Best Greek
Athens on Fourth
READERS' AND STAFF PICK: Athens on Fourth serves better food than you're likely to find in Greece. Everything--from a simple spinach in filo pie, the spanakopita, to the arni kokkinisto, "reddened" lamb shoulder that cooks for hours and often sells out for dinner--is done by owners Andreas and Helen Delfakis with good taste and infinite care. Inside, the walls are painted Aegean white, with just touch of red. White table linen offsets the cherrywood tables and chairs, and the honey-walnut colors of the parquet floors and wall paneling. They make a good place to set specials like shrimp in a light tomato sauce over pasta, garnished with fragrant kalamata olives. There's also gyro stin pita, the rotisserie broiled spiced, ground lamb and beef combination served with fresh tomato, red onion and a tzatziki sauce of finely sliced and de-seeded cucumber in yogurt and a bit of sour cream. For dessert, have rice pudding, tasting of cinnamon and sweetened, thick cream, or rich cake flavored with brandy. Add a cup of strong, sweet Greek coffee on the patio under a starlit sky, and you might think you were in the Greek Isles.
500 N. Fourth Ave.READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Olive Tree Restaurant, 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road.
