Athena Grill
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 10:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
56 reviews
Milpitas, CA
"I went here a few times with some co workers and usually use the coupon they have in the Milpitas Post for a gyro and a free falafel . I…" read more »
159 Reviews for Athena Grill
Athena was recommended to me by a friend who is Greek. It is as good as Dio Dekka and a fraction of the cost (and a totally different atmosphere). I love the lamb and chicken kabobs. It's tucked away in an industrial park but don't let the location fool you. The food is worth the trip.
Rumor has it that the owner has put it up for sale which would be a shame. Hopefully someone will buy it and keep it just the way it is.
OMGOMGOMG. This place is off the hook! Too bad they don't have enough seats for their customers. If you're coming for lunch, the best time to go is before 12 or after 1 for a short wait and guaranteed seating. Between that, you're pretty much stuck in the line that stretches outside the restaurant itself and being table vultures. But that just says about the place--people don't mind standing in line and waiting for tables to clear cause the food is WORTH IT. My faves: Brizola Mosharisia, Lamb Souvláki Plate and Mousaká.
Oh snap!!! Five stars for a place in the Silly Valley? Here's why:
1) It's not just Greek, it's GOOD greek. Pretty bold move in an area where there is just no Greek to speak of, and where people just wouldn't know any better anyway. I might venture to say that it is pretty authentic, but what does an Asian fella' know, anyway?
2) Prices are reasonable. You can have lunch there and still feel good about being a cheapskate engineer. You'll have money left over for your late afternoon trip to Fry's.
3) The gyro plate is tremendously good. It comes with pita slices, really fresh and flavorful hummus, a good salad and a few slices of bread.
4) Unlike every other stinkin' oh-these-guys-are-still-in-business or 'go there because it's close, cheap and convenient sustenance' places in the SV, you leave Athena thinking about what you might enjoy the next time you visit! Now there's a concept!
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Athena is one of those places that we had high hopes for. We figured the fact that nobody would ever drive past it unless they read about it on Yelp would make it a "hidden gem".
First, the picture of the restaurant interior that is posted is taken at absolutely the most flattering angle. In reality, it's an oddly shaped place with tables randomly set in rows (presumably from the last group that sat there and just pushed tables together).
Their main problem: the food just wasn't consistently good. The pita bread they bring out is warm and tasty. The greek salad was pretty good, though the "feta" was odd. My falafel plate came with 4 falafel balls (pretty flavorful, though a little hard), a bunch of slightly soggy and stale fries, and two weird sauces (should have been tahini and hummus, but tasted more like mustard and purple spicy mayo). The chicken souvlaki is definitely not white meat. it was fatty, stringy and had no flavor. We ended up getting a box so we could replate the 70% we couldn't be bothered to eat.
So ... most authentic Greek food? I don't know. It's still pretty bad by my standards.
Athena Grill is my absolute, hands down favorite lunch spot. It's tucked away off of beaten path, but when you get there it always has a line out the door.
The Greek fries with the Athena Sauce is amazing. I really enjoy their mixed grill plate. The lamb and chicken kabobs are seasoned and grilled to perfection. The chicken or lamb Souvlaki sandwichs seems to be huge hits.
You can't go wrong with Athena grill!
My Homey picked me up for lunch the other day to get away from the office. Little did I know I still felt like I was at the office.
Athena Grill is a good place at a bad place. I mean the food is authentic, fast, and tasty, but it's right in the middle of an industrial park. I'm able to overlook that, but table spacing is an issue. I was seated near the drink cooler, and every time someone wanted a drink, the door banged on my chair. The few outside tables were also tight.
For big appetites, try the platters. The gyro platter comes with Greek fries and a salad, and the portion was perfect. Smaller appetites should stick to signature sandwiches.
I'll come here again for the food, but only if I'm in the mood to sacrifice ambiance.
