Gooooooooooooooal!

I rarely venture to exotic East Sparks, but after an enjoyable meal while watching World Cup soccer, I might have found a reason to visit more often: Spiro’s Sports Bar and Grill. On the Sunday my husband and I arrived, our main interest was to catch the match between Australia and Germany. Having lived in Hamburg and Berlin for 11 years, I cannot help but feel a strong allegiance to the latter, but I suspect I’ll return eventually just to eat.

Spiro’s is really a neat idea: “Greek Food with an Attitude!” served to sports fans nibbling on appetizers while choosing from approximately 10 screens displaying various events.

The weather was too nice and the appealing sports events too few to attract many customers when we arrived. The only other event televised that we noticed was some sort of lumberjack competition. (And no, I don’t know who won the women’s Boom Run, so don’t ask.) Other than our friend Monica, who joined us briefly while on her way to an Aces game, there were only four others present in a place that probably seats 75 or more during the Super Bowl.

Even taking into consideration the small and docile crowd, our server was great. She cheerfully confirmed the validity of our coupon—there are appetizer and entrée specials available through Valpak right now—before starting us off with the Saganaki Greek Cheese Dip and garlic bread “crustinis” ($8.95). While we ran out of the latter too quickly, the dip, made from feta and spinach with chunks of artichokes, was just plain awesome.

One downer was that I missed Podolski scoring Germany’s first goal when ordering my spanakopita spinach pie with salad and tzatziki sauce ($9.95). But the rich entrée—picture baklava except cheesy instead of sweet—and fresh greens were consolation enough, as was Klose’s immaculate header for goal two.

My greedy husband over-ordered with a large pizza, Spiro’s Greek Olympic Countdown ($17.95): shrimp, artichokes, spinach, mozzarella and feta cheese. The one drawback with the otherwise delicious pie is one I’ve observed as a nefarious trend in restaurants: the reliance on the rubbery, bland farmed variety of shrimp. Nonetheless, we enjoyed it overall, and even with short-timer Monica nicking a piece, there were gobs for the to-go box.

Spiro’s also provides a number of interesting options wherein traditional American items are fused with Greek ingredients. Monica, a regular, swears by the Athenian Goddess Burger, which is really a sort of wrap stuffed with beef and feta, kalamata olives, onions, and tzatziki sauce ($8.75). You can also get a Jimmy’s Freaky Greek Philly ($8.75) or Greco-Roman Caesar Wraps with chicken or beef ($8.75 and $9.50, respectively.)

But if that’s all Greek to you, there are standard pub items with names like Poseidon’s Fish and Chips ($8.95), and appetizers like Big Texas Wing Dings ($7.95) and Big Fat Bubba’s Chicken Quesadilla ($7.95). You can also, if you like, just order a plain old chicken sandwich ($8.75).

Even though we figured it was already 2 p.m. somewhere, we stuck with soft drinks, but you can certainly lube the engine at Spiro’s. Happy hour is every day from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and there is even karaoke on Saturday nights for those who really just need to let go.

I hope my mood and judgment were not tainted by my happy thoughts about Germany’s victory, but it seems to me Spiro’s is a cut above as sports bars go. If you are happy with your cheese fries and Budweiser, that’s great. However, if you care about food quality and variety half as much as the scoreboard, definitely try your luck at Spiro’s.