Pastitsio

I decided to start with lunch for the first part of my cookie tour. This Greek restaurant opens at 11 so I ran in there to get out the cold. Yes, Yelpers you get one free spakopita with your check in. That is a square of phyllo layered with spinach, herbs and feta cheese. It is on their appetizer menu where you would get two for $6.00 if you wish.

I noticed on the menu that both their chicken pita and their lamb pita are both home bred meats from various farms. Throughout the past year I've been enjoying homegrown food wherever I visit so I opted for the lamb pita. This place is very small and takeout is available. Seating was not a problem for me since I got there when it opened.

It did take a while to get the food but as the saying goes "good things come to those who wait." I got my spakopita first and literally it was so good I was craving another. However, knowing I would be "cookie logged" today I resisted the temptation to buy the appetizer.

My gyro came with a side salad and a sauce which my waitress told me was very hot and spicy. I really appreciate her telling me this because I can't handle things like that. Both the lamb gyro and salad were delicious! The salad really doesn't need any topping. It is good as it comes. As I was eating she brought me out my "cookie" which was homemade from scratch baklava. This small piece was so good I just had to buy a couple of pieces to take home with me for later.

They also offer vegetable, vegan, and gluten free items on the menu. It is Greek so you will find the traditional Greek fare along with some different things

This is one place on my I will return bucket list. As I noted it does take some time for your meal to be prepared but if it is delicious it is well worth the wait. Located near Arsenal Middle school towards lower Lawrenceville this place makes a healthy addition to the neighborhood.

I stopped by here a couple of Saturdays with my wife for lunch. We happened to be in Lawrenceville for the afternoon due to the Joy of Cookies and so we knew that we would be having lunch in the area. Both my wife and i remembered passing Pastitsio before although in its previous location and thought it would be place to eat. So we headed on over and sat down. The inside of this place is quite small with seating for 20 people although to be honest if there was 20 people inside, it would be tough to move. It has an exposed brick wall on one side of the dining room, an odd mountain mural on another and is painted a baby blue on the third. The chairs were stainless steel while the floors were tiled.

For lunch on this day my wife and I decided to start off with the hummus while i went with the falafel gyro for my entree and she went with the chicken gyro. The menu describes the hummus as a purée of chickpeas, sesame and lemon served with vegetables and pita bread (big enough for 2) while the falafel pita was described as fried chickpeas put in a pita with tomatoes, lettuce, pickled onions and tzatziki sauce. Our hummus came out first and the menu wasn't lying by saying that it was big enough for two . The hummus itself was decent but what I really enjoyed about the dish was the carrots, bell peppers, celery and cucumber which came with it. After we had finished with that some salads came out next. Neither my wife nor I had known we would be getting one but we were both happy about it. There was a nice mix of lettuce, cucumber and carrot that was dressed lightly and tasted quite fresh. Interestingly this may be the first salad that I have ever had which had dill in it and I liked it. After finishing the salads and with my wife and I already starting to feel a little full, our entrees arrived to the table. Both gyros looked good and we quickly dove into them. My gyro consisted of 4 falafels, all of which had a good flavor to them. The tzatziki sauce here provided a nice base for the gyro as it was flavorful without being overpowering. Meanwhile the pickled onions provided a nice little pop of acidity to the dish which really helped to bring it all together. Overall i thought it was a good gyro and I know that my wife liked hers as well.

The bottom line for me is that I would stop by here again in the future. All of the food that we had here was good and both my wife and I left feeling quite full.

Stopped in for lunch, was a little unsure of how it was going to be, but was hoping the Yelp reviews I read wouldn't let me down! I wanted to try since I read they offer vegan options.

To start we had the hummus app. It was not on their menu but we asked the server about a possible hummus app and she of course made it happen with no problem!

The hummus was delicious, a very nice serving and was accompanied with fresh warm pita, zucchini, carrot and pepper sticks.

For the main course, I had the vegetable pita with no tzatziki, which the server assured me would be vegan friendly. It was soooo tasty! I'm not sure the spices that were on the pita, but it was honestly delicious! Yum!

