Dom Brown
Photography & Social Media Editor
Greek Stone Grill is a new restaurant in town that owner Ahmed “Mo” Almaliky opened Tuesday, Nov 14. Located at 2401 W. Central Street, the restaurant serves a mixture of American, Greek, Italian and primarily Mediterranean food. They have a large assortment of food including entrees like chicken cavatappi and curry, sandwiches such as burgers and gyros, appetizers like hummus and crab cakes and salads like the classic fattouch.
On Central Street there are primarily pizza joints, fast food burger restaurants and a few Chinese places, so to have the ability to try something new was a breath of fresh air for the otherwise non-changing El Dorado (apart from the re-opening of the QuikTrip post remodel). Sitting on the south side of Central, there are two entry drives to the park, one of which is an annoyingly steep drive at the east end of the parking lot. Apart from the driveway, Greek Stone Grill is in an excellent location to cater to the community as well as the college.
Entering the restaurant, you are greeted warmly by the hostess and are either brought to the front to pick up an order or directed to respective dining areas. The menu is the perfect size. It isn’t cram packed with dozens of items and it isn’t skimpy, maintaining the perfect medium of comfortably browsing through the entrees.
On my first visit I ordered the chicken cavatappi, a pasta dish with sautéed chicken, onions and mushrooms tossed in a garlic alfredo sauce and their gyro with a side of garlic bread. The chicken cavatappi was a good dish. The noodles were perfect, not too chewy but didn’t dissolve as soon as you touched them. The chicken was sautéed perfectly. I did wish that the sauce was a little thicker. However, it maintained excellent flavor. Where the meal really shined was the gyro. The beef tips were delicious, the pita bread tasted fresh and the tahini sauce was perfectly paired with the lettuce, sumac seasoned onions and tomatoes. Apart from the excellent tasting food, the restaurant has great prices most averaging between $8 and $11.
Overall the Greek Stone Grill is a fresh breath to the cuisine in El Dorado and is sure to be a location to frequent. The hours of the restaurant are Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
