Dining Around – Ikaros in Baltimore, MD
HNA: How many years has Ikaros been a tradition here in Baltimore?
Kohilas: 44 years. We opened in 1969. Ikaros has moved to our new home, just a block away at 4901 Eastern Avenue & Ponca Street in Baltimore, MD. Guests can still enjoy the same excellent quality with an extended menu in a more spacious location with a full bar and lounge. Our head chef has been with us since 1969, and we offer stability and consistency of our traditional Greek cuisine.
Kohilas: Our dining rooms are available for your special occasions. We can accommodate 15 to 135 persons. We offer a wide selection of food at affordable prices and we will continue to provide the quality food of Ikaros at special catering prices.
HNA: Eight months ago, you moved to this new location on Easter Avenue located next to Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.
Kohilas: Yes, we’re only half a block up the street from our old location.
HNA: Why did you name your restaurant Ikaros?
Kohilas: Ikaros is a young man who comes from the island of Ikaria in the Eastern Aegean Islands. That’s also my home too.
HNA: Your restaurant Ikaros in Baltimore is famous for Greek specialty cuisine. Tell us a little bit about your menu.
Kohilas: We serve the most authentic Greek cuisine. We introduced Greek cuisine in Baltimore when we first opened up. Everyone said it’s impossible to maintain authentic Greek cuisine, because the America people didn’t know about it. So it took a lot of work, effort, and love to slowly promote and introduce Greek cooking to the American people. The old Greek ladies who lived in the area prepared traditional Greek food during the festivals. This also helped introduce Greek cuisine to the public.
HNA: Tell us about your menu.
Kohilas: We display our fresh fish in the dining room. As soon as you walk in you can select your own from tsipoura, lavraki, sinagrida. We have fresh fish flown from the island of Mytilini directly to Baltimore and we import octopus from Spain, so we serve the freshest calamari in the area. We also serve some of the best crab cakes in Baltimore.
HNA: What other things you are cooking?
Kohilas: Every Sunday we cook a whole lamb and goat, kokoretsi, kontosouvli, etc. We serve a variety of the most popular Greek appetizers and entrees from the Ikarian cuisine. We tend to approach the Greek cooking a little different and promote the Ikarian diet.
HNA: You import AGROS, the Greek olive oil that contains no preservatives. What else do you offer your guests?
Kohilas: We make all our pastry in house and we offer Greek entertainment with a great orchestra. We can host 250 people in our restaurant and our patrons enjoy our live Greek music nights.
HNA: You should do a wine tasting here at IKAROS through Stellar Imports and Sam Katechis.
Kohilas: That’s a great idea. I haven’t seen him in a long time but he is a wonderful human being.
HNA: Tell me why someone should visit Ikaros and have Greek food here in Baltimore’s Greek town?
Kohilas: We are only two minutes away from Interstate 95 and we offer great food and hospitality. I give credit to everyone who works for us.
HNA: Congratulations, we wish you the best!
For reservations or info, call 410-633-3750 or visit online at https://www.ikarosrestaurant.com/.
