Taverna Cretekou — Restaurant in Alexandria

Stopped in for lunch after the Old Town Farmers' Market with our pittie & they quickly found a shaded table in the lovely back patio to keep the pup cool while we dined. The owner asked if he'd like a treat & brought a bone, severs refilled his water bowl with ice water, and he lapped up the attention.

Our lunch was delicious - appetizer of grilled baby octopus to share, accompanied by fresh bread & delicious herbaceous olive oil for dipping, followed by Greek country salad, gyro, grilled salmon salad with a citrus vinaigrette, and a grilled vegetables platter.

My only complaint was the meager selection of wines by the glass - sadly, they tasted like Aldi specials rather than a nice house selection. A few more refined choices (dry Provençal-style rosé, a dry chardonnay, & maybe a Vermentino or Albariño) would better accent the fresh fish & seafood offerings.

Service was stellar - our waiter was attentive without being intrusive, water was promptly refilled without needing to ask (even for our pup), and best of all - NO dishes were removed from the table until ALL diners had finished their courses - a sign of true fine dining & sadly rarely found today. Despite a busy, sunny, Memorial Day weekend Saturday afternoon on their magical back garden, we were never rushed and enjoyed a leisurely luncheon.

It is easy to understand why Taverna Cretekou has been an Old Town favorite for so many decades. (I first discovered this Greek delight in the mid-90s.) As any true Greek knows, the owners take great pride in their business and are ever-present and involved. They have hired only the most pleasant and customer-focused staff, and have taken the time to properly train & support them - from hosts to waiters to busboys. The food is fresh & delicious, and the secret & expansive L-shaped, off-street, secluded back garden is a delight. Besides covered patio seating - making dining in the rain magical - there is lush landscaping with Greek isle touches of floral-filled amphora & blues & whites to delight the eyes.

Taverna Cretekou succeeds with a combination of delectable authentic Greek dishes, attentive & friendly service, and a lovely ambiance & setting - for both indoors &...

Review from a Greek patron The restaurant gets 5 stars for absolutely delightful staff and treatment, we were attended to with a lot of care (we had 2 kids in tow). They immediately brought them a small soup each to get their bellies filled while we milled over the menu. Both kids asked for seconds, they enjoyed the avgolemono very much. But sadly that's where the good execution of food ends. They are getting 3 stars for the food itself. As a Greek, who cooks Greek food at home and has traveled extensively to Greece the food is VERY far from authentic tasting or well executed, and edging on a gross misrepresentation of our country's cuisine. It's either budget cuts has made it this way or not enough oversight in the kitchen or they're bad cooks. The Taramosalata was dry, a little too salty, not creamy enough and tasted too fishy. I didn't eat it and it's usually my favorite dip. A proper tarama is balanced, a lot more creamy and on the colder side. The Moussaka is not moussaka when it's made with zucchini they know it and I know it. It's a cop out of ingredients to not have eggplant in the dish. I would have accepted the first layer with potato (also not traditional) but def over soggy zucchini. You're charging $25 use eggplant! The Paidakia or lamb chops tasted very gamey, I blame the quality of the meat as it had a slight fishy taste to it. Lamb should not smell fishy. For $44 they weren't eaten. They need to up their use of lemon/oil/oregano to help with the gamey taste if they're going to use lesser quality meat. Not that we would order this again.

Lastly I'm all for using a traditional looking seat as if you're sitting sea side in some taverna in Greece but the straw, woven seats started to hurt my bum after 15 minutes and they're tiny. Please buy comfortable seats for your patrons. For 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids) total bill was $175 and it came sadly with a lot of regret. I wanted this to work out after seeing so many good...

What we ordered: Moussaka, Saganaki me Garides, Glossa Aegeou, Kotopoulo lemonato

Opa! What an incredible restaurant with crazy delicious food. I absolutely love Moussaka and I nearly devoured the food in one gulp. The shrimp with cheese was heavenly and I could eat that all day long if I could. The kabob was so tender and spiced perfectly. The flounder was moist and made for a light but filling meal if you don't want meat weighing you down. We had a couple glasses of the Greek White wine which was actually pretty dang good for not being any particular brand.

The wait staff was awesome. They were very courteous and very prompt to take care of all the customers. They greet you with smiles and even laughed at my lame jokes. The owner herself is a wonderful person. We had the pleasure of chatting with her briefly as I had asked about the dancing I remember they had. But unfortunately they stopped the dancing shows during covid and never brought them back. Another thing Covid ruined...grrrr. But she was very lovely and very much on the ball making sure all the tables were cleared off, ensuring all the customers drinks were topped off, and offered great suggestions to first timers to the restaurant. She was warm and friendly and absolutely gave the Mom vibe taking care of everyone.

I look forward to visiting again soon especially when it gets warmer and they open up their...