I’ve never been to Greece, but if Mamma Mia! and the game Overwatch have shown me anything, Greek Belly is exactly what I imagined the balmy cradle of democracy to be like.

From outside, the restaurant doesn’t seem like much, wedged next to the Jimmy John’s on Walnut street. But once I stepped inside it almost felt like I was teleported to Greece. The walls are painted a bright white stucco with pale blue accents—the same colors as the national flag of Greece. Grape vines hang from the rafters, giving the restaurant a rustic feel.

My reason for going to Greek Belly was twofold: the first is because I love Greek food (especially good Greek food). The second reason was because it was the birthday of The Mirror’s one and only Maclen Johnson, and both of us had been desperate to try Greek Belly together for months.

We got our meal in three courses: two appetizers, chosen by each of us, entrée, and desert. Johnson chose dolmades, rice wrapped in grape leaves. I personally didn’t care for them, though Johnson loved them. The appetizer that I chose however, Saganaki, was fantastic. Who wouldn’t love fried cheese set on fire at your table and eaten on a slice of pita bread?

For our entrees, Johnson and I both got versions of the classic Greek gyro. For mine I got plain chicken, while Johnson ordered theirs with falafel. For my sandwich I also ordered a special garlic sauce that they have at Greek Belly, which helped compliment the yogurt-y cucumber taste of the tzatziki sauce that already came on the gyro. My only complaint was that the chicken in the wrap was a little dry, though the flavor was still amazing.

For dessert, we rounded out our meal with a marriage of American and Greecian foods: baklava ice cream. If you’ve never had baklava, it’s a crispy, walnut and pistachio filled pastry drenched in honey, commonly made in Greece and the Middle East—and Greek belly has the best baklava I’ve ever eaten in my life. The flavors of the vanilla ice cream, honey, and the baklava all came together for a surprisingly flavorful dessert, though in all honesty I could have used a little more baklava over the ice cream.

Article written by Ryan Smith