Opelia — Restaurant in Los Gatos

We walked by this place the other night and were intrigued by the atmosphere enough that we ended up canceling our other dinner reservations in order to give it a try. It was one of the best meals we may have ever had. The meze combo surprised us with everything we tried. It seemed like such simple ingredients but everything tasted so delicious. We especially liked the beet borani and the gigantes beans (I'm not typically impressed by bean dishes but I easily could have eaten a whole bowl of these). The walnut spread - which I think was the ezme - was different than anything we'd tasted before and very tasty spread on pita. My husband also had the jumbo prawns appetizer, which he said had a nice sharp acidity to the sauce. The lamb chops were tender, and the manti merguez just blew me away. I'm quite unfamiliar with Turkish food, but the manti merguez tasted like a bowl full of comfort. I'm not normally one to eat much lamb, and the little lamb meatballs in the dish definitely had their signature flavor, but it balanced really well for me with the dumplings and the rich sauce.

We were so full. Originally we were going to pass on dessert because we could hardly eat more, but they brought out a warm slice of fresh baklava and some special ouzo shooters and we couldn't pass that up. With all that plus the mezcal cocktail (Tropical Mirage) and the greek wine we drank along the way, we rolled out of Opelia two very full and very happy people. Thank you, Opelia staff, for making our special night out feel like such a worthy and wonderful splurge. Wishing the best for...

My husband and I came in to dinner the other night. We are local here In Los Gatos, so we like to support our neighbors. Unfortunately, our experience was quite terrible. The food was mediocre and lacked seasoning. A lot of the garnishes were repeated in many of their dishes. Dessert was horrendous, their cheese cake was definitely bought from a vendor and their ekmek kataifi was definitely not traditional or anything close to edible. Our waiter did not attend us the entire night, matter of fact, the bartender that night noticed that, and instead made his way to our table to take care of us. Next to us, there was a group of ladies who were celebrating, and were trying to take pictures of their group. The server had the audacity to lean his ENTIRE TORSO over our our table to take a picture for the ladies and then resume to say “sorry” and walk away. . My husband and I were left speechless… at that point I WANTED TO WALK OUT… I have never been so disgusted by someone’s behavior. Unfortunately my husband insisted that we stayed and finish our date. The ONLY person I saw fit to even be working in the industry was the bartender. We will FOREVER not be coming back. I forgot to mention, majority of staff is Turkish, and as soon as my husband mentioned he was Greek at the host stand, they made a face. If that doesn’t tell you what kind of place they’re running idk what will. We will forever...

OK, where do I begin? When we come into town to visit , we stay at the Garden Inn on Main St in Los Gatos. Opelia's is conveniently located across the street. I decided to tour the appetizers, mostly because I could not make up my mind. What an opportunity of taste for Mediterranean/ Turkish foods! And the attentive staff of fine young men? I never waited, I simply asked and receieved! My favorite? The octopus! It was grilled and over- the- top. I don't normally enjoy octopus, because it is usually rubbery, but this was AMAZING!! The lamb lollipops- um, yummmmm, succulent and grilled chopsicles with arugula and yogurt. The calamari? Sautéed to perfection in a tomato, caper, olive sauce that had just the right tang of savory brine. The walnut appetizer with pita triangles was pretty substantial and pretty delish with a bit of heat in its aftertaste. It was served with a bit of pita , but the staff was more than happy to bring us more, like a plate full, which we ate every bite of. Moving on to desserts, the Ice Cream was out of this world creamy and not excessively sweet. It came with a delicious raspberry sauce to swirl in extra goodness. FABULOUS! The walnut dessert wrapped in shredded wheat was an adventure in flavor, but the ice cream we had with it was the pleasant palette cleanser that stole the...