Gardens of Salonica, 19 5th St NE, Minneapolis, 612-378-0611

The Gardens’s signature food item is the "boughatsaTM." These are triangular phyllo pastry pies and can be ordered with a variety of fillings, and are small enough that you can easily sample two or three for lunch. Other items on the menu include a variety of appetizers, some salads, several entrées, including both standard and, for the Twin Cities at any rate, nonstandard fare, pitzasTM, sandwiches, and dessert. (This trademarking of dish names is taking things too far, if you ask me.)

There are many ways to do lunch at Gardens. You can just order some appetizers, making up a combination plate for $7.25. The selections here are vegetarian with the exception of braised octopus in vinaigrette. Recommendations, on an incomplete sampling from several past visits, include the piaz (black-eyed peas, onions, parsley, with olive oil and lemon juice), anginares (artichoke hearts, similarly dressed), puréed fava beans, likewise, and a puréed eggplant dish, melitzana. Although ingredients are quite varied, the preparations are similar, so there’s likely to be a certain sameness to the appetizer combo lunch.

Alternatively, you could go the entrée route, getting a Greek salad or soup in the bargain. Classics available include dolmades or rice-stuffed grape leaves, pastitsio—sort of a Greek lasagna with a béchamel topping—and both ground beef and meatless mousaka. Lamb (organic) is a featured meat and can be had as a roasted, boneless leg with oven-browned potatoes and with orzo (Greek pasta in the form of long grains of rice). Usually one or two of the daily specials, listed on a blackboard in the entrance way, are lamb dishes too; at least one of the specials is a seafood one. If it’s fish you’re seeking, a baked cod entrée is also available. Gardens also offers platters to share, in both small and large sizes, and consisting of an entrée of your choice along with a selection of two from gyros, pork or lamb skewers, chicken breast, and soutzoukaki (seasoned beef links).

The boughatsas and sandwiches round out the meal choices. The latter include the obligatory gyros, souvlaki (broiled chicken breast, lamb, or pork tenderloin), and a very basic vegetarian (tomato and onion). The sandwiches come in pita, dressed in tzatziki, and with crisp, thinly cut Greek fries. Boughatsas also feature on the dessert list, with fillings such as a blend of apricots, cream cheese, honey, and spice. Also included are port-wine-poached figs, a Greek-style rice pudding, and a "baklava sundae." We started by sharing the melitzana, which came with a sufficient quantity of pita bread. The eggplant had been puréed until creamy, and the other, more fibrous ingredients in the purée—parsley, onion, and garlic—bit of a crunch. A refreshing and tasty dish, and Gardens’ pita—which isn’t the thin, dry excuse that you find in some places , but a more breadlike, pocketless variety—facilitates its consumption.

For my main dish I had the lamb with orzo entrée, opting for the Greek salad accompaniment. The salad was adequate, with feta that was too mild for my jaded taste cells, very tired tomato slices, and no peppercini. "Adequate" probably best describes the lamb and orzo too. The orzo was cooked well but it was clumping together and the lamb, although tender, had that "organic" air about it. I ended with a Greek coffee, ordered medium sweet; which was better than adequate. With its wine bar next door, Gardens has an extensive Greek wine selection although we weren’t handed a wine list.

To conclude, if we were grading restaurants on a cuisine-specific curve, Gardens would be way up there. But from a comparative standpoint, the food there is passably good without being special. Overall, Gardens is an enjoyable, friendly, and modestly priced destination for lunch.