Taverna Tony — Restaurant in Malibu

I have been dining at this restaurant for over 15 years, at least twice a year. I have celebrated birthdays and even an engagement party for friends there over the years. Under normal circumstances I would have rated the restaurant 3-4 stars since the ambiance is normally good and the setting is quaint. In truth however the quality of the food has deteriorated. I will claim to be quite an expert on Greek food having been to Greece and the Med many times, and tried Greek restaurants in most cities that I visit.

My recent experience at this establishment was well below poor. We ordered the Fish of the day which arrived on the bone, when the waiter started to de-bone it, he noticed that it was significantly under-cooked. He advised that he would send it back to the kitchen, in the meantime our sides were getting cold, and the family dining with us were already finished eating when the fish was returned to the table 15 minutes later. We requested fresh/warm sides (which we hadn't touched). The fish had been boiled and then returned with a drizzle of olive oil and salt, it tasted horribly overcooked, had no flavor and was terrible. Additionally we had no sides. In short it was a disaster and the fish was probably the worst I have tasted. In short it was inedible. The waiter expressed his apologies and in truth was not at fault.

We returned the un-eaten fish and were not even offered anything as a replacement. When we suggested that the Owner Tony should remove this from the check, we were advised that he was willing to offer 1 free desert...really? They under-cooked and served us a fish which was sub-par and which the waiter chose to return upon identifying this, then botched it up again, created an uneasy and unpleasant experience, with unsatisfied customers that as such hadn't eaten their main course, were not offered a replacement option and were then charged over $170 for a table of 4 people, which by the way, didn't ordered any alcohol whatsoever. What a disgrace!

Let me also add that the chicken skewers that were served to the other 2 people in our party were chewy, dry and overcooked, and the rice and veggies were also overcooked. We also ordered two Greek salads to start (likely the best part of the meal) and once was provided without lettuce, which is a peasant salad and not what was ordered. Instead of taking the salad back and returning it with the correct ingredients, the waiter brought over a few sliced of lettuce for us to add to the dish that they had incorrectly provided. What establishment that prides itself takes such negligent and careless action to amend its errors?

We maintained our calm, were polite and cordial, and all we asked for was to be treated in the appropriate manner that the situation demanded.

The owner Tony was on site, in fact he was 12 feet away from our table when a lot of this was unfolding. It seems that he has taken on a fat cat attitude, and an arrogant, mightier than though approach to running his restaurant. This is a real shame for a restaurant that was once quite good, and for an owner that was once very hands on and appreciative of...

Liar manager. I called this place a week before our birthday party. I asked them if it’s possible to don’t get fix menu and we will order whatever we want from the menu. They asked their manager and manager spoke to me also on the phone. She got my phone number and checked on the system and she said they can do that for us since we are frequent customer. We agreed on the phone that we will order whatever we want from the menu and pay that not the fix menu. After her promise we made a reservation. Next day we called them to confirm again and she said everything is fine we will order what we want from the menu. On Saturday night we went there for 18 people and they seated us and when it was a time to order they said we can do only fix menu. We told them it’s not what we agree before on the phone with manager who confirmed twice that we can order what we want from menu not a fix menu. We talked with manager and she said she never confirmed that which is not true. She just agreed on the phone and when we show up there she said she didn’t say that and we were left with no choice but stay in this restaurant because it was impossible to find a new place for 18 people on Saturday night. Service was horrible. Foods was cold. We had to ask them many times bring bread, water, utensils and glassware which is we never got them. They start taking away plates full of the foods that we didn’t even touch yet. They offer also belly dancer for all night which it’s showed up only for few minutes. They offered us to send some complementary plates as a apologize but ended up they included these items in the check. They ruined our birthday party and night. They basically charged us whatever we didn’t agree and even didn’t eat. I want to dispute full amount since they didn’t provided a good service. They lied to us and ended up being...

Taverna Tony Greek Eats & Sweets is most definitely my favorite restaurant in Malibu.

The Keftethes Greek Meatballs ($15.95) are a must-order share plate, with garlic, onion, oregano, and fresh herbs. They’re top of my recommendations because of their texture and flavor. I love how the herbs complement the savory flavor of the meat, and how the outside is perfectly crispy with the inside being just the right amount of pink.

You really can’t go wrong with any of their salads because of how fresh all of the vegetables are. We love their traditional Greek Peasant salad ($22.95) which comes with crisp lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, green and red bell peppers, feta cheese, black olives, and served with their signature Greek dressing. It’s also just fun to order the peasant salad.

We are obsessed with the whipped house dip garlic lemon spread that comes with the bread.

They have gluten free pasta and a wide range of delicious looking grilled lamb plates that I’ll have to try the next time I’m back.

They have both indoor and outdoor seating, and the bar is first come, first serve. As of now, I’d recommend making a reservation before coming because they’re extremely popular (for good reason) and usually have a few large parties. There’s plenty of free parking in the variety of lots, and they even have Tesla chargers within walking distance.

The staff is great, and they have live music and dancers...