Santa Barbara’s Favorite Greek Grab-n-Go Returns

Given Pete Stathopoulos is not only the Parish Council President of the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church but also the baseball coach at Bishop Diego High School, it’s no surprise that he’s leading a Greek Grab-n-Go that’s sure to be a grand slam of culinary goodness. As chair of the event, he gets to oversee 40-plus parishioners providing take-home delights ranging from savory spanakopita to sweet baklava on the weekend of November 1-2.

The Grab-n-Go began during COVID, when the church couldn’t hold its annual Greek Festival. “We put it together originally to show we were still here living our faith and community,” Stathopoulos says.  While the summertime festival has since returned — and will be back in August down by the beach, as it was this past year — the food-to-go fall mini-fest lives on. Pre-orders online happen through October 26. When ordering, people choose a pickup time and date, because, as Stathopoulos puts it, “We’re limited by how many gyros we can make per hour — everything we do is fresh, coming right out of the commercial kitchen in the church.” They even fry the delectable Greek donuts called loukoumades to order, and then drizzle them with honey and sprinkle them with cinnamon and chopped walnuts.

In addition to the best-selling pita-stuffed gyros — that even come in family-sized platters featuring dolmathakia (stuffed grape leaves pungent with herbs) and spanakopita (spinach pie featuring flaky phyllo) — this year, the church will offer a new dish, pastitsio. Think of it as a Grecian take on lasagna — layered pasta, ground meat, tomato sauce, gooey bechamel. “All the volunteers have their specialty,” Stathopoulos explains, “making a recipe from home that their moms or grandmoms made.”  Indeed, the ordering website repeatedly invokes the spirit of Yiayia (“grandma” in Greek).

Another highlight of this Grab-n-Go will be tours, on the pickup days, of the stunning Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, nestled in the foothills on San Antonio Creek Road. While the parish was incorporated in 1946, and the Greek Festival founded in 1959, the current house of worship — looking like it was transported from Mykonos — didn’t open until 1986.

Stathopoulos stresses, “It’s crucial to note that all the money we raise we give back to the community.” The Greek Orthodox Church feeds the homeless monthly, donates to the Rescue Mission, sponsors a Wells for Water program in Tanzania, he relates.

“The entire event is in the Greek spirit,” he sums up. “If you were going into a home, you’re going to eat and have fellowship. The same is true with Grab-n-Go — everyone will be smiling and happy and having a good time.” And no doubt end up full of feta and binging on baklava.

To pre-order your favorite Greek food, including gyros, pastitsio, spanakopita, dolmas, fasolakia, keftedes, feta, baklava, and loukoumades, see greekgrabgo.com.