Costas Taverna Greek Restaurant and Ouzo Bar — Restaurant in Christchurch

Birthday dinner Saturday 13/12/14 * BIG UPS to Costas Taverna :) * I booked a table for 2 one day prior to actual booking and received an immediate reply. Thank goodness for advanced technology and yay for immediate responses and answers. Booking confirmed. AWESOME! * Using their website, found their site to be one of the best I have used in a very long time. The website was easy to navigate, you need not be a computer geek to nav your way around it at all. Everything was user friendly. * Approached reception, let reception know we have a booking, told our table wasn't ready, asked politely to sit at the bar until our table was ready. No probs there. Although our booking was for 8pm - our table wasn't ready for some time after that. Not many restaurants do this but the receptionist that initially greeted us came to speak to us and informed us that the current occupants have been informed about our arrival and let us know that it'll probably only be a few minutes where we can be seated at our table. Seated at table soon after. Waitress introduced herself, took our drinks order and left menu. Drinks bought to table, part meal orders taken, waitress returned as requested by me for remaining order a short time later. Great service! Let's not forget a complimentary shot bought to our table and the explanation was for the delay in being seated at our table. WOW COSTAS this is fantastic. Shots gladly received thank you :) Entree bought out within 30mins. Yummy too. Main meal bought out about 30mins later. Mmmmmmm yummy again Costas. 2 cocktails later, which, if I can say, were the best cocktails I've had in a long time. Not too heavy on the alcohol and went down with ease. I have to mention that not many restaurants have lighter alcohol cocktails available on their menus. Costas do so future diners - enjoy. The atmosphere was really cool. Greek music playing and not some random 'run of the mill' music which is so good for a change. Keepin it real Costas - thumbs up. We chose not to have dessert and my partner paid the bill and returned to our table. OMG...2 waitresses bought out a card and a lovely wee dessert and presented it to my partner (who was somewhat embarrassed at this point). It was his birthday! When I made the initial booking - there was a section on the site for diners to make a 'note'. I noted 'birthday dinner for my partner Gary'. I was not expecting this at all. WOW BLOWN AWAY by all staff at Costas. Thank you very much for your awesome service and friendly atmosphere. We'll be back with bells on. Not many Christchurch restaurants have excellent service like Costas Taverna. Maybe some restaurant owners in Christchurch out there should dine here and get some tips because believe you me...we dine out a lot and Costas Taverna is the...

My Star rating would be 4.6. Here is my overly positive feedback for the benefit of your restaurant.

Costas Taverna is an exquisitely intimate and inviting place to indulge in good Greek fare. Their mains are gregariously good and only the famished would dare dive into the plate size above regular. Their flambéed cheeses are a sight to behold and a wonder to all senses. We were absolutely in awe of the divine fisherman's catch and chicken lemonato that was presented before us. The decor is delightful and the fabulous notes of jaunty Greek melodies create an authentic ambience. My only critique would have to be towards the Calamari entre which is touted by the establishment as one of their specialities. The Calamari itself was exquisite but I must say the batter tasted like the frozen budget battered morsels one would find from the Pak n Save chiller. I was left underwhelmed and disappointed by this dish and I felt it was the slight glitch on an otherwise unforgettable experience. If you seek to make this one of your signature dishes, perfect your practice as the batter was limp and lifeless. That said, the entre servings are gregarious in proportion. One thing I do highly rate is the beautiful drinks menu offered by your establishment. Your mixology collection of cocktails and mocktails had our eyes jingling with excitement. You succeeded in tempting me to request a Zeus Juice cocktail with Cointreau which was an absolute pleasure on the palate. I would have had it a little more boozier but your bar lad or lass was not far of the mark. I heard from another patron that your Greek mojitos are as magical as a Greek myth. Apparently, your souvlakis are a big drawcard with your local patrons also. Overall, we were very impressed and can't wait to visit your establishment again. Our waiters were very lovely and lively young ladies. Please congratulate both your front...

This is my first (and hopefully last) bad review for a restaurant in Christchurch of living here for 26 years so that says something. This has been one of my favourite restaurants and I always recommend it to others when they ask about one. Unfortunately, this time the customer service was a complete let down. I placed a takeaway order for the family and one of the meals I was given was a small instead of a grande when I had ordered and paid for a grande. When I called and discussed the order with the duty manager, she was apologetic and said she will discuss the three possible options with the owner. They are as follows:

1. A full refund for that meal.
2. A voucher for that meal.
3. A completely new meal (which we were not willing to take considering the distance of travel). The owner emailed back four days later completely ignoring the options that were offered by the duty manager. Irregardless whether you agree with the decision or offer your duty manager made at the time, it's really important to stick to and honour your word. This is not professionalism and not proper customer service we are accustomed to here in NZ. Will not be going back and not recommending to others.

A response to Costas response: A better response than your emails. The refund was one of three options offered to me by your duty manager, I did not demand it, she suggested it. She said she would talk to the boss which one of the three would be the suitable option. The suggestion of delivering the pastry to my home was after impolite emails from your side with no attempt to honour your word. Please don't take constructive criticism as a bad thing, it is often to give feedback to improve your business mainly customer service. Have a...