Avra Dallas — Restaurant in Dallas

Exquisite, refined, luxurious- I need all the grandiose adjectives in Merriam-Webster to convey the time my friends and I had at Avra Dallas tonight.

I’m excited for the future this restaurant holds in Dallas, and for it to take its rightful place amongst the culinary greats this city has to offer. From start to finish, my party of four was attentively cared for, patiently explained the concept and menu highlights, and enthusiastically recommended dishes and wines according to our preferences.

While every person we encountered was lovely, it would be a disservice to not call out a remarkable few: our waiter Christian (obrigada!), Leandro, Paige, James, Abigail, and Paul. Zeal, zeal, zeal! Zeal encapsulates the spirit of this team. I felt as if it was each person’s personal mission to ensure our time at Avra was memorable. A quality which appears to be lacking in today’s restaurant industry, but not here. Avra is moving like a well-oiled machine. Extra kudos to Christian for his truly perfect service and contagious joy. He even escorted us to take a look at the fresh fish bar, where we learned that Avra is flying in fresh catches six days a week. Insane.

Service aside, the FOOD- it was everything we wanted and more. Our table had the salmon sashimi, greek salad, fried calamari, crab cake, and saganaki for starters, alongside some cocktails (my favorite was the Mykonos!). Our table was oo-ing and ah-ing with every plate, as it just kept getting better. For mains, we all shared the lamb chops, chilean sea bass, lavraki fish, oregano fries, mushrooms, and broccoli rabe. A banquet that Mt. Olympus’ gods would approve of. Absolute perfection. The Assyrtiko wine was the cherry on top to round out this meal. Everything tasted lively and vibrant.

Last and never least (and surely we always have room for): dessert. A sampling platter of the olive oil cake, orange sorbet, baklava, and cheesecake alongside fresh fruit. It was beautiful, it was tastefully done, and so fun to dig into.

Service? Check. Food? Double check. Ambience? A home run. Clean interior, crisp linens, sparkling silverware and glassware, touches of Grecian beauty with sandy neutrals and vines. Music is complementary, and not an overpowering distraction. A bustling crowd with murmurs of excitement and expectation with every order that passes by their table.

As far as reviews go, I think by now I’ve sufficiently poured my love out for this establishment, and those that are making it work. Avra, you have my heart....

The host stand was incredibly rude, the food fine, and the waiter we had was awesome so it was quite a rollercoaster. To start, when you make a reservation you're given the option of either dining room, glass patio, or patio. I specifically chose a Wednesday reservation so that we could sit in the dining room. I had checked in with the host stand at 5:50pm for a 6pm reservation. When my friend arrived at 6pm we approached the host stand to let them know we were both there. At 6:10 she finally looked at us noting that we're checked in and the table isn't ready. 5 minutes later the host led us through the glass patio, and into the patio facing the parking lot. It turns out, the host stand made the call to put us on the patio without asking if we were okay with it even though the reservation was labeled dining room (don't worry guys I checked just to make sure I didn't accidentally click patio). I told the host that the reservation was for dining room and she said doubled down again saying "you don't want to be on the patio?" I responded no and followed her back to the host stand where she gave side eye and told the host in charge that we didn't want to be out there. There was no apology for making us wait for our table or for trying to force us into sitting on the patio by the parking lot. After another wait, were finally led to our table and at this point it was a 20 minute adventure to get there. We were excited to try Avra as we've been to most restaurants in Dallas and it's always fun for something new but it was letdown from the jump. It's crazy for this restaurant to be considered fine dining when their first impression is this poor. The only redeeming quality of this restaurant visit was our waiter who...

Avra just opened in Dallas and we were really excited to try it! The food overall was excellent. We ordered the Greek salad, Avra chips, oysters, branzino, prawns, and shrimp. The oysters (from Massachusetts) were very salty and small, probably wouldn’t recommend those. The branzino was good, though nothing spectacular. The prawns were fun to try once for the experience, but not something I’d order again. The real star of the meal for me was actually the raspberry sorbet. it was phenomenal, probably the best sorbet I’ve ever had.

The ambiance is beautiful and definitely feels like a special night out. That said, the main dining room is very loud and makes it hard to hear each other. Next time, we’d probably opt for the patio for a more peaceful dinner.

The biggest downside to our experience was the service. We often had to flag people down for drinks, plate clearing, and even to get our waiter’s attention. After we placed our order, he didn’t check on us for at least 30 minutes, and there was little explanation of the fish preparations or options. We felt a bit rushed and overlooked, which was disappointing.

That said, I want to give a special shoutout to Paige, she noticed we weren’t being helped and stepped in right away. She was so attentive and made the rest of the evening smooth. If you go, I’d 10/10 recommend asking for her section!

Despite the service hiccup, I’d come back for a special occasion the food and atmosphere make it...