Market Grille Cafe offers food, family traditions

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At the Market Grille Cafe, everything from the photos on the tables to the recipes being prepared in the kitchen has been passed down from family members.

"We did everything together as a family," said Joe Pierro, owner. "We painted all the walls, chose all the decorations; even the paintings were done by my Aunt Amelia."

Pierro was a managing partner at a local steak house for 12 years before opening the cafe in October. He said although he loves to cook all types of food, he has always had the best success with Mediterranean cuisine.

His family is Italian and his wife is Greek.

"We've gathered the recipes through the years. Everything is homemade," he said. "This is the next best thing to mom and dad's kitchen."

Pierro said he spent his childhood hanging around the kitchen and his son Joe and daughter Mia are both naturals in the kitchen. Of the 11 staff members at the cafe, five are family members.

The younger Joe works as a kitchen manager and Mia is away at college but will work in the restaurant during her school breaks. Pierro's mother, Rose, helps customers and his wife, Rhonda, works behind the scenes.

"I've done my cooking," Rose Pierro said, a southwest resident. "Joe does the cooking now."

"This is my love," Joe Pierro said. "This is what I want to do."

Pierro's goal was to create a place for fast, fresh, healthy, homemade food. "If I'm going to eat here every day I want it to be healthy," he said.

The menu features a family favorite, Papous' pasta, which is tomato sauce simmered with a blend of tuna and seasonings served over hot pasta for $5.95. Pierro said he grew up eating this and thought his family must have used tuna because it was cheaper than other meats, but later he learned tuna sauce is very popular in Italy. This dish was named for Pierro's father, who passed away in June. An entree Pierro created is the pomegranate chicken, skewered chicken glazed with pomegranate sauce, for $6.70. Other items include falafel for $5.25, greek salad for $5.25, wraps from $6.25 and gyros from $6.25.

Pierro said almost everything is cooked in olive oil and he makes the hummus and tzatziki sauce fresh.

He said the restaurant is smaller and more personal then he is used to.

"I'm more hands on with the customer. I get to look in their eyes and see how things were," he said.

There is no wait staff at the Market Grille, although most of the time someone from the kitchen will bring an order to the table anyway. Customers order food at the counter and can see the open kitchen where the fresh food is prepared.

Another menu item created by Pierro is the Aphrodite's cheesecake, which has a layer of baklava on the bottom.

"I had never made cheesecake before, even out of the box, but I'd always made baklava," he said.

The cheesecake won an award in the Best Creative category at the 10th annual Bite of Las Vegas this year. The cake is $4.75 a slice and also is available to buy as a whole cake. The cafe also has traditional baklava for $4.25.

The Market Grille is located at 7920 W. Tropical Parkway, Suite 170, in the Centennial Center. It sits adjacent to one of the center's common outdoor seating areas, which has lighting and misters.

"This is a fantastic location," Pierro said. "In the first two weeks we were open we ran out of 1,000 to-go menus."

"I like Mediterranean food and I wanted to try it," said Centennial Hills resident, Jeylene Ash. "I shop here all the time."

Lunch specials are available from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Chicken skewer with rice is $5.50, pomegranate chicken is $6, beef or chicken gyro is $6.50 and soup and salad is $7. All specials include a beverage.

The Market Grille is open from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

For more information, visit www.marketgrillecafe.com. Catering is available.