Openings

What to Eat at Melanthios Greek Char House, Opening Today

John Giannopoulos, the owner of Lakeview’s Melanthios Greek Char House (3116 N. Broadway, 773 360 8572), which opens its doors this evening, isn’t exactly interested in taking the Taxim approach to Greek food, with its genre-blasting preparations and subtle flavor pairings. Instead, he’s wholeheartedly embracing the genre: white-stuccoed walls, flaming saganaki, plenty of moussaka, and lemon everywhere. But this is a far cry from Greektown: Giannopolous is drawing inspiration from his childhood in Southern Greece, so what might read as diner-menu staples are based on classic preparations (look out for a hyper-authentic chicken souvlaki), breads and pastries made in-house (including the fun-to-say galaktobouriko), and weekend roasts of whole pigs and lambs. Bonus: for the time being, it’s BYO.

What to Eat at Melanthios Greek Char House, Opening Today