Meraki In The Grove — Restaurant in Miami

Finally got a chance to eat here. The decor is very cute and the restaurant itself is clean and comfortable. We saw a huge plate of Greek fries before we were seated and it was the one dish we all knew for sure that we wanted. We ordered several appetizers to share and the lamb chops platter.

Tzatziki w/pita was great 👍🏼

Hummus w/pita was okay; chunky like a babaganoush; lacked flavor.

Tyropita comes with 5 pies and they were delicious.

Fried calamari was fresh but bland. Comes with an aioli and we added lemon but it was still just okay. It was only $7 though because we were there during happy hour so you can’t beat that.

Marinated grilled octopus was tiny. Like a single 6 inch leg tiny, and it didn’t taste like much. Definitely not worth $20. The table next to us also had the octopus and it was twice the size of ours, so I don’t know what that’s about. Wouldn’t order it again regardless.

Lamb chops were a good serving size (4 chops) and were delicious. The lemon potatoes they’re served with were also great.

Greek salad was good and their feta is super.

Greek fries were greasy and soggy.

We ordered all the food at the same time and just asked them to bring out plates as they were ready. Long after mostly everything came out, we still hadn’t received the salad and fries so we reminded our server, and shortly thereafter they came out. The fries are fresh cut, which is great, but they were so soggy and oily and had clearly been recently refried, so we sent them back and I asked that the replacement batch come with feta. The server returned almost immediately with the exact same plate of soggy fries, now topped with feta. Up until then the service had been fine; not great but not bad either. But that move with the fries didn’t sit well with us at all. Not surprisingly, when the check came out, there was 20% gratuity automatically applied. I usually have no problem with 20% gratuity. It’s easier for me to calculate, and if I’ve received good service, it’s worth the nominal difference between 15 and 20 percent. I would have especially been fine with it considering 4 of the dishes were at reduced happy hour prices. Up until the issue with the fries, we were enjoying the meal overall. It wasn’t the best meal, but it was good enough. It’s just so disappointing when a server decides to be rude and dismissive of a customer’s request because they’re going to automatically apply a premium tip to the bill regardless. It’s enough to make me not want to return and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to anyone given the abundance of great restaurants...

I never have a complaint when I come here. The food and service is always top of the line but my last visit will definitely be my last.. upon paying the serve I got (tall blonde man) was not that great. In fact you can even say he was terrible at his job. Me and my wife ordered appetizers and he takes the menus away not thinking much of it (since we’ve been here before we knew what we wanted as our mains) we just sit there we enjoyed our appetizers as he comes up and offers us the check or some coffee/dessert we were confused as we had ent ordered yet so we told him we wanted to order mains and he apologized for taking the menus away no biggie simple mistake. As we wrapped up our dinner and payed I had tipped the man $5 since the service was good but he could’ve been more attentive (we waited over 30 min for him to come up and take our order for the mains on a not so busy night) when he sees the bill he questions if the service was good and to that I responded “yes, everything was excellent the food was fantastic as per usual” he then proceeded to tell me in front of my wife that the only reason he asked was because and I quote

“You only tipped me $5 and that’s not even 10%”

A little rude but I usually don’t get bothered by stuff like that so I told him “sorry that’s all I had?” As we were leaving he proceeded to tell me my card declined and didn’t go thru not thinking twice of it I payed again but something didn’t sit right with me.. I look over my bank account and he charged me TWICE almost $200 I was baffled and brought it up to the manage (very kind man) and he tells me it’s a pending transaction and it’ll go back into my account blah blah as the other rude ungrateful waiter stood by and told me “sir, it’s impossible to charge you twice.” I’m disputing the second payment with my bank and hopefully the return the money. Disappointed to say the very least don’t think I’ll be returning to this place and their...

I recently visited Meraki In The Grove in Coconut Grove, Miami, and left feeling disappointed and frustrated with the overall experience. While I had heard good things about the restaurant, the reality didn’t live up to the hype, especially considering the hefty price tag.

Let’s start with the food. For $100, we ordered a small salad, an octopus dish, and a mixed platter. The portion sizes were shockingly small—almost laughable. The salad felt like something you could throw together at home in under five minutes, and the octopus dish was so small that it felt more like a sample than a proper entrée. The mixed platter, which I expected to be the star of the meal, was also underwhelming in size. For the price, I expected dishes that were at least filling or felt like they were worth the money. Instead, we left the restaurant still hungry and feeling like we had been overcharged.

Another thing that really bothered me was the olive oil they had on the table. It didn’t look or taste like real olive oil. I don’t know if they’re using some kind of cheaper alternative or blending it with something else, but it lacked that rich, flavorful taste you’d expect from a Greek restaurant. Olive oil is such a key part of Greek cuisine, so it was disappointing to see such a basic staple fall so short.

To top it all off, the cleanliness of the restaurant left much to be desired. Our table was filthy when we sat down, with visible crumbs and smudges on the surface. It made me question how much attention they’re paying to overall cleanliness in the restaurant. If they can’t keep the dining area clean, it makes you wonder about the state of the kitchen.

Overall, the experience was not worth the money or the time. I wanted to enjoy a nice Greek meal, but the tiny portions, questionable olive oil, and dirty table completely ruined it for me. There are so many great restaurants in Miami, and sadly, Meraki In The Grove is not one...