Elia Cafe & Mediterranean Products — Restaurant in Miami

I had great expectations for my most recent visit, 05/08/21. So great that I didn't do the one thing one should ALWAYS do: CHECK THE ORDER!

I'm a born-and-raised local and it pains me that standards have slipped so low, at so many venues. At Elia's, it was a case of a lack of active listening and, possibly, assumption.

Cheese saganaki is just one of those dishes I wouldn't order for home or take out. I don't have a gas stove, nor a flame grill and the dish is too easily congealed by the time you get home.

But CHEESE saganaki was what I received when I ordered SHRIMP saganaki (I'm pretty sure if the employee recalls our interaction, I didn't request cheese). With both items on the menu, I could expect my selection to be confirmed by the person taking my order just as much as the person taking my order "expected" me to check the order and receipt. Most upsetting is I was really looking forward to this dish, as it's one of the few Greek/Mediterranean dishes I haven't tried.

So, there I was, returned from errands that took me to SoBe, Downtown and Morningside before I checked my purchases and saw the inevitable error. Inevitable, it seems lately, because errors with client orders happen far more frequently than many local restaurants/cafes like to admit. Even more disappointing: I was the only customer for the entire time I was inside this cafe and it was quiet with no (I thought) distractions.

And, of course, to compound the situation, Elia's is closed on Sunday. So here I am with a potentially wasted slab of cheese, wondering, "How am I going to...

My experiences with Elia Cafe have been for delivery orders only. I haven't visited the establishment in person yet.

Food was fantastic and delish! You can tell it was prepared with pride and love. Everything was perfectly cooked and beautifully presented even though it was a takeout order. The homemade phyllo pies were delightful and one of my favorite items on the menu. They are about $6. All the flavors I tried have been tasty: beef, spinach and chicken pesto.

The platters are great for when you are very hungry or want to share, especially the "feed me" platter. The meats are full of flavor and nicely cooked. Greek salad is fresh. The extensive selection of sauces and spreads are just terrific additions to the already tasty menu items. Everything I ordered so far has been delicious.

The grubhub delivery experience was also good. The menu is clearly posted on the app and pictures are available for most of the items, so it is very easy to navigate and accurate.  The only problem is that I want to order everything I see since it all looks great. Elia made sure to pack everything nicely for delivery and...

I’ll give these people 3 stars, reasons why:

Prices are too high for just 2 pastries and smoothie. Customer service 0. The lady who I spoke to literally making disgusting faces like I was asking for free when I paid for it. I asked if they had healthy wraps etc and she seemed careless with very low voice saying “we do n’t have that, this is Greek food. When she could've perfectly educated me telling me “we don't have this but I recommend this one”. See the difference? OK. Then I asked for 2 smoothies with whey protein powder, 1 with vanilla powder and the other one chocolate powder. She decided to make both with vanilla and gave a damn what I asked for since the beginning.

The pastries I tried wasn’t that bad and the smoothie too. That’s why I’m giving 3 stars. Otherwise I’ll give 1.

You should improve or give that lady customer service training if you want people coming back to your...