In January 2015, three people were the last ones left inside the original Mad Greek Deli at 185th Avenue and West Union Road: Jacob Marks, owner Pantelis "Pondo" Kosmas, and longtime employee Cam Kimball. By then the equipment had been auctioned off, plates included. As Marks told the Valley Times, "We all toasted (with the) last three (16-ounce cans) of Coors Light in the building."
Eleven years later Marks is closing the Mad Greek again, on the same intersection, in a different building. He announced in late September that the Bethany/Rock Creek-area Mad Greek Deli will serve its last day on Saturday, Nov. 28, after a run of more than three years. Kimball still works there.
Counting from Thursday, Nov. 5, that leaves a little over three weeks. Nov. 28 is also the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Two buildings, one intersection
The Mad Greek has had two homes on this corner, and the newer one has a longer history as a pub than as a deli.
- 1977. The original Mad Greek Deli opens at NW 185th and West Union.
- January 2015. The original deli officially closes.
- 2007, across the street. Christy and Robert Bennett-Hanes buy the existing Rock Creek Café & Pub, renovate it, update the menu and run it as Rock Creek Corner.
- November 2018. The original Mad Greek building is torn down.
- January 2023. A Washington County hearings officer approves a Chevron station with a convenience store and drive-thru on the former Mad Greek parcel, which sits near Bethany Lake and the Rock Creek Greenway wetlands.
- February 2023. Rock Creek Corner, an American restaurant, closes.
- Spring 2023. The Mad Greek Deli moves into the former Rock Creek Corner space at 18515 NW West Union Rd.
- Nov. 28, 2026. The Mad Greek's last day at the newer building.
Read in order, the building at 18515 has been a café and pub, then Rock Creek Corner, then a Greek deli with a bar and weekly specials. The next owner, according to Marks, plans something "like a tap house," which would make the building a neighborhood pub under a fourth name.
Why the name came back at all
The 2023 reopening started with a promise to a friend. After Kosmas died in 2016, Marks told the Valley Times he thought, "I don't want my best friend's legacy to die like this."
He kept running the Portland restaurant on East Burnside with Kosmas' widow, bought the Mad Greek's first food cart, and later became sole owner of the eastside location. A westside return was always the goal. "The goal was always to be back. That was always Pondo's dream," Marks said in the same interview. Marks graduated from Westview High School, and Kosmas graduated from Aloha High School in 1984, so this was a return for both of them.
When the deli reopened in spring 2023, it brought back the menu the old corner was known for. The Mad Greek Sandwich is the one most people mean. It has four meats (ham, turkey, pepperoni and salami), three cheeses (Swiss, cheddar and provolone), shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, oil and vinegar, and house dressing, all on what the Valley Times called "a behemoth roll."
The restaurant's West Side menu also lists:
- Mad Chicken Sandwich: grilled marinated chicken, melted provolone, lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard and omega sauce
- Gyro: gyro meat, tomato, onion, feta and house-made tzatziki in warm pita
The calendar between now and Thanksgiving weekend
The restaurant's West Side page lists hours of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. The page also promotes three weekly nights: Trivia Tuesdays, Wing Wednesdays and Tequila Thursdays. Neither the restaurant nor local coverage has announced special hours for the final weeks, so check those listed hours against the restaurant's own page before you go, especially around Thanksgiving.
From Thursday, Nov. 5, through closing day, that works out to:
| Night or block | Remaining dates |
|---|---|
| Tequila Thursday | Nov. 5, 12, 19 and Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, if open |
| Weekend 8 a.m. opening | Nov. 7–8, 14–15, 21–22, and Nov. 28 |
| Trivia Tuesday | Nov. 10, 17, 24 |
| Wing Wednesday | Nov. 11, 18, 25 |
| Closing-day party | Saturday, Nov. 28 |
The weekend rows matter most. The Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. opening is the only time the westside location serves before 11 a.m., and only seven weekend days remain from Nov. 7 through closing day.
Expect company. Marks told the Valley Times that since he announced the closure, "we're busier than we've ever been." He has promised the Nov. 28 party will be "crazy," with the restaurant opening early and closing late. As of the Oct. 8 story he had not given specific hours for that day.
What "like a tap house" means for 18515 NW West Union
The building is not going dark. Marks told the Valley Times that a restaurant group plans to buy it. He could not name the group yet and described the future business only as "like a tap house."
That tenant was not the first plan. According to the same report, Marks and the property owner first talked about subleasing part of the building to a cannabis dispensary to help cover rent and utilities. That plan fell through, and the sale to the restaurant group followed.
If the tap house opens as described, the building stays close to its roots. It was the Rock Creek Café & Pub when the Bennett-Haneses bought it in 2007. It was Rock Creek Corner until February 2023, and then a deli with trivia nights and a bar. The group has not announced a name, menu or opening date, so the gap between the Mad Greek's last day and the next first pour is unknown.
The other half of the intersection has a less certain future. The original Mad Greek parcel, about 1.21 acres, has been empty of its deli since the 2018 demolition. The Chevron station approved in January 2023 had been cut down over several rounds of county review, from a first proposal of 12 pumps and a 6,728-square-foot building to eight pumps and 4,428 square feet. The approval also required half-street improvements along NW West Union Road, which could include sidewalks, street trees and streetlights. That approval is a 2023 decision, not an announced construction start.
After Nov. 28, the sandwich moves to Burnside
The Mad Greek name has already outlived one building on this corner, and it outlasts this one too. The Portland location at 1740 E Burnside St. stays open, according to the Valley Times. The restaurant's East Side page lists hours of 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
That is the same restaurant Marks and Kosmas' widow kept going after 2016, and the one Marks ran through the pandemic while he worked on getting back to Washington County.
Corners like 185th and West Union are part of why our team follows this part of Bethany so closely. A building that has spent nearly two decades as a neighborhood pub is about to get a new operator, and the lot across the street has its own unfinished story. If you live near the Rock Creek Greenway and want to talk about what changes like these mean for your street, TK Real Estate Group is glad to talk it through with you. Schedule a Free Consultation.
