BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Anna’s Restaurant has finally returned to Bowling Green, but this time in a place you might not guess. 

After leaving its location on Three Springs Road, and relocating to Glasgow for a while, the Greek restaurant is now located in what once was an abandoned church. After seeing the church was up for auction and yearning to return to Bowling Green, owner Vilson Quehaja says it was divine intervention.

 “I don’t want to say I found it, I would like to say it was more likely given to me by a higher power as a responsibility to restore it.”

Restoring and rebuilding the church from scratch took more than three years to get the job done. Doing everything from the drywall to the plumbing to teaching himself stain glass techniques, Quehaja has taken what he’s learned to do from childhood to create his dream. 

“Me and my father before we came to the United States, we used to do projects all the time and uh back home where I come from, Kosovo, we don’t have Home Depot or Lowes so if you need something you have to be creative and try to create or find it or find a substitution that we could make work.” 

Anna’s Restaurant allows customers to transform and transport their tastebuds with unique Mediterranean flavors. Like many other fine dining restaurants, they offer a variety of beef, chicken, pasta and seafood options, but with everything made from scratch. 

“I wanted to bring the authenticity of those countries, Greek, German, Italian, French, Turkish, Middle Eastern and real authentic food, real." Quehaja  added, "Not just quality food, quality service, and a very unique dining experience that people can enjoy and forget they’re in Bowling Green, but feel like they’re somewhere else.” 

People from the community are lining up to get a taste of the Greek cuisine, with the restaurant having hundreds of reservations before they even opened.Erin Biggers and Jackie Goldammer were hungry for something different and Anna's fit the bill.

“We like to go to international restaurants…so this just adds one to the list.” 

The history of the building is in every layer of the restaurant and is the framework for what it will be in the future. To look at the menu and make reservations, you just have to go online.