Dec. 2, 2012: The Mad Greek Restaurant in Baker, CA

ON THE WAY TO CA THROUGH VEGAS

We have passed Baker, CA with its giant thermometer so many times on the way to California through the Vegas route. We have also stopped in Baker to get gas or for a bathroom breaks many times. And every time we pass by Baker this crazy looking little restaurant sparked my curiosity. It's this tiny little space covered in way too many Greek-style statutes called The Mad Greek. And its parking lot is always packed with cars. I have long wanted to try it but it's kind of out of the way and we are usually there either at odd times, or after we have eaten in Vegas or something. But the timing was finally right, we were just getting hungry for lunch when we were passing by Baker and I suggested we finally try it.

  

As usual, the parking lot was packed. The inside was bigger than it looks like on the outside. You order at the counter and they give you a plastic number so they know what table to bring it to when it's done. There are several cashiers to take your order and there is a separate gelato/ice cream counter on the side. The menu is big and lit up on the wall behind the cashiers. I was surprised that they serve more than just Greek food. They have a burger menu and a Mexican food menu and only a small Greek menu. But since I had wanted to try this Greek dive so long - there was no way I was ordering anything but Greek!

 

There was a sign outside pimping their fresh strawberry shakes so we decided we had to try those. And - wow! They were crazy good. I think they were actually made from gelato - they have a fairly good selection of gelatos. But whatever they were - they were very tasty and different textured than the typical strawberry shake.

 

We ordered a Greek salad and a chicken souvlaki meal.

 

The Greek salad was tangy. It had a lot of imported feta cheese mixed with the dressing and on the salad that was just the right amount of tangy and just a hint of salty. There were lots of Greek olives - which I love. There were also lots of onions, and large cuts of tomatoes and cucumbers and maybe not quite enough lettuce. I would have liked a little more lettuce to go with that tasty dressing.  There was a feta cheese stuffed grape leaf on the side - it was very good. I would have liked another one.

 

The chicken souvlaki was not as good as we've had at some other places. The chicken was ok, maybe a little on the dry side but decent flavor. The rice was tasty, fluffy and perfectly cooked. The yogurt sauce was good - maybe slightly runny with chunks but a great flavor. The pita bread was fantastic - lightly fried which left it tender and pillowy with just a light crisp here and there on the outside. 

 

Below the cashiers was a glass display of many Greek desserts that looked really good: different flavors of baklava, turnovers, tiramasu, cakes, some doughy honey covered stuff, and cookies. Unfortunately, we didn't try any of it because the amazing shakes filled us up.

 

The food was priced well, service was friendly and quick, food was decent and interesting. I wouldn't go out of my way to stop here again - and given its proximity to all the Vegas cuisine it's hard to imagine a time when we'll be hungry when we're passing Baker again. But if we ever are - I would definitely eat here again. (And we may very likely stop for those amazing strawberry shakes even if we aren't hungry!)