The Simple Greek (Restaurant Review)

Imagine a world where fast casual restaurants like Chipotle are giving people e.coli and listeria and restaurants like Subway are serving people yoga mat bread. Why would you want to take a chance and open one? 

Well this is the story of two brothers, Jordan and John Mason, who embarked on this adventure to bring the first and only The Simple Greek restaurant to Raleigh, NC. I had the opporJUNIty to pay them a visit last week to check out what all the hubbub was about and let’s just say I was not disappointed. 

Jordan and John appear to be a dynamic duo who want to take the reigns and set an example of how an establishment should be ran. When I first walked in Jordan was behind the counter helping a customer and answering questions. He was practicing what I always preached, and that’s to lead by example. I find that people learn best by being shown how to do rather than being told what to do. When he freed up he introduced himself and gave me a tour of the place, the restaurant was very clean and organized which is ideal for running service smoothly. We had a chat and that was great but I was hungry and my mouth hole needed a stuffing. 

Let’s get to the good stuff! So the menu had so many options, I’ve never been to Greece so I can’t claim authentic Greek but it all seemed legit. The cans of olives, bottles of olive oil and other things were written in a foreign language that I didn’t understand. As the saying goes, “it was all Greek to me!” So as we are trying to decide what to get I’m just wondering if I’ll be able to stuff my face with everything on the menu. In the end we took Jordan’s advice and guidance and let him give us the royal treatment. We had a lemon rice chicken soup, spanakopita, hummus, grape leaves, the village salad with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, falafel, shaved gyro and so much more!

Perhaps this was not the best idea because he just kept putting things in front of me and my throat was starting to feel used and abused. But I’m gay and not a wimp, I can assure you my mouth and throat have taken worse beatings, I was not ready to give up. After all the delicious food then came time for dessert! 

Y’all should know by now dessert is my thing, and no matter how stuffed I may be there is always room for dessert. So looking at all the dessert options I got as moist as the baklava they have. The baklava was soaked in a sweet syrup and was quite delicious but that’s all basic Greek so let me tell you about more good stuff! Three words: pumpkin spice rizogalo. Rizogalo is a Greek rice pudding it’s thick and creamy and traditionally combined with cinnamon or raisins. On its own it’s delicious but when combined with pumpkin purée and spices the basic white girl in me was squealing with delight. Then came the mother of all desserts! Ok maybe not the mother but at least the distant cousin twice removed...BAKLAVA CHEESECAKE! It’s two amazing desserts combined into one. You have the crunchy buttery bits of phyllo dough, that savory taste of the walnuts and a rich creamy texture from the cheesecake. I mouthgasmed and that concluded the end of my dining experience. 

So with a full belly and trembling legs I sat down to get to know these two guys. Jordan has a passion for helping people and the social aspect from the dining experience while his brother John is the brain behind the finances and business side of things. Together they are the perfect match to successfully run a business. They are not rookies to the restaurant world since John tells me his father had a restaurant and even one of their employees has been working for their dad for years. It’s really cool to see that if you treat your employees respectfully they will stick around for a long time. 

In the end my experience at The Simple Greek was fantastic, the owners are very hospitable, the food is fresh and delicious. The prices are reasonable and you will leave feeling satisfied without the guilt of indulging in fast food for lunch. They are scheduled to have their grand opening on October 5, 2018 so I would highly recommend you guys go try it! 

On my scale from “Yass Gawd to No Ma’am!” I’m giving The Simple Greek a “Yass Queen! She did that!”