Greektown

Baltimore police are investigating an unarmed robbery in which the victim said his attackers were impersonating police officers - at least the fifth such incident in recent months. Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said police do not believe a single group of people is committing the similar crimes, which have taken place across the city. He referred to the latest attack as a "copycat" incident, though he stressed that residents should be alert and report suspicious activity.

A large section of brick facade fell off a National Institutes of Health research facility on the Southeast Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, reviving concerns about a building that opened two years late because of other problems. The incident, in which no one was injured, also has raised questions about safety in a city with many large buildings - but no laws requiring their exterior walls to be inspected as they age. Experts say such problems are relatively rare, but could become more common as building standards change.

A mother and two infants escaped without injury after a tree fell on a building in Greektown late Saturday night, a city fire spokesman said. Firefighters responded to the 5100 block of Fait Avenue just after 11:15 p.m., said Chief Kevin Cartwright. The family was staying at a neighbor's house, he said. liz.kay@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

The third annual Baltimore Greek Week starts Monday and culminates on Sunday with the Maryland Greek Independence Day parade in Greektown at 2 p.m. Along the way, Greek-owned establishments, including restaurants in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, will be offering special menus and discounts. Among the participating restaurants in Baltimore Greek Week are Acropolis , Ikaros and Samos in Greektown; Mezze and Kali's Court in Fells Point; Ouzo Bay in Harbor East; 7 West Bistro in Towson; Ashland Cafe in Cockeysville; Jimmy's Famous Seafood in Broening Manor; Costas Inn in Dundalk; Broadway Diner in the Pulaski Industrial Area.

Less accessible to tourists than Little Italy, Greektown has experienced more ups and downs but has been steadily resurgent of late, and even with the arrival of places like the Habanero Grill, it still feels like a family affair here. After more than 20 years, the Acropolis remains something of the eternal middle child in the neighborhood. It might never attain the elder status of an Ikaros, the Greek restaurant that most defines Greektown to outsiders. But neither was it ever a bargain-dining find like Samos or a foodie darling like Zorba's, two of its younger neighbors.

I get it, I get it. I get why people have been telling me for years about Zorba's, occasionally expressing bafflement, bordering on anger, that I'd never been. Zorba's turned out to be just my kind of place, but it wasn't what I was expecting. The full name of this Greektown favorite is Zorba's Bar & Grill, and the first floor behaves as much like a neighborhood bar as it does a restaurant. It's typical Baltimore nondescript: a bar up front, tables grouped in the back, but with one outstanding feature — the clear glass at the back with a view into the kitchen, where Zorba's signature rotisseries are spinning over charcoal flames.

In Greek, "Yasou" means "health to you. " It's used as a greeting and a toast, like "Cheers!" At Yasou Greek Bistro, there's plenty of reason to toast. With simple, nicely cooked takes on Greek specialties and friendly service, the busy Hunt Valley restaurant is a good choice for diners in search of top-notch Greek food without the drive to Greektown. Yasou occupies a small space in a shopping center on York Road, where Cockeysville meets Hunt Valley. Inside, clean white paint and shiny tables give the year-old restaurant a brand-new feeling.

An elderly Greektown woman was attacked Friday night by a pit bull, whose owner has surrendered the dog to animal control officials. A year-old pit bull named Blue, owned by Henrietta Rouzer of the 700 block of Ponca St., bit the woman, who was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to city officials, who did not have information about the woman's condition Sunday. The dog is being kept at Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, said Brian Schleter, a spokesman for the Baltimore City Health Department, which oversees the Bureau of Animal Control.

A 22-year-old woman was injured early Saturday after a vehicle fleeing police drove onto the sidewalk after the second night of the Greek folk festival, police said. Police were called to the 4800 block of Eastern Ave. about 2 a.m. after a woman said a man who made a lewd comment at her pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her and her boyfriend, according to an incident report. As witnesses notified security for the Greek Folk Festival, the man and three others fled in a 1999 BMW. With the 500 block of S. Ponca St. closed to traffic because of the festival, the car veered onto the sidewalk and up a ramp in front of St. Nicholas Church.

The barricades are already up closing off Ponca Street for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church's popular festival this weekend. But a couple of blocks to the south, a neighborhood remains "traumatized," according to a community leader, after a 78-year-old woman was attacked outside her home Friday by a pit bull that ran across the street and bit her in the face. Athina Neofitou, a member of the church, remained in intensive care at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, said her son-in-law, Dennis Koulatsos.

