Yia Yia Nikki's — Restaurant in La Grande

I don’t know how this place has such good reviews, but maybe I ordered the wrong thing. Or maybe La Grande is a food desert. The salad was good, and my partner ordered the chicken shawarma salad, which did have good flavor. However, I ordered the spanakopita, which was complete garbage. I’ve never had spanakopita like that. It was greasy (a layer of oil about a quarter inch thick), so I had to remove it from its cardboard boat. Pretty sure it had tofu in it, which I don’t believe is traditional. Bland and greasy overall. Wrong texture. I grew up in a community with a large Greek population, and I don’t know if maybe I have higher expectations...

This place is a tiny drive up spot in the middle of nowhere with THE BEST GREEK FOOD I've ever had. It is better than any greek I've had in a major city. When we went we were on a road trip and actually had to wait quite a while for the food (I think there were a few kitchen staff issues at the time), but the woman owner more than made up for it by her kindness and bringing us extra delicious things to try. Her home made baklava was to die for and I usually don't even like that dessert. This is the real deal at a place small enough to keep it authentic. Don't miss out when you're...

It's only the most basic and least intimidating of Greek/Mediterranean offerings, and I'm not sure why they also offer and emphasize "American food" as well when that's what 99.5% of the valley offers in the first place (lose the chicken strips-- the area is already Chicken Strip Hell). The gyro meat is the same ol' beef/lamb combo meat that nearly every other place serving gyros offers as well (it'd be nice to get a straight lamb gyro one of these days). But for a valley entrenched in such a "steak and potatoes" culture, this cuisine seems downright revolutionary and should...