Athenian Restaurant opens today in north Midland

The Baldounis family will serve up a lesson in Greek with the soft opening of their Athenian Restaurant today in north Midland.

With a menu full of Mediterranean staples such as tzatziki-filled gyros and skewered meats, the fine-dining restaurant hopes to bring something new to the Tall City.

Everything is homemade. Everything is done from scratch, said co-owner Tina Baldounis, who grew up eating the food cooked by her native Greek parents. Just try it.

The family owned a similar eatery in Fairbanks, Alaska, in the early 2000s.

After saving money and buying kitchen equipment for the past two years, Baldounis who also has a full-time job at an oilfield services company committed to opening a restaurant to give back to her parents.

This is for them, she said during a tour last Friday. This is for my parents.

A number of construction and equipment issues delayed the opening of Athenian Restaurant, which is located in the northeastern part of the Colonnade at Polo Park shopping center at 4610 N. Garfield St. Suite B11.

The doors will open today, but just for dinner and with limited hours 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekends she said.

A limited menu will be available as Baldounis hunts down servers and hard-to-find ingredients. Athenian Restaurant is also in the process of obtaining a city beer and wine permit.

I just hope everyone is patient with us, she said, noting theres room for than 100 fine diners in the main room and bar area.

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Athenian Restaurant opens today in north Midland