There’s good news for Portlanders who wait all year to snack on puffy, honey-drenched loukoumades served in a paper boat in a church parking lot. Ever since Yanni’s opened, the bite-sized Greek donuts are available at any time of the year.
Tucked in a corner of the Lucky Labrador Brewing parking lot sits a cyan blue and white food cart—painted to match the Greek flag, naturally. Brothers Theo and Luke Geist started the cart together in mid-2025, but it’s predominantly run by Theo now.
“We had a family connection with the people at Lucky Lab, so the space was a natural fit,” Theo says. He cheekily adds, “In our extensive research, we found beer and Greek food to be an exquisite combination.”
The loukoumades at Yanni’s are made-to-order, as fresh as it gets. Traditionally, they are drizzled with honey and topped with a hearty sprinkling of cinnamon. Since they’re served directly from the fryer and are inherently sticky, pronged skewers are provided for digging in. The donuts can also be topped with flaky coconut or drizzled chocolate and chopped pistachios. But the enduring appeal of the classic combo is what inspired Theo and Luke to build something of their own.
The brothers grew up going to Portland’s historic, brick Greek Orthodox cathedral in Laurelhurst, as did I. The Holy Trinity congregation might embody a few of the “put some Windex on it” tropes, like everyone being named some iteration of Chris, George, Nick, or Tom (said as someone with a dad named Chris and brother named Nick). But it’s tight-knit among all the Chrises and Georges! It’s a community earnestly rooted in family and tradition. There’s real value placed on shared history and, of course, on delicious food.
“Our Greek heritage is an inseparable part of our lives,” Theo agrees. He grew up going to the church for service every Sunday, attending Greek school and Sunday School, and performing traditional dances at the Greek Festival every October. “Every year when we finished our last performance at the festival, our Yiayia Catherine would get us an absurd amount of loukoumades,” he remembers. This festival tradition with his yiayia (Greek for grandmother) sparked the idea for Yanni’s, but it’s his papou (Greek for grandfather) who has the bigger sweet tooth. “He would bring a full-size suitcase filled with pastries home every time he went to Greece,” Theo laughs. “So our Greek sweet snack shop had to be named for him.”
Beyond the nostalgia factor, Theo has reverence for the fact that loukoumades are a staple of ancient Greece, allegedly given out as awards for the winners of the early Olympic Games. Honoring original recipes and the spirit of Greek hospitality is important to him. “Our priority is sharing Greek kafenio (coffee shop) culture and the best tasting, most authentic Greek street food we possibly can,” he says. “We even headbang traditional village music from open to close! We grew up on everything we cook, and it’s our privilege and honor to serve it.”
Yanni’s recently launched a new savory menu, too. Some items will be familiar, like spanakopita, a spinach filo pie, while others like loukanikopita, a spicy version of a sausage roll made with puff pastry, might be new even for seasoned Greek diners. “These dishes are a cornerstone of Greek cafes for both sit-and-sip coffee drinkers and grab-and-go diners,” Theo says.
Coffee is another pillar of the menu at Yanni’s. They offer frappes—a Greek coffee drink that combines Nescafé and sugar, mixed with milk and shaken vigorously to create a foamy texture. Frappes are served at the Greek Festival, but hard to come by otherwise. “One of the signature sights in modern Greece is an iced frappe in the hand of everyone you pass,” Theo says. “The super foamy nature allows it to be drunk for hours—as the ice melts into the foam, it rejuvenates it.”
While drinking coffee on-the-go is the norm, Theo wishes more Portlanders knew not to order loukamades for takeaway. “They really are best eaten hot!” he says, a bit exasperated. “We can do it to-go, but it breaks our hearts.”
Theo and Luke grew up hearing stories about the different eras of Greek-owned businesses in Portland. It’s an age-old tale of things changing hands, moving locations, or being bought and sold. Now, people wax nostalgic about the “Greek fries” (jojos by another name) at the original Mad Greek Deli, the iconic inflatable purple octopus of Greek Cusina, or late nights spent dancing at Greek-owned nightclub New Copper Penny. My own papou owned a small grocery store, Stanley’s, on Sandy and 58th. It too sold, became a brewery for a bit, and now is back on the market. Theo, however, thinks that we’re gearing up for a new boom. Friends of his opened Trela, a new Greek restaurant on 60th and Glisan, around the same time that he and Luke opened Yanni’s. It’s his favorite spot to go out for Greek in town, specifically for their home-style gyros and whole fish on the bone.
“Festival may be when our star shines the brightest, but with new Greek businesses around town and the next generation carrying on the traditions and recipes of our ancestors, the community is here to stay,” he says. “We’re looking forward to the next golden age of Greek food in Portland.”
Yanni’s Greek Donuts, 1400 SE 9th Ave, 11 am-9 pm Fri-Sat, Sun 11 am-6 pm, yannisgreekdonuts.com, @yannispdx