Fine Mess Smokehouse — Restaurant in Athens

EDIT: I was waiting for your reply. Yet, you exceeded my expectations. Bravo and well done!!! I don’t know about your strive for stellar experience. What I do know is your stellar ability to LIE. I wasn’t offered to change/remake the dishes. If there were any consequences of your lies (such as if you lie, you’ll get hit by a car or something), I don’t think you’d say the same thing. I absolutely LOVE your ability to lie. I look forward to pay for my full bill and some (tips) if everything is okay, not even great, just being okay would be enough. Again, great work at lying!! At least you TRY. Thank you for your time and effort for writing that long of an untruthful and amusing (or should I say abusing) reply, which actually made my day!! :)

P.S., changed the service rating to one star, because of the reply.

Learned about their restaurant “POLICY”. Knowing their restaurant policy can really help prevent you from ending up in a situation like mine.

POLICY: You CANNOT return or ask for any dishes to be remade after 2-3 minutes.

My situation: The server did her check after the food was delivered to our table. Because we didn’t know about their policy, I didn’t try all the dishes to make sure everything was okay. By the time I tried their short rib and Mac n cheese, it was too LATE. Found hair in both short rib (short, fine hair) and Mac n cheese (long, dark hair). By the way, I should’ve taken pictures of those. I was being too naive and thought I would just let them know AFTER I pay for the bill, so they wouldn’t feel obligated to take that off the bill. (Oh boy, wasn’t I wrong?! There was zero “obligated” vibe I sensed from them!!)

The short rib was extremely salty, which was admitted/acknowledged by the staff. I didn’t want to judge quickly, because of all the positive reviews, so I asked my partner to try a bite. And it was indeed salty to average human taste buds (make sure I put “average” here, no over-generalization). It got sent back to the kitchen with two bites taken. Got two complementary glasses of sparkling wine for that. (Gotta put it here, or I feel like they’ll come after me. lol. Their replies to negative reviews are quite sassy, to say the least.)

I was expecting the short rib would be taken off of the bill, since it was barely touched. After we talked to the server about the situation (again, no hair thing mentioned yet), she went and talked to her supervisor. Five minutes later, the supervisor came to the table and we explained the situation to him (the hair situation mentioned). Another five minutes passed. The supervisor talked to his supervisor, and apparently based on their “policy”, everything was too late. By “too late”, they meant you MUST raise your concerns in no more than 2-3 minutes after the food is served. Very important tip you got there, hopefully it can save you some hassle.

Oh and my partner puked after having their food. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise that I didn’t really touch my food. 😂

One overall star is for the service and brisket. Trying to be fair, I even give three stars to their service and atmosphere. (The staff were trying to be helpful, and the atmosphere was good overall, except there was one kid watching Peppa Pig loudly.)

P.S. I made sure to not put any “recommended dish” but brisket. I did read their replies to other negative reviewers. Gotta keep myself safe out there. Also, made sure I put my receipt there, so they can’t say I didn’t visit them or the...

As an American whose had delicious BBQ, I can tell you this place lives up to the name. It is an elevated bbq dining experience. The owner has combined the fine dining experience and paired it with the "mess" that is BBQ and produced a fabulous restaurant.

My husband and I dined here on a Saturday night and it was the best meal and experience I have had since being in Greece. Everyone was distanced, and the owner offered us hand sanitizer multiple times. Masks were on and we felt comfortable the entire time. It was not busy at all but hopefully after this review, all of those reading will not hesitate to go! The restaurant is a year and a half and did very well last year [pre COVID] as tourists loved this restaurant. The owner's goal and desire was to draw in the interest of his fellow Greeks to try something new, delicious and totally different.

The ambience is welcoming and the music was a lovely background addition to our date. I chose this place because the idea of a smoke house in Greece piqued my interest. Upon getting out our taxi, we were welcomed and the owner even went the extra step to offer us a higher table since my husband is extremely tall.

