Bite of Greece

Bite of Greece is a Greek festival at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption on Capitol Hill happening this weekend. I learned about it on the Capitol Hill Seattle blog and thought I should check it out.
This is my first Greek festival in Seattle. There was a very popular Greek festival in SLC that I attended in my college days which was my first introduction to Greek culture and food.
The church is located on 13^th Avenue in between two of the main streets in the area, E John and E Pine. There wasn’t a whole lot of signage as I walked to the church, but you could tell that you were in the right place based on the lively Greek music. I was first apprehensive when I stepped inside since I had not been to a festival like this before in Seattle. But ultimately when I did go in, I found the festival to be friendly and inviting to newcomers.
Perhaps I came at the wrong time, but there wasn’t really much in the way of Greek cultural festivities. It really is all about the food here so if you like Greek cuisine, this is an event you should check out.
The payment system for food and drinks at the event is by token. So you need to exchange your cash for tokens before heading in. $ 20 gets you 20 tokens. I liked the layout of the event as there were plenty of tables to eat inside and outside. And the food booths were nicely spaced out so there were different areas for drinks, entrees, salads/​appetizers and dessert/​coffee. There was even a section of Greek pantry goods.
I tried a number of things. Some familiar, some new. The gyro and spanakopita were as expected delicious. The avgolemono soup was interesting. It is a chicken soup with a lemony taste that is nicely refreshing. Felt the same about the Greek coffee. The coffee is served espresso style with the coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup. Closing out the meal was the baklava which was syrupy sweet and tasty.
If you are looking to try some great Greek food, check out the Bite of Greece this weekend.

This is just the third bite event that this church has hosted. They plan to make it an annual May event. It is very modest compared to St Demitrios’.
The chicken souvlaki was dry, and for $ 6, scrawny. The gyro meat was not tasty at all. The loukoumades saved the day. These fried dough balls soaked with honey were chewy and delicious.
Everyone was friendly and welcoming. I’m sure the food will improve in time.