Stell's Burgers & More had me at provolone-and- pastrami-topped burger

After 30 years of running restaurants — from Latitude 47 on Lake Union to Brusseau's in Edmonds to Demetre's in Shoreline — Stellios Makratzakis decided it was time to do something simpler. So, three months ago he opened Stell's Burgers & More in a tidy storefront under a canopy of chestnut trees across the street from the Seattle Pacific University campus.

Here he offers counter service — you order and pay, he brings your food to the table. And, finally, he has the right venue to showcase a burger he first ate in 1988 at a restaurant in downtown Chicago, where he found himself snowed in overnight on a trip to Boston. He can't recall the restaurant's name, but he'll never forget the burger topped with provolone and pastrami. "I didn't invent it, but I did introduce it to Seattle," he says of the eponymous Stell's Burger, which leads the parade of patties — veggie, halibut and chicken burgers among them — on his menu here.

About 40 percent of Stell's customers come for the burgers; 60 percent for the "more": salads, souvlaki and assorted hot sandwiches, including gyros, wraps, melts and a BLT.

"A lot of the college kids like to eat healthy," he says. So his Black Angus beef burgers are 17 percent fat; the pastrami is lean and lower in sodium than many brands; and the Greek salad is big. All the dressings and sauces — hummus and tzatziki included — are made daily on the premises.

His life may be simpler but his wife still complains that he needs a day off. He'll get one this Sunday for his daughter's wedding. His wife wants him to close every Sunday, but he's not so sure. "Where will the college kids eat?" Makratzakis worries.

Check please

Stell's Burger: This audacious combo marries a charred and juicy beef patty with a melt of provolone and a warm bundle of lean, spicy pastrami. Oy vey, is it good! Served with lettuce, tomato, red onion and the house sauce, a blushing mayo mixed with chipotle, which accounts for the smoky heat that permeates every bite.

Greek Wrap: A toasted tortilla hugs this otherwise Hellenic ensemble. Within the crackling, warm wrapper you'll find moist slices of grilled chicken breast, green pepper, tomato, onion and crumbled feta all smothered in a bright, tangy tzatziki. It's a slippery, sloppy, seriously good sandwich.

Side salad: Served in a plastic takeout clamshell, the ingredients are rudimentary — iceberg lettuce, red onions, a couple of cucumber slices, some feta — but the slightly sweet, herby balsamic dressing is very appealing.

Fries: Cut from big Idaho bakers, these golden, delicious potatoes are 3-4 inches long, and not at all limp.

Baklava: Layers of phyllo remain flaky under their honey glaze, and the sweetness is tempered by a wide swath of cinnamon and chopped nuts that runs through the middle.

Itemized bill, meal for two

Stell's Burger: $5.89

Greek Wrap: $5.89

Side salad: $1.75

Fries: $1.59

Baklava: $1.50

Orange juice: $1.69

Coke: $1.69

Tax: $1.86

Total: $21.86

Providence Cicero: providencecicero@aol.com