Fancy Greek Dining on its Way to Bell

Coming soon to Bayside: a unique dining experience, the likes of which you can only find in Greece.

Loui's BBQ Greek Restaurant, under the ownership of Whitestone resident Ilias Barkoutsis, will be opening in mid-December at 45-30 Bell Boulevard, once the location of Pearl Nightlife, which closed earlier this year.

In the food business for 35 years, the Athenian-born Barkoutsis, who came to the United States in 1966, is also the proprietor of the popular New York City eatery chain Chirping Chicken.

Barkoutsis is hoping that this new restaurant will be distinguished from the all the other neighborhood gyro places.

"It's top-of-the line, it's fresh, with good food and good prices," said Barkoutsis. "It's going to be something completely different."

Foti Koukounas, part owner of Avli the Little Greek Tavern, also on Bell Blvd., was not daunted by Barkoutsis' promises.

"If anbybody knows business, competition is the best thing for the area," Koukounas said, adding, "It brings more people to the area. I'm an established business. I have no problem if another opens."

On Northern Blvd., Fontana's Famous Pizza and Gyro was similarly unfazed, with the manager there saying only that he had no way to gauge if Loui's would be able to live up to Barkoutsis' hyping.

The Loui's menu will be written in chalk on a black billboard at the restaurant's center.

It will consist of, among other things, barbecued ribs, fillet mignon, salads, kebabs, souvlaki, and freshly made French fries and hash browns.

Meals will not be served on plates (though plates will be available); they will be served in rectangular pans.

The location itself is undergoing extensive renovations, including the creation of an open kitchen, in the midst of the seating area. Come springtime, they will try to create café seating on the sidewalk, with the permission of the community board.

The location has one major headache: a lack of a parking lot.

"Wherever you go, you have a problem with parking," Barkoutsis says, adding that he is mulling over the idea of hiring a valet service.

Prices at Loui's, Barkoutsis says, will be kept to under $10.

"We know how to buy, we buy the best and settle for the good prices," he explained. "We're going to give them everything fresh. Nothing is frozen and there will be deliveries every day."

With little patience for a price war, Koukounas said he would not be lowering his prices to compete with the new place. "Quality is everything," said Koukounas.