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This one of my fave new lunch spots. Its kinda hard to find and you never thought to find a Greek restaurant surrounded by companies. There lunch is very busy and lines out the door. When I got here the line was out the door and for sure there was not an empty seat in the house. There was so many tasty choices on the menu. What to get? What do I feel like? Finally I decided I better eat light since going to all these UYEs. So I went with the Lamb Sirloin Sandwich with Fruit. It also comes with Greek fries, but I was wondering what are Greek fries? Are the potatoes from Greece? Or its called Greek fries because its made by Greek people? My coworker go them and I tried it out. Taste like a regular fry with some herbs on it. So that a Greek fry. I finally got my sandwich and boy was it good and tasty. The Lamb was perfectly cooked and juice. Plus I love the yogurt sauce it came with, that was so good. I slather that all over my sandwich, if I could put it on me I would! I would suggest to either go early or take it to go. Another new lunch spot on my list.
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I came here last night with my friend. We were starving! Athena's is located in the business area of Santa Clara. It's kind of random but great during lunch for all the people who work in the area!
We were told to sit anywhere and were excited when the pita bread and dip of the day came out as soon as we sat down! The dip was garlicy and delicious! I'm not sure what it was though.. We ordered Dolmas and Tzatziki to share and I decided on the Lamb Chops cooked medium.
The tzatziki came out first. This is one of my favorite Greek things! It is a yogurt with cucumbers, dill and lemon juice. I liked it a lot! I think they used a little too much dill though.. When the dolmas came out, we were already full! The pita bread and dips are pretty filling.. I loved the Dolmas here! They were served warm and had ground beef, rice and spices wrapped inside the grape leaf! You must squeeze the lemon on top! They are so good..
All entrees come with a salad. It was actually huge! And doused in a ton of dressing.. I only ate half of it. My lamb chops came out and I was glad to see there were 3 of them! I was not too happy about them being burnt though when I asked for them medium.. My friend who also got the chops said hers were cooked medium well and were hard to eat. Mine were well done and definitely not to my liking.. I did like the greek fries that came with the lamb chops! They were really fresh and tasty! I liked dipping them in the tzatziki..
We all shared the chocolate baklava and the Greek cookies dessert. I loved the chocolate baklava! It was sweet, flakey and perfect! My favorite! The Greek cookies were good but nothing like the ones from the festival.. I was upset they didn't have the custard I wanted!
Athena Grill would be a better place to come to for lunch. I would probably only get a gyro and their fries though! Good friendly service and great sized portions..
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Finally stopped by, with my foodie crew for dinner to celebrate the end of my residency...
Athena Grill is really located in the middle of an office park, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Santa Clara. On a Monday night, the place was about 1/3 full, quiet enough for a dinner for four but not totally dead either.
The complimentary skordali with warm pita wedges was tasty and really whetted the appetite. It is rather garlicky, as people have said, but great for those of us who like garlic. House salads were light and fresh, and I really appreciated the olive oil dressing. The girlfriend really liked the pieces of feta.
The girls both ordered the mousaka, which was the obvious winner that night. Layered kind of like lasagna, it was both a fusion of textures and tastes. Definitely getting this when I come back.
The guys decided to be a little more adventurous, ordered the falafel plate and the biftekia. The falafel were decent - really crispy on the outside but a little too dry on the inside for my tastes. The falafel plate came with 4 falafel, hummus and tahini sauce, and some more pita. The biftekia was more of a letdown... billed as one of their specialties, it ended up essentially being 3x 3-4 inch fried hamburger patties. The flavor itself wasn't too bad, but it was really, really dry. I guess that's what the tzatziki sauce was for. Wouldn't get this one again.
The Greek fries were tasty and fresh, and also liberally doused with garlic - another good thing for garlic lovers.
For a dinner destination, I can only give 3-3.5 stars... If I had ordered the mousaka instead, it would probably be pushing the 4 star range. Given my work schedule (30 minutes for lunch at best), there's no way I can ever make it here for lunch, so I can also only rate the dinner experience. Worth coming back for, but with the knowledge of what's actually worth getting.
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GET THE ATHENA DIP. GET THE ATHENA DIP. GET THE ATHENA DIP. It's like crack. As far as I can tell, it's just liquefied olives + a lot of garlic salt. I'm addicted. So good. MORE.
