Kozi's — Restaurant in Municipality of Penteli

[They cancelled our anniversary dinner reservation, after confirming it three times - and we were left standing outside in the rain, with two children (6yrs old), two pensioners (in their 80s) and four adults, which is why I refuse to go back as their behaviour and treatment of my guests was appalling.]

I've been a customer since they first opened, and was such a fan that in December 2019, I actually held my wedding reception with ~30 people at Kozi's. Being a Greek-South African, it was my wife's idea to hold the reception there and we had an incredible time. We have since been back many times, and often order online. I have lost count of the amount of times we have either taken guests there or recommended them to friends and family.

As it was now our 3yr wedding anniversary, we decided to host a small group of 8 people at Kozis. Now they are very clear that they do not take bookings, but with our wedding reception, they made an exception. So we contacted them ahead of our anniversary and asked if we could host it at their venue, and we were told yes.

We had a booking which was confirmed THREE times:

Tue 6th Sep 2022: Requested to book a table for 8 people for a wedding anniversary, booking was confirmed.

Thu 8th Sep 2022: Called to move the 5pm Saturday booking to 5pm Sunday, as there was a conflict with my sister-in-law. I was reminded that they do not take bookings, but that they would try to accommodate us.

Sun 10th Sep 2022 @ 12pm: We called to confirm our booking, and check if they would be ok if we brought a re-make of our wedding cake for dessert - we were told everything is in order.

Sun 10th Sep 2022 @ 5pm: 8 people arrive to be told that there is no table, as they do not take bookings. We are then told, that whomever took the booking should have not taken it.

So we were left standing outside in the rain, with two children (6yrs old), two pensioners (in their 80s) and four adults. We were rudely informed by a young member of staff, that it is not his problem as they do not take reservations - when my wife pointed out that we confirmed the booking, their response was "oh he does that, but he is not supposed to" - whomever it is that does this.

I respect a business not wanting to take reservations, many do so - but then one needs to be clear: if the first reservation was accepted in error, say so, apologise, and cancel it. We would not have been happy, but would have had time to make a new reservation elsewhere.

There were three opportunities for them to cancel the reservation, even on the day itself when we called to confirm.

This type of behaviour displays a shocking degree of arrogance, and lack of respect for people's time and money. Given their extreme popularity, they lost no money by us eating elsewhere, and could clearly care less that they ruined our anniversary dinner.

People work hard and both time and money are precious. For many, inviting family members and spending 200-300EUR for a lunch is no small event - there are many who cannot afford to do so, and we are fortunate that we can. Not to mention that my in-laws are old, and may not be around to celebrate another anniversary with us in a year from now.

Being treated with such rudeness and utter disregard is entirely unacceptable. I refuse to ever step foot in one of their...

We visited on 4/11 and decided to have the "ribeye steak" along with a new steak which doesn't yet exist on the menu called the "entrecote". We also ordered a salad and some wine.

Positives:

1. The ribeye was great, full of flavor and soft as butter. Arguably the best steak kozi's has to offer.
2. Salad was one of the best I have ever had.
3. The fries with sauce served with every dish are impeccable.

Now lets move over to the negatives guys..

1. The steaks were served only 5 minutes after we had been served our salad which pretty much ruined our appetizer(In our case it was our great salad). Am I supposed to tell the waiter that the main course should be served after I'm done with my appetizer/salad at a $$$ restaurant? yeesh
2. Entrecote steak wasn't our first choice but it was " advertised" to us by the stuff as an even better choice than the picanha steak which I enjoyed on a previous visit of mine - which to our disappointment was a very false statement. That thing was tough to chew, costed exactly the same as the picanha which was displeasing and frankly ruined my gf's appetite.
3. Lastly I don't wanna have to be the one to comment on this guys but a shot of (limoncelo perhaps?)at the end could have changed the whole situation kinda mood - instead i was offered...

Taste 5/5 Service 4,5/5 Ambience 2/5 Value for money 3,5/5

Been at this place 4 or 5 times. What keeps me coming back is the great taste of the meat, thanks to a superb secret dressing they use. Plus, the staff politeness and good service attitude.

However, the place SHOULD offer reservations. It is unacceptable from a customer point of view to go out for a lunch hoping and praying to be lucky so as to finally have one. Or, to stand in a queue in the restaurant next to other diners waiting for his turn at done time. And even worse, while standing in the queue, be approached by the waiters to pre-order, so to eventually occupy the table less time, making it more profitable for the business to the expense of enjoyment, as if it had been a fast food restaurant.

Second, it is unacceptable to pay whatever prices for this fine food quality and be actually packed in a hall that should accommodate perhaps 30- 40% less people.

More respect to customer from the management (and not the staff that do a great job) may bring even more business to the restaurant and...