10/26/09

Still the Best Greek Food in Town

by Mnboy

Obviously the previous reviewer lacks any sort knowledge of Greek Food. This is truly the only restaurant that comes close to Greek food between here and Greece. I grew up in Greece, and I know Greek food when taste.

Most of the food here is local and artisan. All the food is made from scratch. You will be hard pressed to find another Greek restaurant that makes its own tzaziki. This place features great wines from Greece. I would recommend this place to everybody.

• Pros: Great Local Authentic Food. Ambiance.
• Cons: Parking

04/22/09

Worst Service and Mediocre Food

by MarkBergstein

I stopped in for a take out of spinach boughatsa which is really spanakopita but don't call it the latter or the owner, Lazarus, will throw a fit--he's a real freaky case.

The service was slow as I waited standing up and when I started to eat it ten minutes later, the male server did not even include a napkin in the bag and it is made with alot of olive oil. Fortunately, I don't go there too often and will go to Its Greek to Me instead.

• Cons: Everything

10/05/08

Best authentic Greek experience

by youngtcer

This is the best Greek food around. I recommend getting the combo and sharing to allow the chance to try various menu items. Servers were sweet and had thick accents. I felt bad there weren't more people dining there....the location is just blocks from the busy Hennepin/Central intersection. There are of course cheaper, delicious Greek spots around, but this has a nicer upscale atmosphere that's good for special occasions, dates, etc.

Everything we ate was delicious...loved the gyros of course. Also they have great bottled sodas that are imported. A hidden gem, for sure!

• Pros: Authentic Greek atmosphere, delicious everything!, fresh floral centerpieces on tables
• Cons: Tucked away from the main drag, very dead quiet

04/04/08

Good service, Good Food, NOT NOISY

by byro0028

So my bf and I were walking around NE trying to grab a bite on a Friday night. Well we tried Brasa (line was out the door, supercrowded and noisy) walked past Wilde Roast (looked sparse, but entrees cost too much for what they are) breezed past the new Red Stag supper club (again really noisy, line out the door, crowded, people from the burbs invading what looked to be a cool, new, LEED establishment; plus entrees were so vanilla...how can you spice up traditional supper club eats? Truth is it looks like you can't) So we walked past Red Stag and literally stumbled upon Gardens. I've got to tell you these past few reviews must have gone on an off night or something because the service was wonderful. The staff was attentive and helpful. The food was tasty and well priced. Except for a roasted red pepper "salad" (cost $5.95 for a plate of cold red peppers that I could have gotten at Lunds for $3) So rethink getting the "salads" for an app. and stick to trying out new things that you can't easily make at home. My cabbage leaves with rice and meat was good and filling and my bf had the orzo arni, orzo with lamb and tomato sauce which was also very good. Very savory and fresh at the same time. I enjoyed my dinner at Gardens of Salonica and will be back there very soon.

(P.S. the art is neat too and it would be a great place for a first date b/c the lighting is soft)

• Pros: Service, Food, Art, Lighting
• Cons: Hidden on a side street no one drives on, red pepper salad I could have made at home

10/04/07

wait staff SHOCKINGLY bad!!!

by dinnergroup

My "dinner group" friends and I have been going out to eat together 2-4 times per month for the last ten years....and last night was the WORSET service I have ever had! The place was not busy, (Wednesday 6:30ish)and there seemed to be enough staff on hand, they just didn't want to work I guess. Too bad for our waiter- we are usually great tippers! The food was okay (not as good as I'd remembered from a couple years back). Hoping the owner is reading this.....I certainly wouldn't want our waiter representing MY business!

The worst part was that it was our birthday girl's choice of resturant....even she was shocked at how the service was.....I would pass on this place. What a disappointment!

02/20/07

Unbelievably slow service and very small but expensive servings

by lethal_force

I signed up for this account JUST to write a review of this place. I may not write another review on this site after this.