My lunch pal had the original gyro, she also said it was very delicious.

I would be happy to come back and eat again! We left full and happy, not to mention the prices are very reasonable!

Overall score: 3.5

They ran out of coffee but the waitress was willing to run down to a coffee shop to get a fresh cup. The same waitress was not well-versed in the ingredients listed on the menu.

We started with the cheese and olive platter. Four types of cheeses, pitted and unpitted olives, walnuts, honey, and pita. It fed 3 of us ... could have been an entree.

We were served a nice salad with a light vinaigrette.

Two of us had pitas: roasted lamb and chicken. A good pita makes everything taste good. Deliciously messy. The third member of our party had the chicken over tabouleh. It was also very good.

For dessert, we shared a baklava ... I liked the high cinnamon to sugar ratio. My party expected it to be sweeter.

Street parking is free after 6 pm. The restaurant holds under 20 another party made reservations - we just walked in.

I would return ... my party were on the fence.

My mom and I went to the Pgh Vintage Mixer this afternoon, we were having a girls date out!

We were trying to decide where to eat an early dinner in Lawrenceville. I've been eyeing up Pastitsio for a few weeks. They follow me on Instagram via my twistburgh account, so I definitely wanted to check them out!

The restaurant is small, but very cozy. Our waitress was so friendly. The restaurant has a great atmosphere.

To start, we order the Saganaki (Pan fried kafalograviera cheese and finished with a savory brandy. Vegetarian and gluten free) it was delicious! Heads up, if you check in on Yelp - you get a free order of Spanakopita (2 squares of crispy sheets of phyllo layered with spinach, herbs and feta. Vegetarian.) The spanakopita is to die for! They also gave use grilled pita that tasted amazing
.

For our entrees, I ordered the Chicken Souvlakia
(Marinated chicken with garlic, olive oil and lemon, severed over basmati rice. Come with sides salad. Gluten free.) You can either order the lunch or dinner portion in the afternoon. My mom ordered the Lamb Souvlakia (Marinated leg of lamb with garlic, olive oil and lemon and severed over basmati rice. Come with sides salad. Gluten free) - these entrees were amazing. It was the perfect amount of food for an early afternoon dinner. The lamb and chicken were cooked perfectly. The rice was delicious as well. The side salads were wonderful. It was literally the freshest salad I've ever had.

For dessert, we ordered baklava to go. I can't wait to try them later.

This place is BYOB, so I'll definitely be back with a great bottle of wine!

I am pretty torn while writing this review. This review is solely based on a to-go order I placed over the weekend. I cannot speak to a sit down dining experience at this point. First things first, if you have a large party this is not the place for you. I noticed two 4 top tables and three 2 top tables inside. They do have a patio which is great during the warm summer months, but not so much of an option during winter. I was the only person in the restaurant at the time I placed my order and it took probably 15 minutes for it to be ready. I only saw the owner and one other person in the kitchen. This is the true definition of a mom and pop shop that offers fresh and local ingredients in each of their dishes.

I ordered a gyro to-go and that is usually my go to at Greek restaurants. I was surprised to find out that a side salad comes with the pitas. The salad was fresh and I probably could have crushed a whole bowl of it. I had pretty high expectations for the gyro after eating that delicious salad. First, I noted that the gyro meat was nice and thick without overwhelming the pita. After my first bite I immediately thought something was slightly over seasoned with dill. I'm not sure if it was the gyro meat or the tzatziki sauce, but something in the pita was seasoned a little too much. Unfortunately, Pastitsio will not be my first choice when I'm craving a gyro.

I love Mediterranean food and my love goes back long, long days (This is how my younger cousin used to describe "A long time ago")! Yogurt, hummus, baba ghanouj, pita bread, kebab are some of the first foods that I tasted which weren't soul food influenced besides pizza or Chinese food. The sharp, often acidic flavors mixed with piquant spices really appeal to me and the food served at Pastistio knocked me out.

