The Greek Village name can be found on several small restaurants scattered around Baltimore. I'm not sure how they're all related, but the one in Owings Mills is an independent operation.
It sits in the Painters Mill Shopping Center on a busy stretch of Reisterstown Road and promises a small dose of good Greek eating in the far-flung suburbs. Alas, the promise evaporated during a recent visit.
The long menu had little in the way of Greek food but plenty of routine carryout staples -- cheese steaks, cold-cut subs, etc. I'm certainly not opposed to such offerings, but the Greek Village's versions were consistently mediocre.
The Greek Village has a few booths and a video-game machine -- Turbo Poker II -- as well as lots of mirrors. Service was polite and prompt. The cashier apologized that it took so long to prepare our order, although it didn't seem all that long to us.
A vegetable soup ($1.95) was the best of our dishes -- thick with noodles, beans and corn. It lacked a signature taste but was still warm and comforting. Greek salad ($4.95) included a heaping serving of slightly past-its-prime iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions.
For entrees, we tried a sub, a pizza and a gyro. The beef-barbecue sub ($3.99) included thinly sliced meat doused in a thick, mahogany barbecue sauce, served on a sub roll, none of which was particularly memorable. Greek Village advertised "fresh dough" pizza, but our boring, small pie ($2.35) came on a pita bread. The chicken gyro ($4.75) included a pile of raw onions and shredded lettuce smothering a few chunks of chicken. A sprinkling of oregano and other herbs livened things up a bit.
The Greek Village advertises several homemade desserts. We tried the rice pudding ($2.35), a good-sized portion of creamy pudding that was coated with an excessive layer of cinnamon.
The Greek Village opens early on weekdays and serves a limited breakfast menu: eggs, bacon and bagels.
Greek Village
Food: **
Service: ***
Waiting area: ***
Parking: ** 1/2
Where: 10221 Reisterstown Road, Owings Mills
Phone: 410-363-1355 or 410-363-1356
Hours: 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday
Prices: Sandwiches, subs, pizza and platters from $3.99 to $9.95; credit cards accepted
Outstanding: ****; Good: ***; Fair or uneven: **; Poor: *