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Greek Deli Express, Farragut West - Chef Kostas Fostieris on 19th and L Streets NW


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I only went there once when I worked in the area (big regret) but remember the line moving very fast and there being A LOT of food for the price. Pretty sure I didn't eat dinner that night after I had lunch there.

Yes, definitely. Usually it was half for lunch (or else I would be in a food coma) and half for dinner. Chicken, orzo and string beans. Oh, those beans....

I don't like salmon, but would order it when catering and folks loved, loved it.

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My friend ordered one of the meatball platters, and he gave me a taste of it. It made me really happy even though it was a little cold. I know where I'm eating next week.

It's usually pre-11am when the first rumblings begin. "It's Friday", someone mentions as an aside, "You know what that means...".

We don't always hold out til noon, since the earlier you go, the less time you wait in line. TGIF, indeed.

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My friend ordered one of the meatball platters, and he gave me a taste of it. It made me really happy even though it was a little cold. I know where I'm eating next week.

I actually prefer the meatballs with white wine sauce that he does as a special on Wednesdays. I'm trying to give them up though, as I'm attempting to limit my caloric binging to the weekends.

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Haven't tried the salmon so can't comment but I highly recommend the Avgolemono soup and his Gyro or Souvlaki. All are superb. His soup is rich, lemony, and loaded with chicken. I love his tzatiki sauce on his Gyro which is loaded with dill. I haven't really been able to find better greek food in DC. Too bad it is only open for lunch.

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Baby Lamb in Wine/Mushroom sauce. Bone-in, fallapart-tender, delicious. Right now it is the only thing in the world that makes any sense. $9.99+tax, and worth every penny (on a bed of pasta, with a side salad and bread)
Sounds great. Is this a special or available everyday? I've only been once, but the gyro platter I had was wonderful.
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Sounds great. Is this a special or available everyday? I've only been once, but the gyro platter I had was wonderful.

It's one of the specials. Not sure if they do it every monday (most of the other specials are weekly), or just sporadically when baby lamb is available.

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Thanks to this, the line was out the door by 11:40 today. Meatloaf was delicious as ever.

Also it's very strange to read something that refers to him as anything other than Kostas. I didn't realize he had a last name, thought it was more of a Prince/Madonna/Kostas thing.

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Thanks to this, the line was out the door by 11:40 today. Meatloaf was delicious as ever.

Also it's very strange to read something that refers to him as anything other than Kostas. I didn't realize he had a last name, thought it was more of a Prince/Madonna/Kostas thing.

Don't you ever read the stuff on the walls while your waiting in line? ;)

Last week he was the proud peacock, telling everyone to check out the Food section next week. Glad to see him getting his due. The lines really can't get any longer, it just means when I go to get my soup at 2:00, he'll more than likely be sold out. :)

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Don't you ever read the stuff on the walls while your waiting in line? ;)

Last week he was the proud peacock, telling everyone to check out the Food section next week. Glad to see him getting his due. The lines really can't get any longer, it just means when I go to get my soup at 2:00, he'll more than likely be sold out. :)

Yea I saw it while we were standing in line. Usually 11:30/11:40 is plenty sufficient to beat the lines, especially since my office window has a direct line-of-sight to the front of the store. We left at 11:35 and there were no people visible outside. By the time we got there, it was 5 deep outside :(

Let me just re-emphasize that the <special> + string beans is the way to go here. Unless you are feeling like a slightly lighter meal, in which case the souvlaki is just delicious.

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Yea I saw it while we were standing in line. Usually 11:30/11:40 is plenty sufficient to beat the lines, especially since my office window has a direct line-of-sight to the front of the store. We left at 11:35 and there were no people visible outside. By the time we got there, it was 5 deep outside ;)

Let me just re-emphasize that the <special> + string beans is the way to go here. Unless you are feeling like a slightly lighter meal, in which case the souvlaki is just delicious.

As is the Spanakopita...

I rarely get out this early, but had to go to the bank anyway. Since when is 11am too early to pick up lunch?! There was someone behind me ordering for several people from his office--2 meatball platters, 2 gyros and a short rib platter. Yikes! Even if you get there early you may have to wait.

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Thanks to this, the line was out the door by 11:40 today. Meatloaf was delicious as ever.

Also it's very strange to read something that refers to him as anything other than Kostas. I didn't realize he had a last name, thought it was more of a Prince/Madonna/Kostas thing.

Prior to the review my rule of thumb was before 12:00 or after 1:30.
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That line did indeed move very fast and good lord nothing anyone said could prepare me for how much food was going to come on the gyro platter... the string beans were excellent, as reported, and my wife enjoyed her Avgolemono (egg, lemon, and chicken soup with orzo) so much that she's on RecipeZaar right now to start making it at home. Imitation, of course, being the sincerest form of flattery and much cheaper than stealing it outright.

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That line did indeed move very fast and good lord nothing anyone said could prepare me for how much food was going to come on the gyro platter... the string beans were excellent, as reported, and my wife enjoyed her Avgolemono (egg, lemon, and chicken soup with orzo) so much that she's on RecipeZaar right now to start making it at home. Imitation, of course, being the sincerest form of flattery and much cheaper than stealing it outright.

Let us know how that goes...I'm addicted to that soup!

