Early Bird: Xandros

 

Until Petros in Manhattan Beach blew onto the scene a few years ago, Greek restaurants in L.A. tended to be more in the folkloric vein, places like Taverna Tony in Malibu or Papa Cristos in L.A., where you could shop for Greek groceries and stay for an inexpensive dinner at communal tables. Now here comes something entirely different — big, brash Xandros on La Cienega Boulevard's restaurant row. The Greek restaurant-lounge is glamorous with surprisingly good food. Opa!, indeed. Read more in this week's Early Bird look by Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila.

Photo: Dimitri Arabatzis performs a zebekiko, a traditional Greek dance, in the dining room of Xandros, a new Greek restaurant on La Cienega Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times