YO Pops!

Saturday, Jenny and I ventured to yet another famed LA culinary institution, Papa Cristos.

Papa Cristos is hailed as being THE Greek restaurant in LA. Located on the corner of Pico and Normandy in the midst of Korea town, Cristos and a Greek church across the street are the only remnants of what I assume used to be a substantial Greek neighborhood.

The place is divided into one room that holds a grocery store, deli, and take-out/order in station, and another room that is a large simple dining area. The store has an array of honey, wine, canned goods in addition to the deli which sells a yummy assortment of olives, ouzo, meats, and whatever else you need to get your Mediterranean on.

At the ordering station, Jenny and I ordered the Lamb Chops, Souvlaki, and Spanakopita. We decided to order a glass (plastic) of wine with our dishes. The cashier happily let us sample all the wines available and it was a tough choice, for none of them were terribly good. Best to buy a bottle in the shop probably.

So we sat ourselves down in the dining room, which felt sort of like a warehouse that had been painted white and filled with white and blue table clothed tables. Not the most glamorous of spaces, but ambience isn't what this place promises. Except of course on Thursdays, which is when, this place goes family style and belly dancers get the party started.

Oh which reminds me, the place closes at 8 so get there early and be sure to have a light lunch before hand.

So Jenny got a giant serving of three monster lamb chops and I a nice skewer of marinated lamb. Both served with the ubiquitous Greek salad and roasted potatoes. Both the meats were super flavorful. I'd have to say the lamb chops, although fatty, were the stand out. The dishes also came with super fresh fluffy Pita and an insanely delicious Tzaziki. I think I could simply eat the combination of Pita and Tzaziki and be perfectly satiated. The yogurt and dill sauce was thick and incredibly rich, unlike the runny stuff I buy from Trader Joes. With all of this, I don't think either of us gave much consideration to the Spanakopita. I'm sure it was good though.

The clientele was an incredible melting pot of class, age, and race. An elderly bunch, clearly regulars, sat next to us. One man getting up time-to-time returning with a handful of wine samples (tricky). Both small and large groups dotted the room with heads dipped down into their plates. The plates, by the way, are plastic as well as the silverware, which kinda makes for tricky eating at times.We arrived just before 6 and the place definitely filled up just after we sat down.

We finished our meal, and although the desserts looked fantastic (baklava with custard...drool) we managed to hold ourselves back, knowing we'd return to sample the octopus, marinated mushrooms, Greek sausage, and anything else we could stuff down our faces.

Dinner plates average around 9bucks. Thursday dinners are 18dollars but as mentioned before are served family style and come with a host of different appetizers.

So get your big fat Greek ass down to Papa Cristos and enjoy yourself. And call Jenny and I when you do and we'll meat up with you.