Service is ok, they have a lot of inefficiencies that could use rethinking. For instance, they have a separate place to process your credit card, which makes the entire transaction take about a minute longer than it should. Multiply that by the number of people paying by credit card, and you're losing a lot of business, or at least making everyone's life more difficult.
There's some huge mosque near this place, I'm told, which accounts for the legions of women in full veil walking around everywhere.
NEW OWNERS?
I am dismayed to hear that ownership is changing to non-Greek. I hope whoever it is doesn't screw it up.
My partner and I are regulars here for a few years now. We love Ronnie, Julia, and Jorge because they take wonderful care us every time. They always greet us with Diet Pepsi and our favorite dip!
Our faves are the Tirokafterí, Biftekia (no, it's not just little hamburger patties; the seasoning is amazing), Meltizanosaláta (nasty watery eggplant stuff? I think not!), Loukánika (Alex loves this; me, not so much), all of the souvlaki's, lamb chops, mousaka (reg. and veg. are yummy), pastitsio, dolmades (Spartan style with meat!). The fries are nice, but not garlic at all. Not sure what others are tasting. The purple dip served with fries is yummy.
I am not crazy about the "vegetable of the day" that comes with some entree's. They are often dominated by a large white bean and mushy. They'll let you have fries instead.
ANYWAY, new owners, please don't change anything (except maybe the vegetable of the day).
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This place is really hidden among all those boring corporate buildings. When I saw the location, I have to admit that I was a little suspect. Then when I saw an Asian waiter at Greek restaurant, I was pretty much ready to write this place off. But when I had the hummus, I thought ok, not so bad... Then I had my lamb dish and I was like hmm, this is better than I thought!
The salad that comes with dinner was huge. This alone with hummus and pita could be a dinner in itself. Service was friendly, food came out in a timely manner and food was better than expected. I also love the blue and white color scheme they got here too.
Hot hot hot lunch spot.
I had the Lamb Souvlaki: lamb sirloin marinated in garlic, oregano, lemon, herbs and spices on a skewer broiled & wrapped in warm pita bread with spring greens, tomato, red onion & tzatziki.
Oh... my... goodness... that is the best tzatziki that's ever set foot on my tongue!! At first the huge dollup of it and the thought of the calories made me cringe. But as I took a bite, I couldn't get enough of it. I even took extra from the bread basket they give you in the beginning. Most places make this too tart but this one is right on point. Another great sauce is the light purple one that comes with your meal - a mixture of garlic, olives and some more tasty delights. This goes well with the garlic fries. Speaking of the garlic fries, wow. They are the soggy and dry kind, similar to In n Out's, but are loaded with garlic which makes them even more fantastic.
Can't forget the main meal... the lamb. Huge and generous chunks of lamb. So much that it kept falling out. It was tasty but could've been a tad, just a tad more tender. That's just my personal preference but it was still great. Service is pretty good considering how packed the restaurant was. Even though you order and sit down, a couple workers asked how we were doing and if we need anything else.
I definitely want to come back for the other stuff. Athena, PLEASE OPEN ON WEEKENDS!
My wife and I went to Athena tonight , only 1 table was occupied when we made our way in around 7pm.
Appetizers: they give you bread/pita with some dipp. I was hoping for the hummus or the whipped butter one, but they gave us some watery eggplanty stuff. It was gross. I got a bit peeved when, later, I seen other tables get the good stuff. Why not us Athena?
Main courses: My wife had the vegetarian souvaki and I had the NY Strip steak. The NY was cooked very nicely, and it was a husky cut of beef. Good value here at 15 bucks. And of course, I gorged on those awesome fries and purple dip. ( Which i found out got its said color via crushed olives)
My wife said her souvaki was just OK, and half of it made it into the doggy bag
Service: the older Asian dude was the only waiter I seen. He is friendly enough, but seemed to think I was invisible.
So, I would 5 star the place, except for that one mis step with the pita dipp.
