Fort Lauderdale Greek Festival — Local services in Fort Lauderdale

Not Impressed

Food - was just ok. Tasted like every other Greek restaurant I've been too, and I've actually had way better. They basically had three places to get food - one that had full meals, another that had gyros, spankopita, and Greek fries, and then a pastry counter. Rather than making people wait in such long lines and order such large portions, I would have liked to see more places with almost a tapas style so you could try more things and not get too full to eat anything else.

Bar - very lackluster. Their selection was limited. A few wines, a couple liqueurs, and one brand of beer. None of it was good besides the beer, Mykonos. I would have liked to see some Greek specialty cocktails other than the frozen margarita mix with Ouzo. Very disappointed.

Vendors - Pretty bad when you want to buy things to support the event and can't find anything! One was selling fake knockoff designer bags like you would see on the side of the road, and a bunch had cheap jewelry and crappy knick knacks. A counter was selling selling bed sheets, and when looking at the label, it largely stated it was made in China. Another vendor was pushy and selling boxes, wall hangings, and loose shells that he claimed were from Mexico, he kept harassing me to buy something... Not how I want to be treated at an event. The only cool vendors were a stand selling custom handmade wooden home items outside, a couple selling cork bags and accessories, a (very expensive) jewelry outfit in the middle of the room, and a place in the corner selling some handmade dresses and clothing. The rest of the stuff was cheap, tacky, overpriced, and things you would find in a small gas station gift shop in the middle of nowhere.

Special events - Wine tasting was packed, understaffed, not well put together, and you couldn't hear anything. Byzantine chant - was 25 minutes of talking and only 5 minutes of chanting, from only one woman.

Venue - Hot and did not have adequate fans, sound system was horrible and distorted plus everything was way too loud. In the area to get gyros, the lines were snakes over a patch of unkept grass that you had to stand in for a long time... while a ton of biting insects in the grass/dirt were biting you! The kids area was a bunch of dirt and mud, resulting in mud and rocks on our feet and in our shoes... talk about gross. The carnival rides were the most beat up looking I have ever seen, the mechanical parts were screeching and clinking, I would be very scared to put my children on them.

Overall, I would have rather just gone to a Greek restaurant and had a nice meal. I understand that this is to make money for the church, but for the amount of money they pull in from this, they could have hired people who are experienced in putting a nice event together. This type of event may have been cool 40 years ago, but it was basic compared to...

Yeah...I've been going there every year for a long- long time now. I missed it during the covid times. But it fun and the food is great. And educational too. There are tours of the church given throughout the day. They request that you not be dressed in shorts or tank-tops, for the church tour only.

Some years there are two men dressed as ancient Greek soldiers, and you can be photographed with them,...

Avoid the kids carnival area at all cost it is a complete rip off. Horrible slow short rides. Way way way over priced for.what is offered. $28 dollars for 5 fried ores and a disgusting so called lemonade. Scammed me extra $4 for a topping with out saying there was a charge. They speak perfect English when you order then act like they don't when you question them why it's so...