Ela Mesa Taste of Greece — Restaurant in Gaithersburg

First time eating here. Sunday afternoon around 2pm, seated with one other table occupied. I ordered an unsweetened ice tea with a lemon, hubby a coke. Drinks arrived with no "non-sweeteners" for my ice tea, which also had just a few rapidly melting ice cubes. The waiter took our orders, I chose the Manouri salad, "Classic" Roasted Greek Chicken with Greek lemon roasted potatoes and Greek green beans, my husband ordered fried calamari and the seafood linguini. At that time I requested a non-sweetner for my ice tea and a small glass of ice to add to my glass. The waiter returned to the table with some warmed pita triangles and a seasoned olive oil, but no non-sweetener or ice as I requested. The appetizers came out, the salad I ordered lacked flavor, spring greens, with a grilled piece of manouri cheese and speck wrapped breadsticks, with a dressing that was too oily and no hint of acid (neither lemon nor vinegar). My husband loved his calamari which hot with a crispy coating and not "rubbery" at all. After dropping off the dishes the waiter never returned to the table to inquire if everything was all right or not, or to bring the non-sweetener and ice I requested. Mind you there was only one other occupied table in the dining room, who were finished eating and talking. A 2nd server brought our entrees to the table, who chose not to clear the table of our appetizer plates. At that time I again requested the non-sweetener and ice I asked for earlier. The 2nd server brought out the non-sweetener, but without the ice and offered my husband a refill on his drink. The 2nd server returned to the table with my hubby's refill, no ice for me, and promptly left again without removing our appetizer dishes. I worked with a friend for at least 20 years, who is Greek and learned homemade family recipes from her mother. I ate plenty of Greek food with them and at their families restaurants, and I feel I am fairly familiar with good Greek cuisine. So, when my ROASTED Greek chicken arrived I was taken aback. In all honesty I should have sent it back and requested something else, but unfortunately I didn't. The chicken was neon yellow in color, the flacid, rubbery skin was sagging off the meat, with not one small area indicating the chicken was roasted, at all. While the meat was tender, it was dry lacking flavor other than lemon. It was saltless, with no garlic or oregano flavor, no crispy roasted skin found anywhere on the portion. The Greek potatoes lacked flavor as well, and didnt show any roasted coloring. The Greek Green Beans in tomato sauce tasted metallic, as if both the beans and sauce were canned. My husband had no complaints for his seafood linguini, however mentioned the crab used in the dish didn't appear to be lump as described on the menu. He shared a scallop with me and when I bit into it noticed grit. We were going to order a dessert, but then decided not to. I have to say I was not impressed with the food or service ... oh and I never...

Ela Mesa Taste of Greece is a fabulous restaurant. My wife and I had an exquisite meal there this past Saturday night. We can't recommend Ela Mesa highly enough.

First, a note about the restaurant's name: "Ela Mesa" means--in Greek--"come on in". . . which is quite appropriate, as George and his wife--the owners--are so lovely, affable and inviting. They both made us feel so at home, as did our sweet, kind and attentive waiter, young Peter, who has been an integral part of the team since Ela Mesa's founding about three years ago.

Second, our meals were top drawer. I grew up eating Greek food, so I had my favorite coming in, and that was chicken kebabs with fasoulakia (green beans baked together with olive oil, seasonings and fresh tomatoes and sauce) and lemon-infused rice. Our plates came out piping hot--even though the restaurant was packed (as we came at likely the busiest time of the week . . . 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday). Our chicken was so succulent, with just the right amount of the chef's favorite seasonings. The fasoulakia were like those that my mom made when I was a kid--so scrumptious, a meal unto themselves. And the rice was tremendously satisfying . . . with its own unique seasonings and definitely not standard fare.

After our fantastic entrees, we decided to split a piece of Ela Mesa's baklava, which was amazing--literally different than any we'd ever previously had. Our slice was very ample, plenty for my wife and me to split. Most notably, it was absolutely delicious. Ela Mesa's recipe consists of a very fresh--and thus not crispy--fillo outer layer, filled with a finely ground combination of the following nuts: about 75% walnuts, 20% pecans and 5% pistachios (I may have the percentages of pecans and pistachios reversed). The resulting dessert was perfect . . . sweet, but not too sweet . . . with the phyllo easily cut by knife . . . and the special nut mixture crumbly, but holding its texture, as we placed portions on our forks. We look forward to trying more of Ela Mesa's dessert specialties on our future visits, which can't come soon enough.

The ambience and decor in Ela Mesa were super. George and his wife did a fantastic job designing their restaurant. It seats about 75 people and includes a very modern, hip bar, as well as several tasteful artistic works that remind you that you are in a Greek restaurant, with the tie-ins to antiquity. Overall, the feeling is light, airy and bright.

We are so pleased to have discovered Ela Mesa--a real delight . . . an authentic Greek restaurant being expertly and lovingly run by its kind and devoted proprietors--George and his wife--and their trusted team.

Cheers to all at Ela Mesa . . ....

Today I decided to try the new sit down Greek Restaurant by me, Ela Mesa Taste of Greece. My expectations were high considering this is Montgomery County a mecca of restaurants. Well let me tell you this place even exceeded my expectations. The restaurant is small yet beautifully decorated with Ancient Greek murals, gold accents for the lights and the flowers on the wall. The ambience is inviting and relaxing. I’ve had a lot of great Greek food in my life since I grew up with a Greek best friend. The food at Ela Mesa is out of this world. For an appetizer I got grilled haloumi and baked feta cheese. The cheeses were amazing and as you can see in the pic beautifully plated with a balsamic drizzle, tomatoes and an olive. The cheeses are imported from Greece and superbly satisfied this cheese lover. For my entree I got the Chilean sea bass with a creamy feta red pepper sauce and brocollini and lemon roasted potatoes as the sides. The Chilean sea bass was fresh, nicely portioned and tender, yet firm and flaky like Chilean sea bass should be. The creamy feta red pepper sauce perfectly complimented the light flavor of the sea bass. Our waiter who is Greek, was friendly, informative and attentive. The owner George even came out to talk to us to make sure everything was satisfactory. He informed us that besides the meat they import most of their ingredients from Greece. He then went to the kitchen and brought us a complimentary walnut cake with chocolate chips which was great. I highly recommend Ela Mesa...