CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Deno Stanley remembers ordering lunch at the McCrory's lunch counter when he was a kid. Now he stands on the other side of a counter in the same building, as the owner of Adelphia Sports Bar & Grille, the restaurant he opened recently at 218 Capitol St.

"It was easy for me to see the vision of what we wanted here," Stanley said.

Stanley developed Adelphia's menu, a fusion of dishes from his Greek heritage and sports bar fare, with the help of an old friend and Culinary Institute of America graduate Douglas Miller.

Miller came up with an unusual menu item Stanley thinks he just might have invented. He dips chunks of feta in a light tempura batter, then fries it to form a crispy exterior. Deep fried feta is served on pita triangles with kalamata olives, tomatoes, cucumber and onion drizzled with Yia Yia's dressing, made from his Greek grandmother's recipe.

"I don't even like feta, but this is great," said Stanley. That's right. The grandson of Greek immigrants doesn't like feta.

Gyros are the other signature item on the menu. He wraps the gyro meat in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and creamy tzatziki sauce, also made from Zoe Stanley's recipe. Other Greek specialties include marinated shrimp, Greek and hummus salads, baked chicken and spanakopita

Standard sports bar fare such as wings, sliders, nachos, burgers, sweet potato and regular fries, onion rings, grilled chicken or deli sandwiches join a variety of salads, soups, turkey burgers, lavash (flatbread) vegetable wraps and deep-fried green beans on the menu. Dinner entrees feature grilled salmon, shrimp, filet mignon and New York strip steak.

Lunch business is brisk. Stanley didn't hang a sign out front for the first four days, but the word spread and the lunch crowd increased steadily every day. Adelphia is open daily, from 11 a.m. through the wee hours of the night. If that sounds vague, it's because Stanley is waiting to see if the crowds will come after the bars close in the evenings.

"The kitchen will open until midnight, and we'll serve a limited menu after that," he said. "I'm following my grandfather's philosophy. He said that if they know we're open, they'll come."

Stanley is the son of Charleston parking lot magnate Spyro Stanley, who has one of his lots across the street from Adelphia. Stanley's grandparents immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1907 and opened a bar and grill on Summers Street and a two-story restaurant on Capitol Street, on the current site of Kinko's. The first floor was a pancake house and the top floor was a Greek restaurant called Athens by Night open for dinner.

"I grew up bussing tables and working the cash register," Stanley said.

He took a break from the restaurant business, living for 25 years in Ohio before moving back to Charleston 10 years ago. His father urged him to buy the McCrory Building, which he planned to rent.

After several potential renters fell through, Stanley decided to open a restaurant himself. "I recognized a good business opportunity and location," he said.

Adelphia's spacious floor is about 4,000 square feet, with additional space in the back that Stanley plans to open as a banquet room. He'll offer cooking demonstrations led by Miller, and perhaps wine tastings.

Large flat screen televisions share wall space with historic Charleston-area photos. Pictures of restaurants previously owned by the Stanley family, the old Greyhound station, Charleston High School and other buildings and scenes of historic note entertain patrons while they wait for their orders..

"I got the inspiration from a photo hanging in a friend's living room," he said. His friend's photo, a long horizontal shot of the Kanawha River as it curves around an island, now hangs in the restaurant. It's framed in wood, unlike all the other oversized black and white photo reproductions framed in black.

The photographs are reproduced from Jerry Waters' collection.

Adelphia loosely translated from Greek means family unity or brothers and sisters. Stanley's two brothers and one sister manage other family businesses, but another sister, who lives in South Carolina, handles many financial details for Adelphia.

Stanley cultivates downtown connections. He buys his produce every morning at Capitol Market. His dessert menu is limited to baklava served with a chocolate drizzle or as a sundae with honey and a hot fudge splash.

"I tell them Ellen's (Homemade Ice Cream) is right across the street," he said. "I want people to walk around and enjoy the city."

Call 304-343-5551 or visit www.adelphiasportsbar.com.

Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.