Athena Restaurant — Restaurant in Florida

Athena did not present their best foot forward from the time we entered the restaurant till we left.

We went to eat here before getting on the Black Raven Pirate cruise and arrived around 4 pm on a Friday. The place was empty accept for one customer and her children waiting on a take out order. Thankfully she mentioned that we weren't alone and that hopefully they would be out. After about almost 10 minutes we were sat and given waters.

After 10 or more minutes the waitress came took our order and proceeded to sit in the back and fold napkins with silverware. While I understand there are tasks that need done to keep an establishment moving, doing these tasks while not serving your customers is in my opinion a problem. A few times my water glass went empty and my kids needed refills on their sodas.

The very positive side to this review is that the food was very good!! I had the gyro and chicken souvlaki platter, my family enjoyed the gyro platter, with my youngest having the pizza.

My youngests pizza was terrible though and she only ate a few of the pieces and left the rest. When addressing it with the waitress she mentioned that it was probably the pita and turned and walked away. She did not offer to remove it from the check, have a manager come out, nothing. We were starting father's day weekend and the conflict wasn't worth the effort so we left and I planned on leaving this review instead.

We are locals and spend a lot of time in Saint Augustine and have not encountered service like this anywhere else! Sad as the food was great but there are so many other options that we won't be returning.

Update: Thank you for your response and while I understand reviewing the cameras is standard practice you may want to check your time stamps and view. The bill was not placed on the table before we told her about the pizza, and the time at the door was not 90 seconds but if it's your practice to take things all the way down to time and such instead of asking how to make things right you shouldn't be in the service industry and only show the reason your establishment won't be...

UPDATE: Both staff and management reached out to me and made things right. I appreciate their initiative and willingness to correct things when they go wrong, which happens to everyone. It speaks volumes of their integrity and business sense. We have been refunded for the overcharge. THANK YOU.!!!

Let me first begin with stating that the food was good, very good actually. The staff was nice and friendly. However, the "hidden takeout fees" where outrageous. It's my fault for not investigating ahead of time, but people need to know before they order, and I will be asking ahead from now on. We ordered 3, $13 lamb gyros, no drinks, to go. After hidden frees, we paid $63.00+. When I say $13 gyros that includes extra tzatziki sauces we orders ($12 gyros +$1 sauce). The $63, of course, included sales tax, a credit card fee of about 3.25% and a 25% gratuity. Yes, I do tip on take out, but usually reserve the 20-25%+, on actual service when I dine-in. The extra credit card fee, should have been told to us prior to ordering, and I feel the gratuity percentage should have been left up to me, or informed, prior to ordering. Lesson learned, but definitely will not be dining there again, probably EVER. I don't mind paying for fees voluntarily, IF I am informed ahead of time. Again, food was good, but lesson learned, buyer beware before you choose to eat there...

My family and I are doing an Alphabet Challenge with St. Augustine restaurants. We originally wanted this place last week but they were unexpectedly closed. So we called today go make sure they were open and headed straight there!

The restaurant is quaint and cozy, and we were promptly sat at a booth in one of the back corners. Our server quickly brought us drinks and made a few recommendations for first time visitors. We settled on the cheese pizza for our daughter, the gyro with fries for my husband, and the stuffed chicken with seasoned potatoes and veggies for myself. We all tried a bit of each other's food.

The kid's pizza was good, very cheesy! No complaints about that. I could not get enough of the veggies and stuffed chicken! Seasoned so well, tasted really fresh and clean. The potatoes also had great seasoning! My daughter and husband also loved all of it! And the gyro was very good. The pita, just like for the pizza, was thick and filling. It was absolutely delicious!!! No complaints AT ALL about the food!

The only complaint was that our server did not check on us AT ALL and I had to flag down another server for a refill. But this definitely wasn't a deal breaker.

For the budget conscious, this may be more suited for dinner. $60+ after tip was a bit steep for lunch, but I feel good knowing we got awesome food and supported a great...