If you have a desire for some healthy Mediterranean food, made from scratch from family recipes handed down from generation to generation, give the newly relocated Petrino’s Greek Restaurant in La Mesa a try.

Thomas Fado owner and chef (pictured above) moved the restaurant in February to its new location at 8302 Parkway Drive.

“I wanted to stay in La Mesa, so when this property became available, I jumped on it. We had to do a lot of remodeling and close down for a short time due to supply chain issues,” Fado said. Now it’s a bright and cheerful white and blue interior with an all-new kitchen.

Fado along with his parents started the restaurant nine years ago. Both parents immigrated to the USA, his father from Baghdad, Iraq, and his mother from Kalamata, Greece. His father has since retired; however, his mother still comes in every week and makes all the sauces, yogurts, tzatziki, salads and drinks. “All of our recipes have been passed down from my mother’s parents. My mother is an old-fashioned cook and wants to make everything from scratch,” Fado remarked.

The menu is very fluid, you can mix and match items for example you can substitute rice or Greek salad for pita or Greek fries.

You will find many Mediterranean favorites on the menu such as shawarma, gyros, dolmade’s (stuffed grape leaves), kabobs and falafel. They also offer a variety of sandwiches such as a chicken cream chop sandwich (marinated and breaded chicken) or a chicken shawarma sandwich. If you wish, you can upgrade to a plate with rice or a Greek salad. The salad selection includes a tabouleh salad, a fattoush salad (lettuce, tomato, and cucumber garnished with a sumac herb), or a Petrino salad (garbanzo beans, chopped tomato, cucumber, and onion). For an appetizer try their 100% garbanzo, house-made Hummus, and pita.

“We try to cater to a variety of tastes,” Fado continued. “The younger people like a lot of sauces with heat and a zing and older people prefer that their food has enough flavor to not need sauces. Our most popular sauce is our house made Petrino’s Greek Hot Sauce called Opa Sauce, which is my mother’s family recipe. It is a proprietary mixture of hot sauce and tzatziki sauce. The beauty of this sauce is that it offers heat while you are eating it, but by the time you are finished the heat has dissipated. Another family recipe is our turmeric sauce. It is a mixture of multiple spices that can be used to enhance any of our dishes; salad, sandwich, falafel, and pita.”

Dine in or order out. Find the menu at: petrinosgreekrestaurant.com/.

Their new address is 8302 Parkway Dr, La Mesa. Call (619) 741-7721.

– Robin Dohrn-Simpson is a local food and travel writer. Reach her at robindohrnsimpson.com.