Katerinas Greek Cuisine — Restaurant in Manassas

This is a long and descriptive review. Having never tried Greek food beyond a gyro Katrina's is a homey, out of the way place which is perfect for us. We've eaten here twice in 6 weeks. We tried different things each time and share. I'm sure people around us think we're pigs lol. We usually get 2 or 3 appetizers, 2 main dishes and a dessert to share. We eat half of most things and the rest go in doggie bags. We had always shied away from Greek food since neither of us likes feta cheese crumble on salads. So keep an open mind, indulge yourself and think outside the box lol. These are OUR opinions on authentic, made from scratch, Greek foods. We are not trying to offend anyone. So...

The pork souvlaki, shrimp saganaki and dolmades appetizers are wonderful!! Use the lemon on the pork (you'll thank us after). No seasoning needed on any of them. Stir the complimentary dipping sauce and it too is good. All with warm pita bread!

We haven't found a main dish that wowed us. YET! The spanakopita isn't a favorite. It was dry, not seasoned and had mostly spinach. The mousaka wasn't too bad though a bit dry. When reheated with the tomato sauce, salt and lemon at home it was pretty good. Don't think lasagna for anything at Katrina's. It may look close but isn't. The pastitsio was just OK. It was drier than the mousaka and needed the same things added. In our opinions. The gyro lamb was as expected. Shrimp korfu also needed salt and acid. When reheated with the salt and lemon it was also pretty good.

One of us likes the salad (him) but I do not. The first visit he took my salad home. The second visit I told the server that I didn't like the salad. She told me I could choose another side dish. The string beans sound like the typical American veggie. But, wow, these string beans are in the same great tomato sauce with sautéed onions. The other side was seasoned Greek potatoes and another wow!

Last, but in no way least, is the dessert called galaktoboureko! Yeah, so, we call it the baked custard lol. This is absolutely to die for!! We usually take pictures of what we order. Both times we've been so wowed that no pictures were taken. 🤣🤣 We even talked it over while we were waiting for it the second time, take pictures!! It came out, cut in half and when he had almost finished his he laughed. "Remember to take a picture" yeah right lol. Order this when you are almost done with your entrée. It's made to order and takes 10 minutes to bake. It is worth every minute. It's warm, comforting and not like anything we'd ever had before. Yummy!

Olga was our server the second time and she was patient with us and very attentive. For 3 appetizers, 2 entrées and dessert big enough for two the bill was $90. She was absolutely worth the tip 30% tip she got. You may think it's a lot overall but think about this... It's summer 2024 where prices for everything is so high. If I get a grilled chicken combo with a shake at Chick-fil-A it costs me $20! I get 12 grilled nuggets, side salad and a shake. For $115, like I said he's a wonderful tipper, we got to try 6 new items that was probably 4x the amount of the fast food. But wait, we ate half AND each of us got another leftover meal. $115 ÷ 2 = $58 but $115 ÷ 4 = $29. For $9 more a meal we get something that's better for us than fast food and is unique. Ever heard of Greek fast food? Me either!! We highly recommend 🤣🤣🤣 If you go after 5pm on a weekend evening it gets...

I wanted to write a review for a long time but didn't want to give that experience much attention, finally doing it.

I've lived in Cyprus over a decade ago and worked in Greek restaurants so I know the custom and value Greeks/Cypriots give go their guests.

I had the urge to dine in this restaurant for some time so I decided to go with my wife and three children on Fridaya afternoon last summer. When we stepped in, the waitress just looked at us as if it's we are suppose to start conversation with her as oppose to her greeting us. Anyway I greeted her and told the number of seats required, she lead us to the table and left.

Then a lady came to our table, seemed like she owned the place, gave us menues. We selected meals but had a few questions to adjust our choices to accommodate children's needs. I asked the lady several questions about portion, ingredients and made a few changes in our order, it took little more than usual time to make a decision. At one point the lady told me I loud enough voice for customers around to become part of the scene that I don't know what I want to oder and continued lecturing me on that subject for a few seconds in front of my family. I could tell this was coming because neither she nor her staff were welcoming, and I remember dealing with them with smiles and thanks specially because I was with my family and I want to avoid bad experience at all cost. Anyway seeing her attitude, I decided what to order without complete satisfaction with my order, however from that point on I could not keep on my smiles and my thanks which I was giving them the moment I stepped in to the restaurant and on whatever action staff did for us regardless.

I'm sure the lady observed that because afterwards each time she returned she faked being nice to me and children.

I could not enjoy my food at all even though it was really nice, everything was fresh and cooked to satisfaction. After we were done, I asked for cheque and left the place from first exit door I saw without saying a word to the staff, and staff did the same :)

I did not share my displeasure with my wife while we stayed at the restaurant as I wanted to continue giving them best experience, thank God they enjoyed being there. My wife even asked me to go back but I said no.

I know Mediterranean people and some of them can be rough if they don't know you but I was not visiting them as house guest, I was customer and paid full price for the whole experience but they only provided good food, no good service.

Please improvement your people's skills and keep making good...

I am sad we did not even stay for the food as I have heard great things about it. We were celebrating my sons b day...and from the moment we walked in I already had a not so great feeling as 3 different people asked us how many in our party before we were seated. The waitress who set our menus on the table just layed them down did not greet us. I get it..sometimes even on a Wednesday night this place gets busy. Then the manager (he seemed like the manager) asked us if we could move because they needed the table for a larger party as we were only 3...fair enough I did not mind but we did ask why when we where told just for our understanding. We looked over our menus and then we were asked to move tables. We did but left our menus at the first table. Then our new waiter brought our menus just kinda threw them down on the table. We got our drink others but could see our waiter was in a bad mood. This is the vibe we got. When he came back w our drinks he forgot the lemon for the water and he was asked for lemon. I get my partner has a deep voice but right away our waiter asked that he not be yelled at. This began a back and forth between my partner and our waiter who explained he was just trying to help us out in front of my 7 year old...who’s b day we were celebrating. This exchange and just the way we were greeted just made me feel like simply going elsewhere. At that time the manager came and offered my partner a beer on the house and I said we just wanted our bill for my and my sons drinks. We said we just wanted to go. He said he would get our drinks and me and my son made our way out. He said a couple more time to my partner that he could buy him a beer. We went down the street where it was also busy but our waitress apologized for the delay, introduced herself right away with a smile and we felt at ease and enjoyed our celebration. I get that it can get busy..I get that we all can have bad days...but the way that one is made to feel goes a long way. I did not feel that from the very start...even when the manager asked that he needed to move us. Perhaps on a different night I might have stayed.....but this was a special night...meant to feel light and easygoing. Thus my review is not...