It's still well worth the visit.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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06/10/2007
Went Friday night 6/8 with a bunch of people....we all ordered something different so I feel Like I… Read more »
Ok, so I've confirmed with the boyfriend that no in fact Swordfish souvlaki isn't exactly authentic (I didn't figure it was), but damn it's tasty. And they give you huge chunks of the fish in your pita sandwich. MMmm... Mmmm... Mmm... Their fries were also delicious, though I don't know what the sauce was that I was dipping them in (not the tzatziki but something else).
Their hummus was not the best. It was very gritty, quite different than the almost smooth texture that I am used to with most other hummus', but it's just not my taste.
It was a tad on the expensive side, but they have pretty good specials to avoid the higher prices. The only real down side I found was that they were not exactly the most attentive people on the planet. We had to wait quite a while for the check.
Hummus grade: F
Great food at reasonable prices. The Arnaki pita is a favorite (shaved lamb with salad & feta in a soft warm pita). The side fries are great with that purple garlic dip. Or sweet fruit instead, usually melon, for a lighter alternative.
Once in a while I get a Grecian Feast to take home and split with my wife. She insists on the fries. What a deal.
Food was delicious. I'm half Greek, and this comes pretty close to home cooking for me. Athena Grill gets very busy during peak lunch hours so try and get there early. A little on the pricey end, and you will probably have to park on the street. It's definitely worth a visit though!
It's a hidden gem in Santa Clara. How come nobody told me about that restaurant before? My controller and I went for a business lunch. He recommended this Greek restaurant.
The restaurant has a very nice outdoor patio with plants around. But one problem, they don't have a parking lot, so you only can park along the street. It's tough for someone like me who doesn't have parallel parking skill.
We ordered gyro grill and lamb grill. It comes with fresh fruit. The fruit is so good, fresh and sweet. The lunch is about $9 each.
The restaurant is totally packed during lunch. No tables are available at patio when we got there. It's too popular. No surprise, there are so many offices around in Santa Clara. Don't know if their dinner business is that good.
I had dinner here and ordered the salmon. The vegetables were mushy and the rice tasted like packaged stuff. The salmon was just okay. The salad seemed like it'd been sitting in dressing for quite a while before being served. I swear I'm usually not very fussy about food, but I lost my appetite less than halfway into dinner. I'm surprised because this place has so many good reviews. If I dine here again I'll try something completely different, any suggestions? Otherwise, the service was friendly and sitting outside on a warm evening was really nice. It was easy to find street parking.
This place was hard to find, even with my GPS. But it was worth the millions of left and right turns. While the quality and the taste of the food are okay, it's really the immense vegetarian selection that sold me.
I would recommend going there a little before or after the lunch rush if you want a seat. Also, parking pretty much sucks if you're not into hiking before lunch. I wouldn't say the portions are generous but they are reasonable. The coffee was a little strange but worth a try.
I'd go back again if i can find it again! :)
Really good, and with a couple tweaks, I'd be so very happy.
To start off with, you are given freshly grilled pita with some seriously garlicky humus, even before you order. The menu is quite extensive. I got a lamb pita with grilled onions, peppers, and spinach. There was more than enough food, and it was all very good. I wished there was more seasoning on the meat, and that the feta was a bit more goaty, but that's ok. The greek fries were great, and the olive dip was a unique rest from ketchup.
Despite my non-perfect meal, I can tell the skill and care are there. I just need to order something different next time.
--
Update: I've gone back twice now and gotten the gyros pita with fries. Definitely excellent, despite it not being shaved gyros meat. The third time I went, we got the feta dip instead of the hummus. That was great.
As if this place needs any more reviews. But geez, I love this place!
Very generous portions at a reasonable price, and the food is so darn good. The garlic fries with the olive dip is to die for! My usual is the gyro or lamb pita, but I just discovered the swordfish pita and that's my number 1 now.
I am so happy my work brings in lunch or dinner from here a couple times each month.
OH MAN OH MAN this is SO FREAKIN GOOD! Portions are huge, prices are fantastic, and the taste is super delicious!!!!
Went w/ coworkers today b/c I was fiending for hummus and we literally work 3 min away. I was a bit weary of finding it, but once you are turned on Space Park, you can't miss it! Blue tents are abundant so you can definitely sit outside, enjoy the sun AND the food!
