First time here and we will return now that we found a place with great octopus here in St. Pete. Until now we always traveled up to Tarpon Springs to get it. Since we love grilled octopus so much, we each ordered our own appetizer plate which came with two very large, nicely grilled tentacles for only $14.95 a plate. They were perfectly cooked with a nice grilled taste and crispy outside texture to them with the meat inside still tender and moist. We then each ordered our own Greek salads as my husband loves anchovies and I hate them. The salads were quite large for $10.95 each. Next time we will just order one with anchovies on the side and split it. We understand that restaurants struggled to stay in business during Covid but some now are price gouging their customers to make up for it and the food is not worth the price. Glad to see that Athenian Gardens is keeping their prices reasonable for the quality and quantity of food that they serve.
This is normally my go-to when i’m craving greek food but it seems like its really gone downhill over the years. I paid $23 for a salad for two (takeout), and I just got a box of * mostly* old cabbage . Lots of brown pieces of lettuce I picked out that was clearly bad. The tomatos had big brown spots (rotten). Just not worth it at all. I ended up throwing the salad away because it grossed me out to sit there and pick it apart. I most likely won’t go back because its pricey, and I don’t want to risk getting old/rotten food again and paying for it. Athenian gardens, do better.
I've always really enjoyed eating here. Really solid Greek restaurant with hefty portions, quality ingredients, and great service. They have an amazing Greek salad and their platters are delicious and very fairly priced.
By far the best Greek food I've ever had!
Fantastic service and delicious food. Appetizers: Hummus and Calamari -- generous portions and great taste. The main dishes: Souflaki Beef Sandwich, Souflaki Lamb Sandwich, Leg of lamb Sandwich --- all the meats were cooked well and we're very tender (they had no sides with them). The soup of the day was Cream of Spinach and this was creamy and tasty. The Lamb Platter had pieces of lamb that were a bit dry and bland. They were accompanied with wedges of lemony potatoes, steamed veggies and a side Greek salad. Sadly they did not have any of the desserts we wanted.
As greek restaurants go in the area (excluding Tarpon Springs) it's one of the better places. Service is good, menu is vast and the food was above average compared to most local offerings.
Service was good though food was decent.I ordered the lamb chop platter. The entire platter has no flavor, the lamb chops were made in olive oil and had zero crust to them. The veggies were 100% out of a steam bag (not even pepper to flavor) and the potatoes were super soggy and blah.The green salad was good.I also had the tzatziki and pita bread which was good.Overall I would not return as it is not the service though it seems to be the chefs.
Many years ago I would visit Athenian Gardens in Tyrone area frequently. It was a favorite and I craved their salads. I really wanted to like this location but I can't. The Greek salad was just ok. How do you mess up a salad? Too much salt and oregano and the potato salad tasted "off". I got a side of gyro meat that was basically "glorified bacon". It was greasy and lacked spices (must have used them all on the salad.) My daughter had the pastitsio and will now forever question my judgement on dining establishments. It was flavorless and disappointing to a kid that eats plain macaroni. Also a note on the menu should have been a clue...something to the effect of "Know what you are ordering, because if you dont like it there are no substitutions or refunds." I guess they have had a lot of people try to send things back. My memories of the OG AG have been tarnished.
Have only one other Greek restaurant salad to compare to, and was so disappointed. Lettuce was center of head only, had a slice of a beet and no beet in the dressing, small amount of cheese.
Good food. Staff is young and lack good customer service skills. Pretty good value for the amount of food you receive.