Is East Lansing’s best Greek restaurant inside a sports bar?

The word “shish” means “skewer,” and shish kebabs are what give the dish its Greek kick. They’re essentially just skewered chicken cubes that have been grilled and then plucked into a big pile. Flavorful. Satisfying. Affordable and filling.”

Lou and Harry’s

211 E. Grand River Ave
East Lansing, MI (517) 657-2762

Tu-Su: noon to 2 a.m. M: Noon to 9p.m.

You don’t have to be a Michigan State University student or alum to find some nostalgia in kicking back and watching the game at a sports bar in a college town like East Lansing.  

And, in the classic Greater Lansing fashion of “things that are also other things,” as Lansing Facts would say, this next dish comes from one of the best of the bunch: East Lansing’s “top Greek restaurant,” which also doubles as a sports bar, which also triples as a catering business. 

It’s Lou and Harry’s, which has been serving delicious Greek meals for 30 years. I stuck with their signature dish, the $12.99 Chicken Shish Special. It’s something that I’ve now ordered at least a dozen times since my first visit two years ago. But I just had to go back one more time last week to refresh my memory, and to grab this tantalizing photograph. 

Juicy, flavorful chunks of marinated chicken are grilled to a perfection level of charred crispness on the skin and then layered over a bed of rice pilaf. It’s served with warm, toasty pita bread, a side cup of tzatziki sauce and a generously sized Momma Greek Salad. The name comes from Momma’s signature Greek dressing, and you get plenty of it to dump over a mix of iceberg lettuce, fresh feta, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, green pepper, tomato and red onions. 

The word “shish” means “skewer,” and shish kebabs are what give the dish its Greek kick. They’re essentially just skewered chicken cubes that have been grilled and then plucked into a big pile. Flavorful. Satisfying. Affordable and filling.  

In Lansing, we’re lucky to be inundated with a wide array of good Greek food. And Lou and Harry’s keeps up with the best of them. The downtown East Lansing location on Grand River Avenue definitely feels much more like a bar than a diner, but hey: If you can walk and chew gum—and do both superbly well—then you should do it. 

And I’d say it’s been working out pretty well for Lou and Harry’s, which has been a fixture since 1992. Why? Because it’s a go-to for everyone.