The Stuffed Pepper in Hammond touts home cooking from the Mediterranean and has the chef to prove it.
“She brought the authenticity,” said Andrew Holevas, owner of the Stuffed Pepper, about his sister Diane Feggaris.
“She’s from Greece. She literally came off the plane two months ago with her husband, Dimitri. She owned, with her husband, a cafe in Athens for 15 years, but the economy went south. They ended up coming back over here to give me a hand with Stuffed Pepper.”
Opened in October, the Stuffed Pepper took over the location that housed Woodmar Cafe.
“A pipe burst a couple of years ago, snapped because of cold and flooded the whole restaurant. It was completely wiped out. I ended up doing the whole thing from the walls to the ceiling. Everything is from scratch. It’s brand-new on the inside,” said Holevas.
“I really liked the location because it’s in the middle of food row — Petros Restaurant, Rally’s, Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant, Subway, Papa John’s, etc. It’s in the middle of the dining section of Hammond. That’s what really attracted me to that spot.”
Holevas and his cousin Timothy Spanos, both natives of Chicago’s Hegewisch community, have co-owned Chicago Pita Kitchen there since 2008. They also run a Chicago Pita Kitchen location at Ford Motor Co.’s Chicago Assembly Plant cafeteria in Chicago.
“What I’ve been trying to do over there is bring back homemade authenticity,” said Holevas, of Munster.
“I wanted to take it a step further with the Stuffed Pepper with homemade gyros and all these Greek things. It’s a combination of Greek authentic food to go along with the fast food, but it’s done in the sit-down setting.”
Starting prices include $2.49 for vegetarian dishes; $2.50 for appetizers; $3.99 for kebabs or sirloin burgers; $4.99 for signature sandwiches or salads; $5.99 for gyros or chicken sandwiches; $8.99 for traditional favorites; and $11.99 for steaks, chops and fish.
“The kebabs are absolutely the No. 1 thing we do over there,” said Holevas, noting that a sirloin kebab has been added to the menu, which also includes the house specialty of Yemista, a stuffed pepper, along with moussaka, pastitsio, spanakopita, Tiropita and dolmades.
“We have awesome sides and also we are getting a lot of vegetarians and vegans coming in.”
The Stuffed Pepper, which offers seating for 75 diners but has room to expand, features a small section for student artwork from Purdue University Calumet in Hammond and also offers catering and delivery.
Future plans include making fresh homemade breads and booking entertainment on Saturdays nights when a liquor license has been secured.
For the time being, diners may bring their own beer or wine.
“It’s been my pet project for years, and it’s finally come to realization,” said Holevas of the Stuffed Pepper, where he is assisted by his wife, Vicki, as hostess and his brother Nick as accountant.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The Stuffed Pepper is at 7231 Indianapolis Blvd., Hammond. Contact 219-803-0273 or www.stuffedpepper.us.
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance writer.
