Joe Bob’s Thought of the Day: Greek Edition

oh my gosh haha greek salads having pits in the olives? what on Earth!!?? total bummer , i agree. greek food is delicious when its done with love ^_^

Well, since I am Greek and whose family owned a restaurant, I'd be happy to answer these questions....

There used to be an Everest close to me on Central and Arrow Route on the Montclair/Upland border. Been there a few times. The Hat, which is a few blocks north, and Legends are nice regional places as well. I worked nearby both locations at some breakfast/lunch cafe and an Italian place 2 decades ago, respectively.

GeddyLeeRoth

Oh, and next time, The Great Greek it is!! (And Italian when next in the North End!) :)

Thomas Backman

Dear Hall & Holly - THANK YOU! I LOVE learning while I smile - it's the BEST I've felt all day! :)

Thomas Backman

love it! hahaha I think Greeks Wanna be italian and believe they can cook Italian Just as good as the Italians. but being Italian and close to the north end in boston , let me tell you , no greeks cooking in those parts. most greek places that try to pull off cooking italian food are in the suburbs of massachusetts ;)

The Greek diners serve standard American diner fare, but with a few Greek items on the menu. If done right right, a greek restaurant serves nothing but traditional greek food.

The scent of flame broiling really made the Greek burger joints stand apart from the standard fast food franchises. My main go-to was Tops Burger (2 locations in Pasadena) -one of which had an arcade game when I was a youngin’. In the San Gabriel valley, I remember Troy Burger and Everest -which is still going strong.

Buckle up for some serious Colin Robinsoning/Cliff Clavining: the American Greek-owned diners evolved from the Kaffenion -the cafes in Greece where men gather to shoot the shit while taking forever to drink one tiny cup of strong silty coffee (later in the evening the coffee gets switched out for ouzo or wine). When the US had its biggest influx of Greeks (roughly 1900-1920) due to a high demand for foreign labor encouraged by legislation, the first jobs the immigrants got were working in cafes and eateries. While often living with a relative, these Greeks would save their $ while learning the business and eventually open a diner of their own. My great grandparents from Sparta opened a candy store instead -they were the first of their kin to arrive, so they had no connections for a diner job. Spanakopita doesn’t get ordered that much in diners, but it is popular in proper Greek restaurants. The next time you’re in El Lay go to The Great Greek on Ventura Blvd -you’ll not only love the Spano, you’ll love their octopus (well seasoned and soaked in lemon). The waiters speak Spanish because we no longer have big incoming waves of Greeks (the last one was in the 60s) and the labor for those types of jobs is now filled with folks from south of the Rio Grande. The Greek landscape is not suited for lettuce or cabbage, but grapes grow just fine, hence the wrapping material. The grape leaves are primarily filled with rice. Ouzo is not served for the same reason you can’t order any hard liquor in most diners: liquor licenses are too goldurn expensive for the casual dining business model. Yes, paninis are 👁talian, but there are many non-Greek items available in these diners and the west coast burger joints subsequent generations have opened like burritos, tuna melts, fish ‘n chips, and the main giveaway that you’re in a Greek burger joint: the pastrami burger with the avocado option. Yes, Greeks and 👁talians get along ok. Greek diners are sometimes in 👁talian areas because both parties arrived in the US at the same ports at about the same time before neighborhood arrangements had fallen into place. Yes, 👁talians like diners -‘specially the Greek ones.

Ms. Prince, since he had to ask, please let him know I’ve furnished the answers👇👇👇👇

Do Greeks and Italians get along? With everybody but Luigi Montefiori. He hasn't been allowed back since the incident.

I guess what I’m getting at what’s the difference between a Greek Dinner and. Greek Restaurant?

Joshua Sherwood

It is not an Ellay thing. We have a few Greek diners, but back when we had tons of diners, most were American run by doughy white midwesterners.

Moviegique

This must be a L.A. thing 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ I don’t think I’ve seen a Greek Dinner in Arizona. I’m assuming Dinner in the traditional sense. We have Greek restaurants 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ In any case I love Greek food. 😋

Joshua Sherwood

I'm surprised you didn't spell it Eyetalian. Who are you and what have you done with Joe? I'm concerned as an Eyetalian on mom's side. LOL I don't mind Greek Salad as long as the olives have no pits. A local place had one with pits and I was not happy about that. Greeks seem to be more aligned to Mediterranean which I got into just before COVID.

GeddyLeeRoth

I've wondered the same out here in El-Lay at least going back to the 80's, the Greeks had ahold of the mom and pop burger joint market. The classic thousand island dressing flame broiled burger was and still is served in many of these places I notice many Greek owned. And as a kid I wasn't thinking it but made a whole lot of sense later as many had Greek sounding names like The Athenian or have Greek imagery. I'm just a dumb LA kid that played alot of arcade games what do I know? 😋

Hey Joe Bob, Italian Mutant here with 1st generations parents that enjoy a weekly breakfast and, on special occasions, dinner at our favorite Diner in Greenwich, CT, Putnam Restaurant. My dad's go to dinner order there is Chicken Souvlaki. Sometimes we even see Judge Judy getting breakfast there dressed like she's going to a baseball game

Joe Schiro