I looked up this restaurant on this web site and this was my first visit to this restaurant. I chose it because it is close to where I live and had some good reviews. I got to Gardens of Salonica at 7:00 pm on a Tuesday night. There was no one else in the whole restaurant for the entire time I was there. Not one other person. I was thinking I was going to be able to get my food really fast. I was very wrong. The initial service was average enough but that is where it ended. All I ordered was one lamb souvlaki. I usually like to try something traditional when I go to a new restaurant. I have watched Lamb souvlaki made in front of my eyes in about six or seven min in a very busy cafe. I sat literally in a totally vacant Greek restaurant for over half an hour waiting for one lamb souvlaki. A side note here is that the souvlaki comes with some home made fries that were quite good but there were only about eight of them. I was VERY close to walking out of the place after waiting for so long. I received my food and noticed right away that this was by far the smallest souvlaki that I had ever seen. I can somewhat understand when food takes a long time (except there was no one else there) but the food then needs to be somewhat good. The bill ended up being $8.00 for ONE souvlaki. If I had seen a manager while I was leaving I would have pulled them aside to voice my disappointment. I had to stop at a McDonalds for two cheeseburgers to fill me up. By the way the cheese burgers had more meat and tasted better than the lamb souvlaki I ate in about 2 min.

I am very sorry. This was terrible. I would never even try this place a second time much less four times.

• Pros: Clean Great art nice selection
• Cons: slowest service ever, very small portions at a high price

02/16/07

great desserts!!

by gte081h

we only went in for dessert and coffee, and it was amazing. had some apricot pastry that i loved, light and flaky. going back for dinner soon!

11/16/06

Fantastic food and atmosphere

by bebemegs78

While the previous person might have had a bad experience, it would be unfortunate for others to miss this wonderful Greek spot. After many lunches (no dinner yet!), I have to say that this is one heck of a place!

Fantastic and delicate feta, wonderful olives, yigantes to die for, delicious lamb gyros etc. etc. A sign of a good place is the complexity and delicacy of flavours and this spot has it.

Highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to take a culinary trip far far away!

11/13/06

Worst Service I have ever had....and the food was just "okay."

by hans1167

My partner and I went there for the fourth time in two years and had found the previous times to be horrible, mostly because the service was slow and bad, but loving Greek food and wanting to mix it up a bit, we tried it "one more time." What a mistake. I don't know where to begin, is it because it took 15 minutes to order a drink (it was definitely not busy) and appetizers, we were never read the specials, that we had to re-order our appetizers, our forks were placed back on the table between courses, and our napkins never reappeared for dessert, or is it that the "Greek Coffee" that was advertised, was made on an espresso machine? No, I believe what perhaps annoyed me most was that I had decided to indulge myself with the most expensive thing on the menu--lamb (remember I never heard the specials). When they brought the lamb out there were four ribs on some delicious orzo noodles, but only one of the ribs actually had meat on it!!! I found one other piece of lamb in my orzo, but you'll notice I didn't say meat--that's because it was an enormous glob of fat. Gross.

Service: We never saw our waitress and she wasn't present in the room to even try and flag down

Food: I have had great Greek food (on Greek Islands and in American restaurants) and this isn't it--to anyone looking for good Greek, try Christo's or It's Greek to Me.

Also, I hate to leave a bad tip and they made me feel uncomfortable cause I had to leave a bad tip and a note, and I used to be a server so you can imagine how it pained me!

• Pros: Great ambiance
• Cons: The staff is a nightmare. Every single one of them was rude or just not present!

07/25/06

cute place with really good food

by pinaykat79

I was visiting from San Francisco 2 weekends ago and I wanted to try somewhere different in Minneapolis, so I came on Citysearch and found the Gardens of Salonica. Everything that all the other reviewers have said are totally the truth. The dip, the lamb and potatoes, the gyro, and the baklava my friend and I shared were all really delicious. The set up is really inviting and the bathroom is decorated really nicely. The food there was really good.

• Pros: ambiance and food
• Cons: parking could possibly be a problem