The 5 best things our food writers ate this week

Christos has been serving Greek food on Eat Street since 1988, one of so many restaurants cooking up the cuisine of immigrants on the densely packed culinary corridor, steps from Alex Pretti’s memorial. The colorful dining room, with parking out back, has enough room to handle large groups, and a highly shareable menu to match. (The table next to us ordered the Iliad sampler for two, which came piled up with a downright heroic amount of food.)

My kid and I kept our order smaller, but we still wound up with more than we could handle: a dip sampler (love that it’s described as “a garlic blast”); flaming tableside saganaki cheese, which reminded us of when we ordered bananas foster during a recent trip to New Orleans, only much more savory; a “lighter fare” chicken kebab with rice and soup that keeps the portion size and price in check.

Our favorite, though, was the spanakopita appetizer ($11.45). This neat bundle of phyllo, shockingly crisp, comes stuffed with a warm and oozy center of spinach and feta, classic as can be and so satisfying.

All in, our bill was about $65 before tip, with plenty to take home. Nearly four decades in, Christos still knows how to keep us well fed. (Sharyn Jackson)

2632 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls., christos.com

There are many things to like about the food coming out of this south suburban strip mall spot. First, the menu offers a range of vegetarian options alongside meat-based dishes. As with their food truck, which can be spotted at farmers markets throughout the season, momos are the star. However, exclusive to this brick-and-mortar location is the option to add curries and sauces that can be ladled over the momos.

What’s also nice is that there are five varieties (beef, chicken, pork, vegetable/cabbage or potato) to choose from, and you can mix and match as well as opt for gluten-free. We delighted in assembling our own sampler (eight pieces, $14) and highly recommend the basil-laced chicken momos, which were wonderfully fragrant. The potato dumplings, comforting and warming with hints of garam masala and turmeric, were another standout.

5113 W. 98th St., Bloomington, amazingmomo.us

We have curiosity and a pizza craving to thank for our stop at this suburban strip-mall joint. We’ve driven by it countless times since it opened in 2009, and on our debut visit found cozy, casual vibes that teetered on dive bar (there are pulltabs!).

The specialty pizza menu is long and creative. Mac and cheese with a hot dog add-on, spaghetti and meatballs, Tater Tot hot dish — and Pauly’s pot roast. A hand-tossed crust is topped with a Sunday dinner trifecta: creamy house-made mashed potatoes, shredded yet tender pot roast and grated carrots. A dousing of mozzarella and cheddar and the addition of a side of gravy ($4) at the recommendation of our server took it to new pizza heights.

We also appreciated that if you order a 12-inch ($21) or 14-inch ($26) pizza, you can split your topping choices in halves. We took advantage of that and ordered half pot roast and half Jalapepperpopperpizza, GoodFellas’ spicy play on the popular appetizer. It was equally delightful. And, thanks to an air fryer, we enjoyed leftovers throughout the week. Our only regret is not getting a large. (Nicole Hvidsten)

20643 Kenrick Av., Lakeville, goodfellaspizzamn.com

There are myriad ways Minnesota’s ICE surge has affected restaurants and food fans. But knowing that restaurants, long established — successful by all outward markers — were closed for days on end was a stark reminder of just how much work happens behind the scenes just so we can order a favorite dish.

When the lights turned back on at the lively neighborhood outpost on Marshall Avenue near Cretin in St. Paul, I ordered mine immediately. Here, masa is formed into a cheese-stuffed dish with little edges to hold the fillings. It gets fried, then topped with that deeply colored, rich and spicy pork and the contrasting cold of crisp lettuce, radish and cotija cheese.

It’s a favorite for a reason, and the experience was a good reminder to support the neighborhood-beloved, go-to restaurants. (Joy Summers)

Six metro locations: 615 University Av. W., 2186 Marshall Av., 895 Arcade Av., 1751 Suburban Av., St. Paul; 801 E. Lake St., 40 S. 7th St., Mpls.; losocampo.com

On the “snack fare” section of the menu at the northeast Minneapolis restaurant Black Duck, there’s an egg and chips appetizer ($8.50). While the menu description is accurate — “62 Degree Celsius Egg ‐ Potato Chips - Truffle Oil” — there’s a lot more going on with this dish (other than just chives and salt).

The magic starts with the 62-degree Celsius egg, something chef/owner Jason Sawicki first worked with while staging 15 years ago at Momofuku in New York. “They break apart so easily,” he explained, “because the outside is not set and they become almost like a sauce, even the egg white.”

The potato chips are nothing fancy: Humble russet potatoes sliced thinly on a mandoline and fried in corn oil. Sawicki admits that “there was definitely a point in cooking where truffle oil was so overused,” but the white truffle oil from D’Artagnan Foods works spectacularly well.

Sawicki tells me that he originally served this dish at the restaurant’s first pop-up at Oro by Nixta before Black Duck opened in 2024. Sawicki stumbled onto a version of it at an outpost of the restaurant White Horse during a long layover in Salt Lake City a few years ago. White Horse still serves Egg & Chips, but its version includes malt vinegar and a 63-degree egg, a slight 1-degree difference. “It reminded me that hospitality can be as simple as making someone smile with a fun moment,” Sawicki said. (Raphael Brion)