Don't go looking for just gyros (which they have) because there is so much more to their menu. My daughter and I have been to Pastistio previously for their Palakari, which is a mixture of Red Winter Wheat, Black-eyed peas, shallots and Red wine Vinegar, orzo salad and gyro platters. Delicious! On our visit for the prix fixe dinner, we had a mezze platter with falafel, pita bread, tzatziki, hummus, roasted eggplant puree, dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), spanakopita and olives. Whew! I feel full and just got tired from listing all of that stuff. We were also served the Dakos Salata, which is a Greek take on the Italian panzanella bread salad. Pastistio's is served over a piece of barley rusk which provides a nice nutty counterbalance to the tomatoes, feta cheese and other acidic ingredients. For our entrée we were served the Shrimp and Feta (Shrimp seasoned and sauteed with a white wine & fresh tomato sauce with angel hair pasta) and for dessert we were served a homemade whole cream yogurt with strawberry & lime spoon sweets.

The owner, Stamatis (Matt) Bournias and his staff provided excellent service and wonderful food! ! (Fantastic!) ! (We will be back!)

I really went in with high hopes and an open heart. I feel sincerely let down. I love Greek food, but I did not love my experience here.

The good:
The bench along the wall is really comfy seating.

Despite being small, the big window makes it feel much more open.

The spanikopita was good. It was just this side of burnt, but it was delicious.

The not so good:
Dead plants. Everywhere. The flowers on the tables were all dead/wilted. The plants in front of the windows were dead/dying.

There were really pretty tablecloths, but they were covered with sheets of paper. I've seen this before, but usually just the top of the table so you can still see the tablecloths. It felt redundant to have real cloths you can't see topped by paper ones (some of which were dirty but set for the next guests to sit at anyway.)
Maybe just remove both cloths and have a bare table?

BYOB is cool, but maybe think about having something simple like iced tea available, or maybe mint for the water? Something that still feels home made but is more than just iced water.

I felt really unwelcome when I said I was eating in. The employee (server/host?) did not seem happy to have company.
This played right into me ordering and changing my mind as I handed the server my menu and how she rolled her eyes. She did not seem at all happy. I felt anxious and awkward the whole time I was there.

The Avgolemono soup. I was excited when I checked online to see it on the menu. It was the last meal I got for my mother before she passed and I couldn't wait to enjoy it.
It was dreadful. Absolutely awful. It was the worst soup I've ever had. At first I thought it was just bland, and I added some pepper and squeezed a lemon wedge into it, and it was edible. It was edible if you ignored that it tasted like plastic, and that it was either made with orzo that had gone soft by sitting too long, or with rice that had gone soft and puffy by sitting too long. It was just warm enough to eat and that means that it was re-heated. My guess is that it wasn't the first time this batch had been reheated, and my stomach proved me right. I don't get a sour stomach often, but this was the worst case of it I've ever had.
I was too intimidated by the server to send it back and I paid for it. Even my iron stomach couldn't handle however long that soup and been sitting, probably in the fridge and then reheated for dinner and back in the fridge again. It left a taste on my tongue for hours that neither water nor strong tea could get rid of and on the ride home all I could think of was brushing my teeth.

Can we talk about music choice for a minute? It felt like the worst of the 50s and 60s grating, loudly, over the speakers.


I truly wish I'd checked out the tacos next door.

I'm pretty new to Greek food but wow, I've definitely been converted!!

I ordered the Moussaka, which I promptly stuffed myself with - so long table manners! The entrée also came with a side of Greek salad which was great because I do like getting in my greens. I will say that the portions were not super big, maybe because it was lunch? Either way it didn't bother me too much, and I'll definitely be coming back.

Till next time Pastitsio!

Hands down the best Greek food in the city. From the warm surroundings to the inviting smells, this spot has you smiling from the time you enter. Dishes are flavorful and appealing. The moussaka was perfectly prepared and the hummus was addictive. Even the rice pilaf was mouth watering. The meal went from fantastic to epic when the dessert came out. Their galaktoboureko was heaven. Never had it served with a lemon wedge before and shame on me. The lemon added a whole different dimension and boy was it worth it. I can't say enough great things about Pastitsio....make sure you come with your favorite bottle and your favorite group of friends!