It's all Greek ... Temecula restaurant offers authentic food, atmosphere of Greece

By LINDSEY BESECKER - Staff Writer | Thursday, July 31, 2008 1:20 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- Tucked away on Jefferson Avenue in Temecula, The Greek Place is easy to miss ---- but the authentic cuisine makes the restaurant a favorite once it is discovered.

Owner Vassiliki "Vasso" Batzakidou grew up in Hrisoupolis, northern Greece, and cooked her first meal (meatballs with egg, lamb and sauce) when she was 13. She hasn't stopped since.

"There are people who cook because they like to and people who cook because they have to," she said. "I like doing it, and people love eating it."

Batzakidou moved to the U.S. 28 years ago. She had a Greek friend in Idyllwild, so she moved there and, after making hamburgers and french fries for awhile, she transformed a fast-food restaurant to the first Greek Place six years ago, using recipes from her grandmother and mother to make the meals from scratch.

"I'm much happier cooking Greek food than flipping hamburgers," Batzakidou said. "I was just so guilty feeding all those people calories and fat. ... Before you knew it, it was a Greek restaurant."

The first step was to add a Greek salad to her fast-food menu, and customers loved it. One customer kept asking her to cook different Greek dishes, and with the help of word-of-mouth advertising from that customer, Batzakidou was able to turn the restaurant into a Greek eatery.

A few years ago, she decided she wanted to get out of Idyllwild and into a more populated area. She heard about a Greek restaurant in Temecula and drove down a few times, leaving her number with the owner each time to see if she wanted to sell. Eventually, friends in the area told her the restaurant had closed, so Batzakidou contacted the landlord. With a paint job, renovations (both done with the help of Greek people living in the area) and new decorations, The Greek Place opened in Temecula in November, and the Idyllwild location was left for Batzakido's son, Dimitri, to manage.

"I got the cabin fever," she said. "I wanted to see traffic, I wanted to see cars. ... I love it."

The Greek Place offers many traditional meals. The most popular dish is the Chicken Souvlaki Plate (marinated chicken breast on skewers, Greek salad, tzatziki sauce ---- yogurt sauce with cucumber, garlic and dill ---- and pita bread). The appetizer sampler, made up of tzatziki, hummus, dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with rice and dill), fire feta (roasted red peppers mixed with feta), feta cheese with olives and pita bread, is another favorite.

Appetizers cost between $5.95 and $14.95 (for the sampler); pita wraps are $7.95 and $8.95; and dinners are between $12.95 and $18.95. Lunch portions of select dinner items are also available at a lower price.

Pita wraps include chicken souvlaki, falafel, saganaki (a type of cheese that is also available as an appetizer and is set on fire before it is served) and gyros. Of course, Batzakidou has Greek salad on the menu, which can be topped with gyros, falafel, chicken or albacore tuna. A Village Salad with Roma tomatoes, green peppers, red onions, baby cucumber, feta cheese, olives, olive oil and oregano dressing, with pita bread, is also available.

The Greek Place also offers gyros meat, pastitso (thick macaroni, ground beef, bechamel sauce, with Greek salad), Lamb Souvlaki and moussaka (potatoes, ground beef, eggplant, bechamel sauce, with Greek salad) for dinner, which is served after 5 p.m.

Desserts are baklava (filo dough, crushed walnuts, cinnamon and honey), kadaifi (filo, cinnamon, crushed walnuts and Greek vanilla pudding), and Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts, all for $4.95 each.

The decor at The Greek Place is reminiscent of the Greek Isles. The white walls are accented by blue trim and posters and photos of Greece. Some yellow paint and blue-and-white checkered tablecloths, topped with vases of fresh flowers, complete the look. Batzakidou includes books about Greece for interested customers.

On Friday and Saturday nights, a belly dancer comes in for entertainment. Even though belly dancing really isn't a Greek tradition, Batzakidou says many touristy places will offer it in big cities, such as Athens.

"It's not a Greek thing," she said. "But all the Greek restaurants (in the U.S.) have them because people like it, and it's fun."

What: The Greek Place

Where: 27326 Jefferson Ave., Suite 17, Temecula (behind the car wash at the corner of Winchester and Jefferson)

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Prices: Appetizers start at $5.95; lunch starts at $8.85; wraps start at $7.95; dinner starts at $12.95; dessert is $4.95

Phone: (951) 296-5674

For more local restaurants, see our "Let's Go Out!" section, your dining and entertainment guide.