I agree w/ Rainey, please open up in San Mateo!!!
Got the gyro pita w/ fries! The portion is HUGE! The meat was super duper juicy and fork tender, delicious! Great dark greens and tomato accompanied on a thick pita bread...yum! Fries are a bit weird but super delicious - full of garlic with the purple sauce! YUMMY!
Four folks - four sandwiches w/ one falafel appetizer and 2 drinks - $44! Servers were super duper friendly and efficient and all smiles.
Ohhh...we are totally coming back soon.
M-F only!
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Food: Great
Service: Good
Price: Well worth the food
The best Greek restaurant, I think, in the south bay (so far!). This place helped me realized that Greek food is much more beyond the traditional gyros and pita bread you get at standard Greek places. They have this AWESOME garlic dip (that you can ask for) that comes with their french fries - of which the taste resides in your mouth for a day, but a worthy sacrifice for the flavor! My staple is actually the gyro pita. But I've had chicken and the moussaka, which are both great! This place gets packed at lunch on the weekday after 11:45AM, so get there early!
Tip: call ahead for reservations for lunch and they will reserve a table for you.
Best Greek food I've eaten! Everything is tasty (try the carp roe 'taramosalata' if you know how it should taste and you'll see it's the real deal, or the Loukanica for pan fried greek sausage).
In fact, go back often and try them all, we can't stop going back, we had catering once for 40 peaople from them. Vaso is a great Cook.
Don't expect much in term of location, it's a corner of a warehouse -- so bring a date only if she's interesting in eating good Greek food. Low prices, generous portions, casual atmosphere.
Awesome food! I wish they'd move up to San Mateo since there is a dearth of Greek places for me to get a gyro for lunch now! I've had the gyros and they are great...not too heavy on the sauce so it drowns stuff out. Great fries too...odd. The lamb chops were done just right...you gotta love good lamb!
Please...open a place in San Mateo!
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I've had the food here on two separate occasions, the first was dining in at lunch half a year ago (3 stars), and the second was catered to the office a few weeks back (2 stars).
First time I came here with my coworkers, I remember the place being incredibly packed. After a bit of a wait, the lamb souvláki I ordered finally arrived... and it wasn't too bad. The flavors were good, and the lamb didn't have that odd taste that poorly cooked lamb has, though it was a bit on the dry side.
The second time, I wasn't pleased at all. Free is free, but it needs to be decent at least. We had ordered a number of things, with the two meat dishes being chicken and either beef or lamb. While the chicken was okay (a bit dry), the beef/lamb was terrible: something about the texture of it was just wrong, which I can only describe as similar to gritty hard tofu.
Love this place! The portions are huge, quality is great. It reminds me of the food I ate while on my honeymoon in Greece... only this restaurant tastes better and its cheaper!
My boyfriend and I have this mental list of our favorite servers. Some people get on the list because of their very peculiar habits or their endearing lack of talent at serving food...but the one server on our list who was both amazingly responsive to our needs and insanely knowledgeable works at Athena Grill. We wanted to talk to his boss about how awesome he made our experience but we were shy and too full of falafel to waddle over to him.
The portions are insane. Pita, bread, dip, salad...then entree with greek fries? I appreciate the vegetarian options and I dream about the falafels at night. Crunch on the outside, warm chickpea goodness on the inside. My omnivorous boyfriend reports that the gyros are delicious as well. We've gotten the dip sampler platter and thats a meal in itself. I don't really know how to adequately express how full we were after we left but I think the conversation on the ride home went something like this:
Me: "uuuuggggh"
Him: "fuuuullll"
Me: "so this is what those snakes feel like after they've swallow an entire gopher"
It's in the middle of a bunch of businesses so it ain't open on the weekends like the other reviews said, but since it's open until 9, it's great for a weekday dinner.
