Tréla Greek Kitchen and Taverna in Portland: First Look

On Friday afternoon I stopped by Tréla Greek Kitchen and Taverna at the invitation of Napoleon Tzakis, to have a look-see at the dining room and learn additional details about the restaurant.

Tréla Greek Kitchen and Taverna: Some Updates

Napoleon told me they’ve been working very hard to get this place up and running for the holidays after they got through Portland’s permit gauntlet. And while there used to be four men behind the restaurant, now there are only two—brothers Anthony and Napoleon Tzakis. Their sister Katerina joins them and will manage the front-of-house; Anthony is working the kitchen; Napoleon is managing everything else.

Bouzouki and bagpipe — Bagpipe and bouzouki.

The dining room is beautiful, with lots of blues and browns (this is my favorite color combination, so I am biased), plus a copper-topped bar. The dining room has the bar area on the west side of the room; there are a series of booths in the middle; and sets of tables and chairs just past a partition.

Toward the front (the north side) they have some seating, but they can remove it to make space for live music. They’ve done a couple friends & family/soft opening events this past week, and on Thursday they had a band playing Greek music for five hours.

Yaya’s

Adjacent to Tréla will be a little cafe called Yaya’s, with a separate street entrance. They will offer Greek sweets/pastries and Greek coffee drinks—think frappe, freddo, and the like. Eventually they will produce the pastries there that will be served at Tréla.

They hope to open this later in January. Look for them to open around 9am or 10am in the mornings during business hours.

The Menu

In my opinion, it’s a pretty solid food menu containing a lot of classics. It includes, but is not limited to:

Mezze: Dips include tzatziki, hummus, scordalia, and my favorite tyrokafteri. Then you’ve got your saganaki, loukaniko (a kind of sausage—they are using Olympia Provisions now but are looking at importing a version from Greece), and phyllo-wrapped feta.
Salads: horiatiki and riganada .
Street food: souvlaki and gyros.
Mains: gigantes (large beans), pastitsio, lavraki (sea bass), and paidakia (lamb chops).
Sides: lemon potatoes and pita.
Desserts: baklava and galaktabouriko.

I asked about the absence of octopus on the menu, something that was a constant on taverna menus in my old neighborhood. Anthony told me that he wants to incorporate it into the menu, but will wait until the spring for that.

As for drinks, they have created cocktails using Greek spirits like Metaxa, Ouzo, Tsipouro, and Mastiha. You can also get these on their own. They have a couple of mocktails on the menu, too.

Look for wines—red, white, rosé, sparkling—from Greece. And yes, they are carrying Mythos beer. I drank many bottles of this Greek beer at tavernas over the years. You can find the full menus on the Tréla website: Dinner, Drinks, Dessert.

Dining Room Photos

Here are some more photos from the dining room. Click to enlarge.

Front corner seating. — The front corner.

There’s also some nice seating by the bar.

Lounging — Table seating next to the bar.

Even the Bathroom Is Beautiful

The bathrooms have beautiful wallpaper. And stalls not split up by gender.

It’s been very satisfying being able to follow this story from when I first heard about it in 2021 to the opening of the restaurant in 2024. And as an eater and a fan of Greek food, I can’t wait to try what they have to offer. See you soon, Tréla!

Tréla Kitchen & Taverna [projected opening 2023]
6000 NE Glisan Street, Portland
Tréla website | Instagram | Facebook
Hours: 4pm to 8pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays. 4pm to 10pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Closed Tuesdays.