Ithaca Greek Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Markham

Some of the WORST service I have ever experienced. DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU HAVE ALLERGIES. THEY DO NOT CARE AT ALL.

First time here and everything about the service was completely unacceptable.

I asked if there were any nuts in their pesto sauce as I am allergic to certain nuts, and the guy immediately said no. This is a surprise and I tell him there’s usually nuts in pesto though, and he goes “No, no…. I don’t know.” Then stares at me as if I’m going to give him the answer. And I’m like “Can you ask? I’m allergic to pine nuts.” He stands there going “I don’t know” until he finally decides to go ask another waiter across the restaurant if there’s nuts in the sauce. He comes back and says “No nuts, just seeds.” And I’m like “what seeds?” Since I’m allergic to some seeds as well, and I’ve never heard of seeds being in pesto. And he says -surprise- “I don’t know”. Then the other waiter he talked to comes to our table to tell me the same thing “No nuts, just seeds.” To which I say, what seeds?? And he says “Pine nuts.” I was honestly just at a loss for words at this point and when he saw my confusion he goes “Pine nuts are seeds, not nuts.” In a very annoyed voice, as if this was all a huge inconvenience to him. Like he walked all the way over from the other side of the restaurant to try to prove to me that pine nuts are seeds and to tell me about my allergies that I’ve lived my whole life with?

Pine nuts are classified as both a nut AND seed if anyone is actually wondering. So if I had just went with what the first waiter said, I would’ve had an allergic reaction. It could’ve gone so much worse and they’d be facing legal issues right now.

On top of this, there are some dishes where they light it on fire as they serve it. They give no warning and will just start lighting fires behind you, so good luck to your hair. Then they wave the dish that was burning just seconds ago in your face with no regard for your safety. I had to duck and swerve out of the way to avoid getting burned.

My aunt burned her finger on her plate because they didn’t warn her it was hot when they handed it to her.

When we tried to pay, the transaction failed and we said we’d pay in cash instead. The guy ignored us and just took the machine and walked away without saying a word. 10 minutes we’re still sitting there confused and the same guy comes back and asks if we need help (not in a nice way). We say we’re trying to pay in cash, and he tells us to just give him the cash. We ask for the original receipt, and for the receipt of the failed transaction first. Another waiter comes with the failed transaction receipt and it is a ripped up mess. He says “I threw it in the garbage” when he hands it to my dad. I say “You didn’t ask if we wanted it.” Maybe he didn’t hear me, but Im ignored. He yanks the receipt out of my dad’s hand and my dad says that he wants to keep it. The guy goes “it’s garbage” and when my dad still has his hand out, he says “IT’S GARBAGE, GARBAGE!” just louder, and ruder, while waving the paper in my dad’s face. Then he finally hands it to my dad with a roll of his eyes and holds up his hands in surrender.

They acted as if any question we asked them was a direct challenge. We were just trying to eat dinner. I don’t understand why they were all so angry.

Please keep in mind that these were all separate waiters, and though the food was good, the experience was completely ruined by the continuous horrible service. Would...

I was really excited to visit this restaurant for the first time. Upon walking in, I immediately noticed that the interior was designed like a theme restaurant with a roof painted like the sky and elements of Greece scattered throughout. It's cute but also feels a bit gimmicky like a mandarin restaurant.

The restaurant was quite busy but the waiters were attentive; they had a very old school way of communicating. For the price point of the menu items, I was expecting the servers to be a bit more polished but it wasn't terrible. For example, I asked our waiter for recommendations on wine pairings for our entrees and the response was "whatever you like, they are all good" so I sensed a lack of knowledge in this area but he was still very friendly.

For the appetizer we had the Saganaki Opa, which is a flaming cheese dish served with garlic bread. This was the highlight of the night for me. But before diving in, I noticed that my side plate was covered in grease, like if it was never even cleaned from the prior customer. That was a complete turnoff!

Our mains arrived where I had the signature roasted lamb. The lamb itself was very tender but I was a bit underwhelmed by a lack of seasoning/sauce to give the lamb some flavour. The roast came with typical side of potatoes and veggies. However one thing that isn't acceptable is that the oil that the potatoes comes in, was dripped on the outer edge of the plate. When you pay $30 for an entree, you would expect the chef to be more prideful about their work rather providing a sloppy presentation on the plate. My partner had the pork souvlaki which was decent.

So to recap, would I visit again? Maybe. But I think many of the issues I mentioned today stems from the staff being rushed and making mistakes. Perhaps with some extra staff for busy hours and some extra focus/training, this place has the potential to be great but right now it's average fare and a bit overpriced for the...

We would agree with most of the reviews here, this place is very good - not just for a Greek place in Markham, but even compared to many we've tried in the city. This is more a COVID times, take out experience commentary.

Value is ok, they do give a good amount of food, but they're not the cheapest. Certainly, there are a few places in a 20min drive or so from here that might give a bit more food, but from what we've experienced, not better. We had the souvlaki, moussaka and grilled calamari. All were very good.

Parking's good in this plaza, I'm sure even outside of COVID times, you should still be able to find a place to park. They take credit card.

The rice was well seasoned, cooked properly, near perfect. The potatoes were done well, I'd prefer slightly softer, but that's more personal preference - they were seasoned well, and unlike some places, not really on the sour side, which I don't like.The meats were all seasoned well, not overly so, and not under seasoned. The moussaka was also done very well, again, everything was seasoned well, but not too much so. And for me, the best part, the tzatziki was probably the best I've ever had - even better than some homemade stuff I've tried making a few times. Not sure what exactly it was, but damn was it good. I wish they gave more. =)

I'd definitely go back, and would recommend this place to anyone.

All the packaging was done well - even the Greek salads were nicely packaged, with the salad dressing in a small container. Keep up...