Greek Salads, Greek Restaurants

Not too long ago I stopped into Cafe Caribe a local restaurant serving Spanish, American and Greek food. As a rule of thumb, I try not to eat at places specializing in cross-continental cooking unless they've gotten high praise through word of mouth, but my stomach was growling. Someone could have sat a plate of liver and onions in front of me with a side of cod liver oil to wash it down and I would have happily devoured the meal. It took me a while to order something off the menu. I wanted to be safe. A regular at the place kept telling me how grand the Cuban dishes were, but I opted for the Greek salad. A dish no one can or should mess up even at a Chinese restaurant.

Well to make a long story with mixed dining emotions short, the salad was excellent. Superb! Dressing and all, but what really sold me on the piece was the potato salad hidden under the bed of lettuce and regular toppings found on a Greek salad. I called a couple of friends and told them about the salad and how delicious it was. A few said that was how traditional Greek salads were made, which really sent me in a fritz. How, in all these years could I have not had a traditional Greek salad? Something sounded very wrong in all this considering the restaurant made Spanish, American and Greek food.

After doing a little research, which wasn't really needed, I found out they just dazzled the salad up a bit. I phoned several Greek restaurants in Tarpon Springs, FL which said they add potato salad in the salad only if requested, but this was not the way Greek salads in Greece were made. Go figure.  Pappas' Riverside Restaurant is one example of a place that might know what they're talking about when it comes to Greek foods. Their salad pictured above has potato salad tucked inside, if I'm not mistaken. Mama's Greek Cuisine, another one people seem to like, specializes in old-fashioned hospitality and Greek foods from mama's stove. Lastly, Greek Pizza Kitchen makes traditional Greek pizzas with non-traditional flavors. 

Knowing all this only means I should probably plan a trip to Greece in the near future. In the meantime thanks for hearing out my local dining adventure.

Filed under: Business, Food and Drink