s been slightly toasted in olive oil, which enhances the nutty chickpea flavor when you smear it with hummus. From the size of the hummus you can tell their serving portions are generous. I’d recommend leaving some of it for later so you can pair it with the main entrees.

After the starters, if you’re looking for a good chunk of meat, I would highly recommend the gyros plate and lamb, two signature menus here. The gyros plate comes with your own choice of meat, onions, tomatoes, pita and tzatziki sauce, which is a Southeast European and Middle Eastern sauce made of salted strained yogurt and a wide array of herbs. The meat is sliced up into thin pieces so you can stuff a few pieces into the pita bread, top it off with onions and tomatoes, and drizzle some tzatziki sauce. Once you pop it in your mouth, you can taste a mixture of the freshness of tomatoes and yogurt as well as the soft and savoriness of the pita bread and meat. Personally, the gyros platter was the highlight of my experience here because that one bite is just magical. Another contender on this menu, however, is the lamb loin chops. Honestly, I would recommend any dish including lamb. I really enjoyed the lamb loin chops because they had generous portions of lamb with potato and rice topped with tomato sauce on the side. Their leg of lamb and braised lamb, which are cooked in the oven, are also two popular dishes. But because the lamb loin chops are broiled instead of baked, they definitely have a softer and more tender texture.

I’m a huge fan of Mediterranean food but this was my first time trying authentic Greek food. If you’re a newcomer to Greek food or just want a taste of that tzatziki sauce that brings you back memories, Athena Greek is your go-to. You can just tell from its ambience and the food presentation that this place has preserved its Mediterranean roots well. When you are looking for a place to go with friends, I would definitely recommend Athena Greek for a genuine Mediterranean-style dining experience with good vibes and great decor.