The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill opens first Portland-area restaurant

Published 11:15 am Friday, November 17, 2023

When Brenda Schmidt decided she wanted to make the transition from surgeon to business owner, she mulled over what type of business she wanted to own.

One that struck her fancy was The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, a fast-casual restaurant featuring Mediterranean favorites.

She said she was invited to come out to Las Vegas, the home of co-founders Nick Della Penna and Trent Jones to give the food a taste. She said she remembers Della Penna bringing out one food item after another.

“That was it. It got me,” she said. “I got to taste almost everything.”

That sealed the deal and she purchased The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill Tigard franchise a short time later at 12280 S.W. Scholls Ferry Road in the Greenway Town Center. It’s only the second of its kind in the state, the other located in Bend.

“I think Oregon’s ready for it,” Schmidt said of bringing Greek and Mediterranean cuisine (along with the help of her daughter, Allea Cook) to the area. “It’s a healthy concept — quality food, everything’s fresh, bold flavors, that sort of thing.”

A Beaverton resident who graduated from Aloha High School, Schmidt spent 12 years in the U.S. Navy as a general surgeon. She most recently worked as a general surgeon in the Portland area before deciding “life is short” and wanted to find a job where she wasn’t working all the time.

That’s when Schmidt decided on the Greek cuisine restaurant where she now works beside her daughter. With the restaurant, she no longer worries about being on call or taking emergency calls in the middle of the night.

Moving on to the food, like many Greek restaurants, gyros (pronounced yee-ros with an emphasis on rolling the “r” if you want to say it correctly) are a patron favorite no matter how you say it. They have beef, lamb or grilled chicken cooked on a vertical rotisserie so once slices of meat are cut off, the next layer is ready to go.

“They’re very filling,” Schmidt said of the gyros.

One of Schmidt’s favorite dishes is the grilled chicken on skewers and classic Greek salad with extra dressing (as well as a little extra tzatziki). She said The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill gives their customers a little bit more by making its own tzatziki (a creamy cucumber yogurt sauce) a little thicker than most folks are accustomed to.

Other popular items include avgolemono soup — a creamy chicken, rice and lemon soup — something Schmidt said is delicious on cold winter nights.

“But then if you’re not in the mood for a healthy meal, we got the Athenian burger. It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s eight ounces so it’s a pretty good size.”

That burger consists of grilled certified Angus Beef with chopped lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, tzatziki and feta cheese.

Then there are feta fries, an especially crisp side of fries with a layer of feta cheese and special seasoning all melted under a broiler.

“We’ve got a little bit of everything for everyone,” said Schmidt.

While she oversees the entire operation, “I like to spend time in the back on the line with the cooks because that’s really where all the action is happening,” Schmidt said.

And like anyone in the restaurant business, she admits to doing a lot of kitchen prep work and dishwashing.

The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill does catering as well, having recently filled an order for build-your-own chicken gyros for a party of 20 people, Schmidt said.