Athens Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

Weekly Sunday visits to the Danforth of the 90's were a staple of my childhood. My parents having gone for even longer. I have such fond memories of Greektown growing up, which, sadly, began to crumble sometime in the 2000's. By the early 2010's, the strip was merely a shell of its former self, with once respectable, decent, eateries, now only remaining the same in name, but clearly with new (or just now indifferent) management, the quality dwindling as rapidly as gentrification expanded. Of the few old names to remain on the strip, it was just one disappointing experience after another for me- it's quite clear they only survive because of a faithful old client base, relying on yesterdays successes to carry them into the future. I had all but given up on the Danforth Greek food scene, when I saw Athens mentioned by several folks as being the one last stand; a glimpse into how great things used to be here. And I'm so glad that I didn't let my other experiences cloud my openness as far as trying a new (to me) spot, because Athens has immediately redeemed my perception of Danforth's standing. Granted, it's just one restaurant out of many, but it's so great that I'll be making treks down from where I live, in the 905, just to dine here. I'm surprised that neither my parents nor I had heard of it over all those years at dining on the strip, though we never ventured out "that far", even if it's just a couple blocks east of our usual spots back then. In any case, I'm so glad to have now discovered this place, and visited twice in a couple of days, it was that great. I'm a big believer in small details, so as soon as the complimentary bread hit our table, paired with the olive oil and balsamic, I could tell this was going to be quality. Further, when the side village salad which accompanied my main was delivered ahead of the dish, I was sold that this was a top notch spot. The salad, which utilizing relatively few ingredients, clearly utilizes the utmost highest quality produce, cheese, and so on- I've never been so wowed by such a relatively simple salad. The saganaki was fantastic of course, as was every last dish we had. From the pork belly to the grilled calamari, the gyros, the garlic bread with feta, souvlaki (chicken and pork), rack of lamb, moussaka, and the items off the homestyle menu (which is unique to this place as far as I know, and alone a massive reason to come here). Everything was perfectly seasoned, bursting with flavour and freshness. Portions very generous, presentation on point. For desert, do not leave without having the bougatsa! It's the best I've had in the city. Service is incredibly warm, genuine, and attentive- couldn't ask for better folks. The spot is definitely on the smaller side and can feel slightly cramped with a larger party, but I think it really adds to the overall vibe/character- really awesome on a weekend evening with the Greek music playing and the dimmer lights. Almost like a mini getaway in your own city. Prices are not the lowest, and it adds up if you order several apps and such, but honestly, for the quality, I have no qualms forking up. So thrilled to have discovered this place, and cannot wait for all of my future visits, with lots of items yet to be tried on the menu. Nice to see there's stll a genuinely great Greek option on...

First and foremost the food was delicious. We were there with a party of 19 for an engagement gathering for a wonderful young couple named Troy and Alex, and we tried several different appetizers which were amazing, especially the grilled octopus which was mouth watering, but we also had several other appetizers where you could use them as a spreads and put them on grilled pitas or bread which they brought out and what stood out for me in particular was the "Kafteri" or spicy cheese in English, was delicious. For dinner I had the homemade moussaka which was also delicious, but it's unfortunate that it doesn't come with any sides no potatoes no salad none of that, you get just a mousaka and that's it which is rare, I've never seen that before in a restaurant they usually give you a couple of sides with it like potatoes and salad for example. I also tried my wife 's pork souvlaki on a pita and that was delicious too, I like the fact that they don't overcook the pork like almost every other Greek restaurant does because it dries it out and it tastes horrible when they do that but these guys did not, it was done just right and it was moist and tender. Now having said all that it's very expensive. I don't justify the pricing for the amount of food that they give you. Like the mousaka for $25 was not in line with pricing in other restaurants which also include a couple of sides with your meal. Also the octopus was $30 and it was only one octopus leg and other places give you two to three octopus legs. So if you're looking to go there on a budget it's not the place to go. But if budget is not an issue then the food is very tasty go for it, and it's the only reason I didn't give it five stars because they lacked quantity. The service was good I'm not going to complain about that, the food came out in a decent amount of time and the place has been there since 1975 so they're doing something right. Will I go back again? Well, having been through Danforth where this restaurant is located hundreds of times over the past 5 decades I never even knew about them because it's hidden just east of Pape on the south side of Danforth and the sign is pretty small and hard to read so it's easily missed. But, I did like the food and yes I will be returning another...

The food was always consistent and good when we came here but to be honest, the service is very slow. There’s a minimum 30 minute wait for everything — whether it’s waiting to be seated, greeted or given the bill — and seems to be the case on multiple visits here.

You can tell the owner is nice and has a lot of friends / returning customers so he’s often busy making his rounds and saying hello but the restaurant could really benefit from the servers helping each other out or communicating better.

We were, of course, fine with waiting to be seated because it’s COVID times and the servers could be too busy to clean the tables. Once we were ushered to be seated, we sat there for half an hour with no one greeting us or giving us menus. Even then, we were fine because they could have just forgotten and we were giving them the benefit of the doubt. But when we asked for the bill, again, we sat there for another half an hour waiting with no one coming. By then, there were only a few active tables so we were confused why it was taking so long. So I went inside the restaurant to pay directly there. I stood there and asked 3 different servers that walked by that we’d like to pay. The older lady server that was standing in front of the POS system just said “yeah yeah just give me a moment” and went back to counting her tips so that she can finish up her shift. I still didn’t get the bill and walked back out. It wasn’t until my husband went back in and had to demand for the bill did they finally give it to us.

This is just honest feedback as I’ve worked in a few restaurants before and even when it’s not your own table, it doesn’t hurt to do a quick check up on the customers and let their server know what’s going on. It just helps so much more with the turnover of tables and a better overall customer experience but it looks like it’s working just fine for them the way it is so it could just be my personal experience. Next time, I’ll likely support by just...