Where to The Aegean, once a longtime favorite in Framingham and Watertown, now open in Waltham.
Why For Greek — and, now, Armenian — classics.
The backstory This backstory is also a love story: Owners Christa Bazarian and her husband, Chris Ntasios, met at the Watertown location in 2008, when she was a customer. Ntasios’s parents owned the original, and he was working the floor.
“It wasn’t love at first sight at all,” she says. “I used to go with my parents. I’d see him, and he was always nice. But I wasn’t looking to get into a relationship at 20 years old, and he was eight years older.”
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She did, however, enjoy the Greek salad with grilled chicken. One day, as she was leaving, she asked for a job. He agreed. She started as a bartender and later became a manager.
“And then we bonded,” she says.
The pair married in 2015, not at the restaurant. (“We served filet mignon. We wanted something totally different,” she says, laughing.)
Bazarian originally planned to become a family therapist, but instead the pair decided to open their own restaurant with an Armenian twist when their other two restaurants closed. (Bazarian is Armenian.) In Watertown, the lease expired; in Framingham, COVID took a toll.
Now, the pair have four kids 6 and under. Ntsasios’s parents, the onetime restaurateurs, baby-sit them so that the next generation can run the business.
“Our kids have really missed this,” Bazarian says.
What to eat The new incarnation, which opened in November, is “the best of the old menu plus new additions,” she says. Bazarian cooks the Armenian food (she loves the losh kebabs: peppery, seasoned ground beef); her husband handles the Greek stuff. Lentil soup is a big hit, a warming mix of garlic, cayenne, and sumac.
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Broiled shrimp with feta is another big seller. “Our seafood is never frozen,” she says. This includes scallop kebabs, sole stuffed with crabmeat, swordfish, salmon, and trout. The menu is big.
I love the moussaka, a buttery orb layered with potatoes, eggplant, and minced beef. It’s lighter and fluffier than other versions I’ve encountered, with bechamel layered across the top instead of baked in, served with a side of rice pilaf. Gyros are also tasty: plenty of tzatziki, tender lamb, a nice diced-tomato-to-sliced-onion ratio. Pitas are softer (and can turn soggy if not eaten right away); this is a dish best consumed very hot. It comes with wedge fries, perfectly crisp and golden, clearly not an afterthought. Next time, I’m trying the fasolia (green beans stewed in tomato sauce).
There’s also a $6 kids’ menu with spaghetti, spinach pie, chicken fingers, and the like. The pair has four of their own, after all.
What to drink There’s a small, cozy bar area stocked with a few bottles of red and white wine, a couple TVs, and holiday wreaths. This is not a drinking destination, though they’re working on a full liquor license.
The takeaway A homey spot for Armenian and Greek specialties made with love.
741 Moody St., Waltham, 781-790-0067, www.aegean-restaurant.com
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.