The “Opa!” spirit reigns at The Athenian Greek Restaurant in Billings. For over 40 years, Alex Renzios has been sharing the cheer and food from her heritage at the Athenian. The restaurant, started by her husband Nick and his two brothers Tom and Chris in 1979, has flavored the Billings Trailhead with dishes from Epirus, the northwest region of Greece.
Initially, Nick and Chris cooked until Alex came in to take over the kitchen several years later, after her kids were grown. To this day, Nick helps with prep and makes the soups, but Alex fires up the food for guests six days a week, nine plus hours a day. The restaurant closes on Sundays and opens the rest of the week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“I came to the United States in 1975,” Alex shares. “Nick was already here,” although he had visited her six months before. Nick and Alex lived in adjacent villages as children. Their fathers arranged their union.
She traveled alone, flying for the first time, leaving her family behind. Nick met his six-month pregnant wife at the Chicago airport, where they flew to Missoula. After arriving on November 12, when snow was on the ground and an unfamiliar language was spoken, Alex had to adjust to many unfamiliar ways of life.
Their brother chose Billings as the place to start their first restaurant. Alex took over the cooking because the brothers opened two more restaurants in Denver, continuing to share the authentic recipes from their homeland. The eateries in Cherry Creek Mall and Park Creek Mall carry the name Renzios Greek Food.
From her own family, the dishes on the menu at The Athenian include moussaka – layers of eggplant, potatoes, and seasoned lean ground beef, topped with béchamel; and dolmades- grape leaves stuffed with ground beef and rice, seasoned with herbs and spices, and topped with an egg-lemon sauce.
When Alex was growing up, the grape leaves she used to make dolmades did not come in jars. They came right off the vine. “We picked the leaves. We put them in hot water, leave them there for a little bit, and then we roll them.” The rolls are then boiled in a big pot with a plate placed on top to weigh them down to keep them from unrolling.
The gyros, which consist of slices of lean spiced beef cooked on a spit, are wrapped in pita bread. They are wrapped with crumbled feta cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and a choice of sauces—tzatziki, a rich, creamy yogurt sauce with herbs, or barbecue sauce—and are the most popular item on the menu.
“Don’t forget the baklava,” Alex proudly says. “It’s a dessert with phyllo dough and walnuts and honey and cinnamon.” To make the dessert, “You layer the phyllo, you put in the filling, the walnuts with sugar and cinnamon, and then you put on more phyllo dough on the top, and then you cut it, bake it.”
“And when the baklava comes out, you put the syrup on the top, leave it a little bit, and slice it and eat it.” The cold honey syrup seeps into the hot crevices.
Julie Robinson has eaten at The Athenian with her family since its inception. When they relocated from Lexington, Virginia, where they enjoyed Greek food, they immediately looked for a Greek restaurant here.
“It has always been fun to walk in and wave at Alex in the back, even if we don’t see her, when my husband and I and our two younger sons would walk in and order sikotakia.” Sikotakia is a dish made with beef liver fried with Greek spices and topped with a creamy olive oil lemon sauce.
“That usually would bring her out of the kitchen if she had four orders of liver come back,” John, Julie’s middle son, shares. “I think we went as a family because they do French fries and kids are picky eaters. We started on the kids’ sampler, where it was meat, pita, and French Fries.” Now, John relishes the sikotakia and dolmades.
Over the years, Alex has created many moments of “Opa!” for many diners and continues to enjoy sharing the delicious dishes she grew up with.
