Photo by Timothy-Czerniakowski
Apollo Café Exterior
Apollo Café on Brady Street
How does a restaurant survive for 25 years? In March, Apollo Café marked a quarter-century on a busy East Side thoroughfare, Brady Street, that has seen many changes this century. However, Apollo has changed little over the years and is now an anchor on Brady—a neighborhood gathering place and a destination for anyone hungry for Eastern Mediterranean dishes in an unpretentious setting.
The ambiance is pleasing with a style of its own. Named for the Greek sun god, Apollo’s exterior is decorated with solar bas reliefs; inside, the solar design is worked into the floor and tabletops. The high ceiling, painted sky blue and flecked with white clouds, gives the compact space an airy dimension. One wall is padded for comfortable seating. Order at the tiled counter and be prepared for generous portions well prepared and attractively served.
The Hellenic modern aesthetic of the family-owned restaurant extends to the menu. The appetizers and sides ($5-$10) mingles American bar food (mozzarella sticks, cheese fries) with Old World mezze such as tiropita (feta wrapped in filo) and saganaki (flaming cheese). The Greek fries served in a brimming basket is a Greco-American fusion smothered in oregano and feta.
Traditional Greek avgolemono (egg lemon and rice) soup is available, along with daily soup specials ($5-$6) chalked on the blackboard. Salads ($10-$16) combine feta and olives with various ingredients (and can be topped with grilled chicken).
Gyros ($10-$14)? Of course. But the sandwich list ($10-$12) is more extensive and includes chicken, beef and tuna souvlaki; a veggie pita; falafel on pita; and the Apollo burger with feta, onion, lettuce and tomato, along with other burger selections. Add $4 for choice of fries or pilaf.
Entrees ($15-$20) involve all major food groups. Ground beef fills the mighty stuffed green pepper drizzled with tomato sauce and is laced through the pastitsio and moussaka. The half Athenian chicken is broiled tender with herbs and lemon juice. There is even lamb shank with pilaf.
Whether you’re vegetarian or not, Apollo’s veggie sampler ($17) offers a delicious way to explore many of the café’s offerings. As colorful as it is tasty, the sampler includes a half dozen cubes of snowy feta, a half dozen black olives, two grape leaves stuffed with herbed rice with a lemon slice, two crunchy brown felafel balls and a half dozen toasted pita wedges for dipping into the creamy hummus washed golden with olive oil.
Desserts are usually available, including baklava and flan, and can be accompanied by mint lemonade or highly caffeinated Greek coffee. There is a short list of domestic and imported beer and Greek wine.
With spring underway, Apollo will set tables and chairs on the patio. But whether indoors or out, the café affords patrons the leisure for good conversation or a place to sit and watch as the Brady Street traffic rushes past.
Apollo Café
- 1310 E. Brady Street
- (414) 272-2233
- ApolloCafe.com
- Reservations: No
- Handicap accessible: yes
- $-$$