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Thinking of Greek Deli for lunch today. Do they take credit cards? There's nothing on their website that I could find.
They most certainly do. (I get a salad there almost every day for lunch and wouldn't be able to do so without my trusty cc!) Let me know if you end up there and I'll come down and say "Hi"

ETA--if you're planning a late lunch, note that he's been running out of hot table items as early as 1:30 this week. (I think he's cut back due to holiday week)

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Had a really good lunch yesterday from Greek Deli. I got the chicken platter which on Thursday was a huge amount of boneless chicken breast pieces - probably 2-2.5 in a white wine sauce, good size mound of string beans (which were cooked almost perfect - impressive for a steam table), potatos (I subed them instead of the usual orzo), a greek side salad, and a big piece of bread. A ridiculous amount of food for $10. I plan on eating the other half today for another full lunch. The chicken was good, but a little dried out (more typical of a steam table). The best part was the amazing potatos - big thick wedges seasoned very nice with herbs and lemony flavor. It was worth the trip just for the potatos (not sure if they were a special or not as I only get there once in a while).

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I still can't find a better gyro in dc

There can't be a better gyro in DC. Fresh dill, scallions, thick yogurt, just the right amount of feta...I try not to use cutesy neologisms like "foodgasm," but if I did, that's exactly how I would describe the gyro at GDE.

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Split Pea and Vegetable Soup today. Long line of ladies at about 11:30 am that is already out the door.

Female Customer: I'd like a vegetarian platter and a split pea soup, please.

Kostas: You vegetarian?

FC: No sir, I am not.

Kostas: Ok! Good! I got some very nice lamb for you!

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Split Pea and Vegetable Soup today. Long line of ladies at about 11:30 am that is already out the door.

Female Customer: I'd like a vegetarian platter and a split pea soup, please.

Kostas: You vegetarian?

FC: No sir, I am not.

Kostas: Ok! Good! I got some very nice lamb for you!

Bahahaha, straight outta "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

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Yesterday was meatball day! Two softball-sized, fluffy meatballs with dill avgolemono sauce, orzo, stewed green beans, and salad. :rolleyes: I love this special almost as much as the roast pork.

I love the regular meatball platter that's always on the menu, but this version sounds stupendous. Mmmm, dill avgolemono sauce....

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All this GDE talk today inspired me to walk the 7 blocks to get some lamb/meatballs/meatloaf. I was very intrigued when I arrived to see a special in the middle of the board called the Kosta-Boli, which is basically the meatball platter wrapped up in pizza-like crust with mushrooms. If you haven't eaten lunch yet and are in the area, go get this. It's awesome. Oh, and ask for extra sauce on the side.

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Kostas, Kostas, Kostas, what have you done? Switching your delicious, moist, yummy white bread for a dry whole wheat impostor. I hope this isn't permanent, for if it is, I will be greatly saddened.

This news might ruin my day :lol:

Also, has anyone noted an inconsistency in the Monday chili special? It's usually fantastic (especially after a couple shakes of Cholula), but last Monday it was mediocre. I should have known something was up when it looked different in the case, but I ordered anyway and was disappointed. I'm not a regular anymore so this was the first time I'd had the chili in a couple months so maybe it has changed permanently? Hopefully not, and maybe it was a result of Kostas not being in the house that day to oversee operations.

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Kostas, Kostas, Kostas, what have you done? Switching your delicious, moist, yummy white bread for a dry whole wheat impostor. I hope this isn't permanent, for if it is, I will be greatly saddened.

It was a sort-of cornbread on Friday, so I'm guessing he's just mixing it up a little. I doubt it's a permanent change, but you could always ask him. I'm not gonna.

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It was a sort-of cornbread on Friday, so I'm guessing he's just mixing it up a little. I doubt it's a permanent change, but you could always ask him. I'm not gonna.

It was whole wheat today. I didn't like it as much as their "normal" white bread, but it wasn't that bad...a bit dry maybe but it had a nice underlying flavor.

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The bread was the normal, wonderful white yesterday. And, the green beans and orzo were also delicious. I had a friend pick up a hot vegetable platter for me, and I was quite surprised by all the steamed whole carrots, potatoes and cabbage covering the beans and orzo, but hey, I didn't really know what to expect. Not that though.

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I was staving at lunch today, so after a quick run through the gym, I knew I wanted Greek Deli. Looks like I missed the whole wheat bread fiasco, the bread is the white kind, and good as ever. I got there well after 1pm, and picked up the Greek Meatball platter. Yum. Orzo great, beans great. And a Mexican Coke to wash it down. Only problem now.... I need a cot under my desk there was so much food.

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I picked up some taramosalata and hummus yesterday from Greek Deli and they didn't taste as good as I remembered. The tarama was more mousse-like (higher dressing to roe ratio) and the hummus had big chunks in it. I hadn't been there for a while. Has anyone else noticed a change?

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While getting what only could be termed a "platter" of homemade Moussaka (a ridiculously cheap $7.99) with orzo, crumbled feta, and meat sauce today at Greek Deli, I noticed that Mezza Luna was closed, and in its place was Via 19.

As between the two places, you made the right choice. Actually, I think that Greek Deli may currently be my favorite "place to eat" in the Washington, DC area (as opposed to "restaurant," which implies more than Greek Deli is). I would also be 35 pounds heavier if I ate there regularly. I know, because I did and I was.

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It's too late for anyone to act on it this year, so I apologize for not posting earlier, but one of the reasons I love this place is Kostas' creativity with his specials. Today he had a Baked Swordfish platter, which he only does once annually and takes a loss on but gets the fish because he uses what he has left over for a dinner that he hosts with his family (which he told the gentleman in front of me in line). Was I happy I strolled in today by chance. The platter was expensive by Greek Deli standards ($16.99), but for your money you got a small Greek salad, bread, orzo, green beans, and what had to be a 3 lb+ piece of perfectly cooked swordfish in a light lemon parsley sauce. The dish was seasoned like something you would get at BlackSalt as opposed to a takeout joint in Dupont, very herbal but not at all salty or overly acidic. Despite it being a huge portion it felt and tasted light, a feat I would not have guessed when I saw him dishing it out for me.

This city could use 20 more weekday lunch options like this one. It never disappoints.

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