Ziziki's — Restaurant in Dallas

Located in a very cozy looking generously spaced alley. The decor is very european and relaxed. The restaurant has a bar with a good selection of drinks, making it a perfect location for dinner.

Started by ordering the "Trio dip appetizer". The dips were perfectly blended pastes soft yet didnt lose any textures in the flavour. The garlic and artichoke was zesty with a hint of tang just enough to re-awaken the taste buds. My personal favourites was the spicy hipiti and spinach & fetacheese, paired with a beautifully risen garlic pita slices.

For the main dish, we ordered the "Sliced Leg of Lamb Gyro" the "Greek Paella" and the "Salmon Fillet".

The pita that the lamb came on was soft and flavourful, but did not overwhelm the savoury lamb slices, drizzled with ziziki sauce, made for a beautifully greek cousine.

Unfortunately the Greek Paella fell a little short of expectations. The flavours unlike the lamb gyro were not as rich. The Paella was more bland, and tasted heavily of oils, however I can not complain about the portions of the Paella dish.

The Salmon also fell a little short of expectations, compared to the assorted dip paste and the gyro's ziziki sauce. The salmon's sauce, although very flavourful, and savoury it lacked a full bodyness, additionally I found the sauce overwhelmed the flavour of the salmon, the blend seemed a bit forced.

Overall I found the atmosphere to be very inviting, the servers were friendly, welcoming and very charming. The overall ambience of the restaurant felt very european, especially with the outdoor patio dining. The menu was kept very 'greek' as to fit the theme and not take away from the experience. The food was just a tad bit off of a 5 star review, although the trio dip appetizer is a definite must try.

I would say Zikiki's is definitely a little piece of Greece...

TLDR: Overall I’d honestly go back, but the service wasn’t anything to be amazed over. Servers action upon payment was off putting.

We started with drinks and appetizers, I’d probably stick with wine next time to be honest as the mojito was just okay. The Greek flaming cheese was tasty but lacked the “show” I’m used to when it’s delivered. Maybe this isn’t commonplace in Dallas but the server brings energy and celebrates the lighting of the liquor before pouring on the cheese and yelling Opa! Seems nit picky, I know but I only reflect on it as our waitress was pretty dull and seemed rushed in every moment of interaction.

The food was good yet as others mentioned, nothing to go crazy over. I got the lamb stuffed pepper, while others did salmon and scallops and all agreed dishes were flavorful. Couscous on several dishes arrived cold, but my mashed potatoes were warm and decent.

At the end we received our checks, put in the cards and upon brining the cards back our waitress elected to circle the guideline for the 20% tip calculation on the receipt. As someone who generally uses 20% as my base, she would have ended up receiving more than the 20%. I pondered several minutes trying to wrap my mind about why it would be acceptable to circle that. Was it because I was wearing athletic clothes she felt I wasn’t acclimated to properly tip? Was it my age? Or did she gather the impression I wasn’t smart enough to calculate the tip on my own? Either way, it’s the first time I’ve ever observed a server do something like this in my 15+ years as an adult who dines out several times a week.

In the event her or the management team reads this, I’d honestly just like someone to share with her that this may rub some people the wrong way; in this instance it ended up costing her...

I adore the menu, and outdoor seating at this location. With this in mind while the menu reads excellent it was not well prepared. My partners chicken was very over cooked, and my mahi mahi was also very over cooked. The best part of the meal was the lamb-lolli which was fairly good. Unfortunately the other two appetizers, three entrees, and dessert did not follow suit.

The atmosphere here has the potential to be wonderfully romantic if the concern outlined below is adequately addressed.

I wouldn't recommend this place as a prime location to unwind after a long day or week. If you choose to do so you may find yourself more sympathetic to the servers, and just remain tense. The servers, and bartender seemed so overwhelmed that they had no time to wait on you. Unfortunately they seemed so stressed out, and busy my entire party felt like we were an after thought, and or a nuisance. If the server had more time to wait on us I feel the issues we faced with order delivery would not have been.

While it is not required that you dress up I wouldn't recommend showing up in sweatpants. The majority of people in the area are well dressed so for your comfort you may want to dawn similar apparel.

Parking was not incredibly hard to find, and valet is available near by. You can expect a usual middle of uptown parking experience.

All in all it was a moderate affair, but I would not recommend this place during the busy hours.

Thank you Zizikis for the dedication in keeping this variety of cuisine available for those of us who can...