What’s the problem When it comes to Greek food here on Long Island, there are a lot of options. There seems to be a little Greek tavern in every town with a stereotypical name and cute decor some family member brought from their house in Greece to decorate the walls on the inside of their tiny little restaurant. The sound of faint Greek music coming from the stereo hidden next to the register creates a murmur across the seating area. Waiters and waitresses ask for orders from menus a meter long filled with so many options customers get confused, so they pick what they know, a gyro. This is a sad reality for most Greek restaurants on Long Island and it is not just Leona Xidas who believes it; it is the community as well. Growing up, Leona remembers spending an hour and a half sitting in traffic on the Long Island Expressway to go get dinner at a beautiful Greek restaurant in Astoria with her family. Here, the smells of Greece tended to come back and the feeling was heartwarming. Sitting down at a restaurant where the waitstaff could correctly pronounce the food and then being served one’s dinner just as if one were in Greece was an amazing experience as a GreekAmerican. But is it worth the time it takes to get there? As a person with an insanely busy schedule, the option of going to Astoria is pretty much decided for her. She wondered if she was alone in this issue or if more people in her Long Island community also felt this way. 33
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