Greek Cusina
404 SW
Washington St., 224-2288
"People have
the power!"
--Patti
Smith
GENTLE READERS,
Many of Miss Dish's loyal subscribers
will recall that a few weeks ago she questioned the validity
of the Zagat restaurant surveys because they could be so
easily toyed with (Miss Dish herself received no fewer than
five ballots).
One restaurateur was particularly moved to write Miss Dish
a three-page letter ALL IN CAPS. Ted Papas, owner of the
Downtown Greek Cusina, let Miss Dish know in no uncertain
terms that she was full of feta. "I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR
25 YEARS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO SUCH AN ARTICLE
AS YOURS...," began the bold missive. Mr. Papas went on
to let Miss D know that his restaurant had been in business
for 25 years and had grown from two employees to 75 employees.
"LET'S JUST SAY THE GREEK CUSINA WILL NOT BE PHASED OUT
(LIKE SOME OF YOUR PAST CHOSEN 'BEST RESTAURANTS OF THE
YEAR' FOR PORTLAND, LIKE ZEFIROS FOR EXAMPLE)."
Then, in an enormously generous gesture, Mr. Papas added,
"WE NEVER CLAIMED TO BE THE BEST RESTAURANT. IN FACT, ATTACHED
IS A LETTER WE JUST RECEIVED FROM AN UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER
OF OURS." (Click here to see the
letter in its entirety. The complainant, a Portland resident,
tells a long story of woe about how "I just walked away
from your establishment last night feeling insulted and
a bit taken advantage of.") Mr. Papas helpfully highlighted
a few lines in this gentleman's letter wherein he notes
that "the food was fresh, hot and excellent," even though
he had to wait about two hours to get it.
Mr. Papas' point, it seemed, was that "AS AN EDITOR OF
A WELL-READ PUBLICATION SUCH AS YOURS THAT YOU HAVE FAILED
TO RECOGNIZE OUR SUCCESS THROUGH THE VOTE OF THE PEOPLE....YOU
HAVE INSULTED OUR THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS WHO YEAR AFTER
YEAR POST READING YOUR RESTAURANT GUIDE EXPRESS THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT
THAT THE GREEK CUSINA HAS NEVER BEEN INCLUDED IN YOUR BALLOT."
The graphically gifted Mr. Papas then kindly created his
own voting ballot to determine whether Miss Dish could keep
her job at this fine newspaper (click here
to read full contents of this letter and the lovely "dump
Miss Dish" ballot).
Miss Dish, clearly swayed by the amount of thought, labor
and CAPITALS that went into Mr. Papas' communiqué,
decided that perhaps she had been hasty in believing
that the opinions of critics schooled in culinary arts and
letters should take precedence over regular eaters (although,
really, her original point was that the problem with Zagat
is possible voter fraud). In the hopes of making things
kosher between herself and the proprietor of the Greek Cusina
(and to--for heaven's sake!--keep her post as a writer at
this exciting weekly), Miss Dish decided to involve The
People.
She sent her lovely new intern Joshua Cinelli (whose experience
in the food world is limited to his days as a waiter) to
the street to gather up some people to dine at the GC and
offer their views; WW picked up the tab.
The first duo to try out the well-established restaurant
was Mary Cruickshank, a 42-year-old office manager, and
April Kingston, a 21-year-old receptionist. Both women noted
on our "Diners Speak Out on the Greek Cusina" sheet (hit
our website to see the filled-out forms) that they had never
eaten in a Greek restaurant before. Ms. Kingston rated her
meal "very good" and wrote in "very tasty." She circled
"yes," she would come here again and wrote in "Definitely!"
next to that question. Ms. Cruickshank also rated her meal
"very good" and circled that the service was "fantastic."
She wrote in that the GC "needs some newer decor, but pleasant
surroundings." She circled "yes" for the question about
whether she would come here again and wrote in, "Would love
to be taken to lunch again by Willamette Week!"
Our next two diners were gentlemen who make their homes
on the street. Greg Kroell is a 41-year-old publisher-promoter
looking for work, and Daniel A. Belleque is a 27-year-old
entrepreneur. Both had eaten at Greek restaurants before.
Josh noted that even though both men had a certain road-weariness
to them, they were treated with the utmost respect by the
waitstaff at GC.
Mr. Belleque rated his overall meal average and circled
"so-so" on the food but circled that the service was "very
good." He wrote in this comment: "I've had a better gyro
at Sat. Market." When asked if he would come here again,
he circled "maybe" and wrote in "for beer and atmosphere!"
Mr. Kroell also gave his meal an overall "average" rating
and noted that "maybe" he would come again.
Finally, our intern, who had the pleasure of eating two
lunches back-to-back, rated the overall meal as "very good,"
although he wrote in, "The food was decidedly mediocre.
The French fries were soft and the pita soggy. The portions
were plentiful, however."
...And
the supplementary material.
Letter from Ted Papas
Letter to Ted Papas from unsatisfied
customer
Results of the WWeek survey
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