My husband had the Maker's Mark drink and thoroughly enjoyed it. It literally came with a chocolate rim to complement the bourbon! Wow. I could tell the bourbon menu was carefully curated and included some very delicious and unique drinks that were meant to pair alongside the smoked entrees offered on the menu. The server knew the menu inside and out and offered suggestions to what we should try.

On to the food: We ordered the duck cones. They came in a tray with fresh sea salt on the bottom. It was like eating an ice cream cone of smoked duck, creamy cauliflower combined with a sour cherry. You didn't even know what to expect when you took a bite, but the outcome left you in a state of bliss. Coupled with a salty finish, and I just couldn't wait for the main entree.

Main course: My husband had the brisket and as he put it "I feel like I'm eating a smoked cloud. " It was tender, delicious and out of this world. I ordered the smoked trout. The smokiness mixed with the flaky fish was absolute divine. The tartness of the green apple alongside it just brought it all together. It was amazing. The portions were comparable to the price and we did not leave feeling hungry...and my husband is 2.06 cm/6'9.

We started chatting with the owner, Dennis, who then invited us to see the smoker that he MADE BY HAND. Amazing. He told us of his travels to the US and how him and his head chef visited 39 states by car in a month and he loved the ever so popular Texas BBQ! You could hear the passion he had for smoked meat, quality food, fine dining, and his desire to bring that to the Athens neighborhood. He spoke great English as did the server.

In other words, GO. Go without hesitation. Try everything. I have told 5 different people here about this restaurant and plan to go back multiple times. For lunch, for...

We went in on the spur of the moment. Superior service started as soon as we entered.

The atmosphere was cozy, with modern elements and decorations. Nicely lit and with comfortable chairs, our table allowed us a view through the glass wall into the adjoining smoker space, the glow of the wood coals visible through the gaps around the firebox door. Several times during our meal we watched the chef pulling meat out of the smoking chamber.

We started with the quinoa, kale and cheese salad with a tart black cherry dressing. Well balanced acidity and sweetness, tempered by the cheese. Also, we enjoyed the surprising brie brulee with poached pear, and the homemade gnocchi were light, with a house smoked mozzarella and a light cheese sauce.

Our main courses, shared tasting style, included the smoked short rib, the Carolina spare ribs, with one of our party opting for the Gentlemen's Mac starter as a main.

The short rib was smoked to perfection, with fall apart tenderness and fat well rendered into juiciness throughout. Well seasoned and flavored by the adjoining sauce, and by the bourbon in the cooking process, this was the stand out dish of the meal. Served on top of a bed of Forbidden Rice risotto, itself cooked perfectly with a nice chewy bite to the rice, and with several dollops of sauces, allowing flavor combinations which were all tasty and balanced.

The Carolina ribs were prepared dry style, moist inside, with the taste of the cider viniger and apple juice basting coming through the wood smoke. This was served with a smear of a puree of corn which was the essence of corn flavor, and the house take on potatoe salad. The potatoes were perfectly cooked, which allows the salad to stay together rather than become mush, and had a nice balance of fresh herb and light mayo and viniger style dressing. Well flavored and not heavy, this was an excellent interpretation of the classic BBQ side dish. The potatoe salad was topped by a soft yolked panko coated and deep fried egg.

Dessert was the apple crumble, which requires ordering 40 minutes prior to serving as this is prepared to order. The apples inside were cooked well, but not too soft, and the oven browned crumble on top was tender and well flavored with cinnamon. This was served with a fully flavored salted caramel ice cream or gelato.

The house also has a very nice mixed drink menu, some including smoked flavors as you would expect from a smoke house. Two of our party opted for alcohol free alternatives, of which there was a selection including mocktails. Our waitress brought us some after dinner drinks, vermouth for the drinkers, and cherry juice for the non drinkers.

Service was very attentive without being intrusive, friendly, and knowledgeable.

This was our best meal in Athens during our stay here, both as a dining experience and in terms of the food. We can not recommend this restaurant enough. We will be here whenever we...