When walking along Georgia Avenue in Downtown Silver Spring, it's easy to do a double take. Camouflaged in the patchwork of restaurants and shops are two nearly identical Greek restaurants. The two popular restaurants, The Greek Place and The Big Greek Café, share a complicated history that begins at the Greek Place. The owners of local restaurants partnered together and founded The Big Greek Café in March of 2008. In 2009, according to Daniel Centeno the chef at the current Big Greek Café, the partners split and the original Big Greek Café closed down briefly. When it reopened a few weeks later, it was renamed as The Greek Place. One partner moved right down the street and opened his own Greek restaurant. The new restaurant opened in July of 2009 as The (Original) Big Greek Café. Confused yet? Jose Garcia, the manager of The Greek Place, has a different take on the story. "We came first, then they opened down the street when they saw a lot of business here," he says. Despite the proximity and confusing history, Centeno and Garcia both attest that there is no competition between the two restaurants; there are enough Greek-food lovers to go around. For any Blazer, the choice between the two Greek eateries can be tricky. As a homage to the restaurants' Greek roots, Silver Chips is pitting these two restaurants against each other in the Olympic Games of Greek Restaurants. In order to win, the restaurant must impress in three categories: appetizers, main dishes and desserts. Ultimately, only one restaurant will go home with the gold.
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