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I love this place! I get the gyro plate, which comes with greek salad with feta and yummy fries. I ask for extra yogurt sauce & make little gyro sandwiches with the pieces of pita bread that they give me but I always have so much meat left, the portion is big. After resting for a few minutes, I am able to finish it most of the time, this is bad! My coworker orders the lamb gyro or one of the steaks on the specials board. They are consistently good. You have to beat the lunch crowd because finding street parking is tough and it's tough to get a table. You have to wait in a long line to order at the register, find a table, then they bring your food to you. The restaurant is simply decorated with pictures of Santorini and Mykonos. I visited Greece in 2006, can't wait to go back! I have to say, even the food in Greece wasn't this good.
Good service, good food -- their gyros are to die for! Their humus is awesome as well.
I went there one afternoon on a whim and it was one of the best experiences i've ever had when it came to greek food.
I love lamb -- they cooked it just like I wanted -- nice and rare.
I also love the lamb gyros -- Oh my god it was great. I don't eat the rice stuff just i'm asian/chinese and rice is 2nd to none at home.
I can eat rice at home all day, but if done wrong I won't touch it -- so that's something I never touch outside of being in an asian restaurant.
They had this red sauce on the lamb that was to die for though.
definitely go back when I have time.
I really wish I found this place sooner. Especially since I work nearby. The food is excellent, the portions are generous, and I can't possibly think of anything bad to say.
I love that purple sauce with the greek fries! I think it's kalamata olives blended into yogurt. It's the best thing ever!!!! I didn't even like olives very much until I tried it.
If you go in the evening, they have table service and the plates come with an extra big salad as a course by itself (which is really good... bright, lemony, not -oily dressing). At lunch, the plates come with the salad on the plate and it would seem you also get less greek fries that way. It's still a lot of food though.
I love the fact that they give you bread and hummus for free too. That's awesome. This is really good food. I feel like I'm in an exclusive secret society now that I know about it.
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I first tried this place when I was working nearby. The bread and hummus they start you off with are sooo good. My favorite dish to order is the Chicken Souvlaki Wrap with fruit on the side... The employees are really friendly and of course the food is superb. The best hing about this spot is after eating m food I don't feel grotesquely heavy after eating ^_^ even when I finish every last bite ^_^
I had the chicken slouvaki and the tzatziki and what a waste of money. The chicken was raw in the middle, and it came with a vegetable mash that was terribly overcooked and looked like they threw together some leftovers. The rice was flavorless aside from the taste of powdery parfum--hmm... The worst tzatziki I've ever made at home was better than what they served me and their pita was cold- just pulled from the fridge. The salad that came with my meal had a dot of dressing, leaving me wanting more.
The food was so awful that after a few bites, I asked for the bill and left all the food-- which hurt because our bill was $27 for me and my fiance. What a waste. It was so bad that we had to go eat at another Greek place because right after since we were still hungry and had to redeem the food group with our taste buds.
Don't waste your money. Not only was the food bad, the service was bad, too.
Food is good. Lamb Chops, Lamb/Chicken Souvlaki & Salmon plates are very nice. Fruit bowl is good option as a side in place of fries, I ask for it even if it's not included with the dish. Falafels are not the best though. My friend loves house salad there. Complimentary pita+bread with humus are served too, which is fresh, very nice flavor. This place is a little expensive for lunch though. I can go for a buffet for 12 bucks.
Parking is a pain!!!!!! Don't go at rush time. And on Fridays, it's just not worth it looking for a parking.
I probably should have given 4 stars but this place really surprised me. The bread and cheese type dip they started with was just awesome then the food just got better. Here's the thing though: lots of food. And no, that's not why I'm giving it 5 stars. But that didn't hurt my review either. I think 1 dish and an appetizer or 2 between two people would be enough here for even the very hungry, they give you that much.
The quality of the food was great too. I had seafood kabobs over rice. Great. Whatever my wife had was good too. And the dip sampler appetizer was excessive but delicious.
Weird location, but who cares? It was packed at dinner when we were there on a Friday night, at least a 40 minute wait.
I went here for dinner with my fiance after reading great Yelp reviews. This isn't a nice, fancy restaurant by any means, but you should definitely go here if you want amazing Greek food. The servings are very generous, and omg...the lamb was AWESOME! I actually liked the lamb here more than at Thea at Santana Row. The restaurant is tucked away in an industrial area, but it was shocking to see people pouring into there for a dinner on a Thursday night. A must try if you love Greek food! I'm sad it's not open on the weekends.
