Sotiria: Authentic Greek Food Hidden in McKinney

Husband-and-wife Sotiria and Nikolas Baney moved to the U.S. from Greece in 1976, armed with little but their culture and generations of family recipes. Forty-seven years later, the two have their own Greek restaurant, Sotiria, in McKinney, complete with a cozy kitchen decorated patriotically in blue and white stripes.

“We just couldn’t find any authentic Greek food in this area,” Sotiria says of opening this restaurant. “The very day we saw this place was available, we signed a lease. It didn’t even take a few hours for us to know that this is what we wanted to do.”

Tucked away in a McKinney shopping complex, the small restaurant is simple, with white-and-blue-striped tablecloths draped over tables, photos of the Greek seaside on the walls and two large Greek flags. A small kitchen window in the back allows diners to catch a peek of food being prepared and plated before it’s brought out. It’s home-style dining, in every sense of the word.

“My menu is simple,” Sotiria says. “But these recipes are what I know best. There’s not a single thing on the menu that I don’t put my heart and soul into.”

We can tell. Start with an order of the saganaki cheese, a sizable block of Greek cheese that’s encrusted in breadcrumbs and fried to a crisp. The cheese pulls on this one don’t disappoint. Another must-try is Sotiria’s pita bread, which is served with different homemade dips ranging from hummus to tzatziki to what we thought was an especially interesting lima bean dish, stewed with a warm celery-tomato gravy. A Greek salad – while simple – offers a comforting mix of olive-oil-tossed vegetables, crowned with a hunk of loosely held feta cheese.

For mains, dig your fork into Sotiria’s pastitsio, a pasta dish stuffed with finely ground beef, or the moussaka, with thinly sliced sheets of eggplant layered with meat. Different wraps and souvlaki plates are similarly made-to-order, stuffed with your choice of chicken, lamb or gyro meat that’s been roasted fresh on the spit. All dishes are accompanied by a generous portion of garlic-scented, Greek-style potatoes, but only after 4 p.m. Plan your visit accordingly.

There’s no such thing as dessert on the menu. Rather, it’s the whim of the kitchen that dictates the selection of complimentary sweets that are brought to your table. Our meal was rounded off well with a small plate of Greek yogurt, garnished with sugar-soaked raisins and exotic kidoni fruit. While we were a bit sad there wasn’t a dessert menu, we appreciated the surprise treat. We’ll be back; our fascination for the Greek dessert world calls for more visits.

One thing is clear: this spot will make you feel at home. “It’s the most amazing feeling to cook for my customers,” Sotiria says. “When I see people enjoying my food, it makes me want to keep doing this.

“It’s just me and my husband in the kitchen,” Sotiria says with pride. “We’re doing what we can to bring authentic Greek food to Dallas.”

3751 S. Stonebridge Drive, McKinney. Tuesday – Thursday, 9 a.m – 2:30 p.m., 5-9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., 5-9 p.m.; Saturday – Sunday, noon – 9 p.m.