But unquestionably, like an assimilated second-generation immigrant, it has clearly lost some of its ethnic identity. Not all agree that Greektown, as we know it, is dead. You cannot call” a few restaurants a Greektown. “It’s no longer Greektown,” says Nafez Jadallah, owner of the Greektown Grocery store and former owner of the Laikon, a first-rate Greek restaurant that closed this year after the casino bought the building from his landlord for additional parking. Gone too are the coffee shops - except for one hidden above a bar - and the Greek grocery stores that carried foreign-language papers and the crunchy-crusted Greek breads. The Greek residents have vanished, having died or migrated to the suburbs.

Today, there’s Five Guys, a hamburger chain out of Virginia Red Smoke Barbeque Cold Stone Creamery, a chain with outlets in 19 countries a steakhouse sports bars a sprawling casino and only three – yes, three - full-fledged Greek restaurants. YUM! Step outside and take a view of our city’s Greektown district.It was almost as if you needed a passport at one time to come to Greektown in Detroit, the block teeming with Greek restaurants and Greek everything: coffee shops with card players and grocery stores with fresh feta, olives and lamb and Greek-speaking men on the sidewalk, cigarettes dangling from their mouths. Order this appetizer and get ready for your waiter to yell OPA! Then spread the bubbly cheese on pita or bread. Sangria and our little sister’s engagement ring! Greektown is knowing for saganaki. The experience is always unique and fun and really encompasses what Greektown is all about. If you are from out of town Pegasus is a must-try restaurant. The food is delicious and the bread baskets are quickly refilled with yummy bread and butter while you wait for your meals a gigantic plus in our bread-loving italian hearts. On the weekends you can usually expect some kind of wait for dinner but if you are staying at the Greektown Casino or Atheneum hotel on a cold winter night you will appreciate you can get to Pegasus without ever stepping a foot outside. Before the casinos moved in Pegasus was already a well known eatery for people wanting to try authentic Greek cuisine.

I remember visiting here when I was little with my parents and being in awe of the cobblestone walkway indoors. A staple of Greektown’s food scene, Pegasus located in what was formally known as “Trapper’s Ally”.

Greektown casino restaurant