If one observed my typical eating habits at Athena Grill, one would conclude that I hadn't eaten in a month. Or that I had another stomach, or a dromedary hump in which I stored my nutrients.
Seated inside the quaint, unpretentious restaurant, I eat virtually everything that is brought to me. Anything I can't pack in, I doggy bag; for the record, the sausage (loukanika) and gyro meat, make for delicious scrambles, and the fries can be chopped up and pan-toasted to make "Potatoes O'Brian."
Athena Grill serves some of the best Greek food I've ever had (not the best, because Greece just does it better), and definitely the best in the Bay Area. The warm pita and dips are spectacular, especially the tirokafteri, which I could eat with a spoon. The gyros are the best around. And the dip that comes with the fries - what my boyfriend and I call "purple stuff" (Chapelle reference, anyone?) - is perfection. They need to bottle and sell it.
My only complaint: closed on weekends! Hopefully this will change in time.
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As much as I have wanted to try the falafel, I always get the lamb souvlaki sandwich. I can't NOT get the lamb souvlaki. It's honest-to-Betsy lamb sirloin, baby, and about half a lamb's worth of it. Great tzatziki (not too garlicky), and fresh-fresh-fresh vegetables round out the sammy. The complimentary sourdough bread and pita with hummus served a priori are great -- especially since waits are long -- but I'd prefer a bit less garlic and a bit more pureeing -- too grainy for me. Although fruit -- genuinely fresh, flavorful fruit -- is available as a side, don't be a hero: Get the fries. Man oh man. You almost always get them fresh out of the fryer, and even if the yogurt sauce they come with weren't fantastic (which it is) you could eat them plain. (If you ask for ketchup, you're truly a punk and deserve to have the fries stuffed up your nose.)
I do have one complaint, which has nothing to do with Athena per se (it happens everywhere in the South Bay): Groups of people rock up to Athena, see the line (there's always a line), and send a minion to "save" a table for their party. Folks, why is it not patently obvious that this is exactly the same as cutting in line? Show a little consideration for the people who got it together to arrive earlier than you did and wait your turn for a table for chrissakes.
Cute little Greek restaurant that's situated in the strangest location ever. My BF surprised me by taking me here for dinner (he knows how much I love Greek food) but it was funny because he got lost trying to find this place. I couldn't help him out obviously since I had no idea where we were headed. HA. I should revoke his man-card.
Anyway, when we walked in, we were told to pick a table of our choice. I didn't know we were supposed to order at the counter (per other reviews) so we waited at the table and they brought us a menu. We both ordered the "Gyro (Yiro) Pita" w/ fries. Stupidly I didn't even read the description that it was sliced beef... but oh well. I normally have lamb/beef gyros, so I didn't care for the pre-sliced beef, AND they were really shady with the tzatkiki sauce. Tsk tsk. =/. I picked out the baby greens (I hate the taste) and onions (they were raw!), took a few bites of the gyro, and ended up just boxing the rest to-go... maybe because I filled up on the complimentary dip and bread basket that we had in the beginning of the meal. Nice touch, by the way, however the hummus was a bit grainy, wish it were more on the smooth side. But who am I to complain? It's FREE =).... The BF finished his meal, of course... but he commented that the gyro meat was too salty, and that the fries were too soggy. He ate all the fries though because he says and I quote "he's never wasted a fry in his life". Haha.
Not quite a 4 or 5 star rating for me because the meat was 'meh', the fries, although different and interesting, were a bit soggy for my liking. They were good though, just wish they kept 'em in the fryer for a bit longer. Also, they use pre-sliced meat, not authentic rotisserie-style cut meat. And call me crazy but i didn't like that "purple stuff" everyone raved about. I read some reviews that its made of olives.... and unfortunately I hate olives. LOL. Anyway, I wouldn't drive out of my way to get a gyro here, but if we were in the neighborhood, I'd return to try the Arnaki Pita (lamb w/ GRILLED onions... not raw likes mines were)... I think I would've been happier if I had ordered that instead.
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