In Greek, "Yasou" means "health to you. " It's used as a greeting and a toast, like "Cheers!" At Yasou Greek Bistro, there's plenty of reason to toast. With simple, nicely cooked takes on Greek specialties and friendly service, the busy Hunt Valley restaurant is a good choice for diners in search of top-notch Greek food without the drive to Greektown. Yasou occupies a small space in a shopping center on York Road, where Cockeysville meets Hunt Valley. Inside, clean white paint and shiny tables give the year-old restaurant a brand-new feeling.

The landmark Eastern Avenue industrial building fooled me. I assumed it was abandoned, and I was wrong. The former Crown Cork and Seal complex in Greektown is a busy workplace for cabinetmakers, musicians, artists and a craft brewer. It's just that nobody puts up a sign on this curiously anonymous post-industrial survivor. The place where food- and beverage-packaging machines once were made remains a bustling village. It houses the studios of two Sondheim Award-winning artists, Tony Shore and Laure Drogoul.

Ikaros is in its new home. The new location opened very quietly on Aug. 3, according to Xenophon Kohilas, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother. Ikaros didn't have far to move - just one block up Eastern Avenue. But because the Kohilas family operated the original Ikaros in the same location since 1969, the announcement of the move took some Greektown neighbors by surprise. The new location, on the corner of Eastern and Ponca, doesn't seat many more diners than the original, but with its broader dimensions and higher ceilings, the new Ikaros is letting Kohilas do things he said he never could in the cozy original.

Inside Baltimore's St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church early Saturday, the Rev. Michael Pastrikos stood on the dais and chanted prayers before an ornate altar adorned with icons of holy figures. The smell of spiced incense filled the dimly lit sanctuary as the faithful slipped into pews and counted down the hours until their Easter celebration would begin. They were among the many Orthodox Christians and others around the world and throughout the region celebrating the holiest of weekends using a Julian calendar different from that observed by other denominations.

Ikaros, which the Kohilas family has operated in the same Greektown location since 1969, will be moving -- one half block up Eastern Avenue. The move could happen as soon as March 1, according to Xenophon Kohilas, who co-owns the restaurant with his brother. The new location is on the same side of Eastern Avenue, just across Ponca Street, in a big corner building where Aztec de Oro was the last in a succession of restaurants to open and close. With its broader dimensions and higher ceilings, the new location will allow Ikaros to do things it never could in the cozy, old space: The new Ikaros will have a brick oven, a rotisserie spit and a display of live seafood in the dining room.

Here's a wake-up call for Gov. Martin O'Malley and other supporters of PlanMaryland: The American Dream has never been a red brick row-house or even a condo with a Starbucks, Whole Foods and North Face store on the ground floor. It's a suburban or rural single-family home, with a white picket fence out front, two cars in the driveway and kids playing with the dog in the backyard. Few Italians or Greeks live in Little Italy or Greektown any more because their descendants have achieved the American dream, and they have quite literally moved on to greener pastures.

Please allow me to clarify People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' position on pit bulls in light of Sal Grifasi's letter to the editor ("When pit bulls have more rights than humans," June 12). PETA supports measures that protect both pit bulls and humans, including bans on breeding or acquiring new pit bulls (provided that such laws grandfather-in registered, well-cared for, spayed and neutereddogs) and strict regulations on the keeping of pit bulls. Such laws would only have a serious impact on people who are exploiting pit bulls.

You want good Greek food? Then go to Greektown.Or . . . to 2205 Frederick Road in Ellicott City, where you'll find Dimitri's.Little about its appearance -- partly suburban and partly down-home -- is reminiscent of Greektown. Most Eastern Avenue Greek restaurants, after all, don't have a bar with a pool table in the next room where a flannel-shirted crowd can pick from six shooters du' jour (including one called ''Sex on the Beach'') and listen to live country music.Concentrate your senses on the food, however, any you'll leave thinking this place could hold its own with many in Greektown.

Baltimore police are investigating an unarmed robbery in which the victim said his attackers were impersonating police officers - at least the fifth such incident in recent months. Anthony Guglielmi, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said police do not believe a single group of people is committing the similar crimes, which have taken place across the city. He referred to the latest attack as a "copycat" incident, though he stressed that residents should be alert and report suspicious activity.

A mother and two infants escaped without injury after a tree fell on a building in Greektown late Saturday night, a city fire spokesman said. Firefighters responded to the 5100 block of Fait Avenue just after 11:15 p.m., said Chief Kevin Cartwright. The family was staying at a neighbor's house, he said. liz.kay@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts