Demetri’s owner Johnny Mehas and his girlfriend, Tiffany Simmons, create traditional Greek food in the restaurant kitchen.

Johnny Mehas is proud of his Greek ancestry. Indeed, his parents’ land is among the oldest nations on earth, and its citizens have developed a hearty and tasty cuisine worthy of that heritage.

Mehas owns and operates Central Oregon’s only Greek restaurant, Demetri’s Greek American Cusina, on Bend’s east side. He’s been there for seven years and has seen the urban neighborhood grow around him.

A native Portlander, Mehas grew up in the restaurant business. His uncles own Greek delis in the Portland area. His mother taught him to cook when he was a child. He embraced her recipes, delighting in the unique flavors: “the herbs, and the way we can incorporate sweet spices into different dishes, especially meat dishes,” Mehas explained.

Greek cuisine, Mehas said, “is very flavorful … but light, never overdone. We use only fresh ingredients and lots of mint, parsley, fresh ground oregano, lemon and an abundance of white pepper. And we love garlic.”

One of Mehas’ favorite dishes is pastitsio, a baked pasta dish of ground beef and lamb, blended with cinnamon and covered with a béchamel sauce. “Who would have thought you could put cinnamon with ground meat?” he asked rhetorically.

That grasp of unique flavors is the reason you’ll want to seek out Demetri’s, despite its awkward, off-the-beaten-path location, a half-block south of U.S. Highway 20 East (Greenwood Avenue). Turn right on Windy Knolls Drive opposite The Forum Shopping Center; you’ll see it on your right, behind the Sterling Savings Bank. No doubt, the dead-end parking access at the end of a one-way-in business trip has deterred some visitors.

“It’s the reason that the numbers are not quite where they should be,” Mehas acknowledged. “If I were to do it over again, I might put (the restaurant) on the west side for financial reasons. But we’re making it and having a good time.”

It’s a family operation all the way. Mehas’ parents, James and Ann Mehas, live in Bend, and Ann makes most of the pastries, including baklava. Tiffany Simmons, Johnny Mehas’ girlfriend, does the lion’s share of cooking, and she’s coached her son, Liam, 9, to prepare his own souvlaki (skewered meat). Johnny’s son, Demetri, 12, after whom the restaurant was named, and his daughter, Isabella, 7, also contribute to the festive spirit.

Indeed, Demetri’s may serve fine food, but the extremely casual atmosphere is not that of a fine-dining restaurant. Family and friends gather to converse at many of the tables, as young children race in and out of the door and chase each other around the chairs. Diners order at the counter and wait for meals to be delivered to their tables. The mood is the Mediterranean family-style dining you’d find in a Greek taverna. (In Greece, the word “taverna” refers to a small neighborhood restaurant or café and does not have the connotation of an American “tavern.”)

The tables are cloaked with cloths of blue and white: the colors of the Greek flag, which hangs against a back wall. On each tabletop, beneath glass, are picture postcards, maps and text passages relating something about Greek culture. Travel posters share wall space with beer signs, and there’s plenty of greenery to go around.

In recent weeks, I’ve come for two lunches and a dinner. My first meal was a traditional gyro (pronounced “yeero”) sandwich, Athens’ answer to an American fast-food hamburger but far more nutritious. Lamb is roasted on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced off and rolled in pita bread with tomatoes, onions and tzatziki sauce. The latter, yogurt-based sauce includes diced cucumbers, onions and garlic. It was a fine meal.

On another occasion, I had Demetri’s Taverna Plate. It was fine, but I had looked forward to spanakopita, a Greek “spinach pie” in phyllo pastry. None were available, unfortunately, so I got three tiropetis, similar, but stuffed with feta (goat cheese), cottage cheese, onions and spices and minus the spinach.

Also on the plate was a horiatiki, or “village salad,” with chunks of cucumber and tomato on a bed of iceberg lettuce, along with sliced red onions, crumbled feta cheese, a half-dozen kalamata olives, pepper and an olive oil-based dressing. Tzatziki, sprinkled with cayenne pepper for an extra kick, was served with slices of pita bread for dipping, as well as chunks of feta and white-cheddar cheese.

But I especially like Demetri’s dinners, especially as the evening specials are always a surprise. On one recent night, Mehas prepared for me a meal of lamb souvlaki.

The marinated meat was skewered with red onions and green bell peppers, cooked medium rare, lightly peppered and served melt-in-my-mouth tender. The meal came with rice pilaf, tzatziki sauce and a village salad.

Demetri’s has a short list of Greek wines and beers. Always willing to try something new, I ordered a glass of Kouros, which Mehas promised would be dry and full-bodied. It was an excellent complement to the lamb.

Nightly specials cover a wide range of recipes. There’s moussaka, an eggplant casserole, and the aforementioned pastitsio. There’s seasoned pork tenderloin and Greek sausage and keftedes (meatballs with mint and oregano). Most days you can get dolmathes, hand-rolled grape leaves stuffed with seasoned ground beef. Prices for full meals top out at $14.25, and that includes a pastry for dessert.

“We are real Greeks cooking real Greek food,” Mehas said. And that should be enough to attract adventuresome diners to his slightly out-of-the-way taverna.

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DEMETRI’S GREEK AMERICAN CUSINA

Location: 425 Windy Knolls Drive, Suite 1, Bend

Hours: Lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday, dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday

Price range: $3.75 to $9; full dinner specials to $14.25

Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa

Children’s menu: Yes

Alcoholic beverages: Wine and beer

Reservations: Not accepted

Contact: 318-0111

SCORECARD

OVERALL: B+

Food: A. Authentic Greek food, light and flavorful, rich with herbs and spices.

Service: B. Order at the counter, then wait patiently, as everything is made from scratch.

Atmosphere: B-. Very casual and family friendly, as befits a Greek-style taverna.

Value: A-. The price is right despite its off-the-beaten-path location.