Bahari Estiatorio — Restaurant in New York

Authentic, Authentic, Authentic Greek dishes!!! The presentation, the aroma, the taste and finally the price, five stars. Everything that I ever knew about one of my all time favorite dishes, Pastitsio, was staring me in the face. It's made with Lamb. But, most restaurants use beef and on occasion both. But, one thing is for sure, Pastitsio is made 100% with Bechamel sauce. Unfortunately, more than a few Greek restaurants have adjusted the recipe to appease a growing request for the dish to be made using red sauce. Well, it's no longer authentic. The beauty of diversity within the restaurant cultures is love, friendship and food. Bahari Estiatorio represents this well with each dish served within their restaurant. Don't be turned off by the darken Deli style counter and dreary looking entrance. As you continue walking to your table the view gets better and brighter. The dining area is nice, simple, clean and, it's cozy. In some spots, romantic. In the back area, one step up and towards the left side of the restaurant, theres more seating. Party of 8-12, they can easiy put tables togeather to accommadate.Dine at Bahari Estiatorio, with friends and or love ones. The restaurant is cozy. So, celebrating an anniversary or proposing to that special someone in this restaurant is not out of the question. You want to have a romantic dinner at home? Bahari Estiatorio delivers locally, homerun!! My dish, Pastitio was a tad dried out. But, so delicious, this restaurant gets a pass. The string beans were oh so yummy, I wanted to clap. Saganaki - fried feta cheese, delicious. Main cources ordered by my table, Steak, Souvlaki and Salmon. Drinks? Water and ice tea, it's in a can, our server said. But, $2, whose complaining. During the week, if you arrive before 3pm, the lunch menu is more than reasonable. Many dishes priced from $10-$14. Lots of these dishes found on the dinner menu. My dish, Pastitsio, was on the dinner menu. But, reasonably priced at $12, no regrets found here. Most meals come with a choice of potatoe, rice or vegetables. Also, free dessert at the conclusion of your meal, two pastries. So, why won't I be back? Especially since my friend eats here all the time. The reason is hurtful, shocking and, rude. We were a party of four. We sat 1/2 hr before the server brought water and bread to table. Then, 8 people who represented a party of four, two and one person tables arrived after us. They were seated and their food was served. Our party was still waiting to place our orders with the server, more than a little taken a back. We still sat there', feeling we were an over site and that someone, the server, owner or bus boy, would notice and say something. But, they did notice, they looked at us, said nothing to acknowledge the situation. Because my friend patronize Bahari regularly, I encouraged her to speak to the mgr or hostess. She and another friend were more understanding. I and my other friend felt compelled to request a mgr. Which is what happened. Unfortunately, my friend returned to our table in disbelief of the response. I realize I am getting so upset recalling my own personal experience with the server. It was sad because it was rude and disrespectful. Yet, The food, not the service was over the top amazing. Wait, my Pastitio, was cold after taking a few bites. So, I am choosing not to return. If I wasn't with my friends I would have left after 30mins of being ignored and having observrd three other tables being sat and served, after our party arrived, shocking. Also, one of the parties that walked in after us, were a party of 4, as well. They were seated and served swiftly, the restaurant was not crowded, ridiculous. The restaurant was not crowded. Bahari Estiatorio, will hopefully, continue to serve up authentic Greek and Mediterranean dishes. But, it will be missing one patron, me, and the large amount of business I could have brought them, Bahari Estiatorio, service...

Was surprised at how underwhelming this place was considering the rating it currently has in here. First we ordered a salad which on the menu says it’s cucumbers feta tomato onion and oregano. It ending up coming with olives and green peppers. When my wife asked about it and pointed to the salad on the menu, the waitress insisted it was the same salad and didn’t even offer to take it back to remove the extras that aren’t listed as part of this salad. Was literally yelling at us at the table that it’s the salad we ordered, but could t explain why it had olives and peppers. Also there was no oregano on it and not even a tiny bit of dressing. So basically some veggies thrown into a bowl. Not even the softest tomatoes like a Greek salad should have.

Tzatziki and pita were delish, grilled octopus was also delish. No complaints there. Would recommend both of these.

Saganaki was cold and mushy. Not like hot grilled melty cheese with a crispy dough that so many Greek place in Astoria are known for. Definitely not tasty at all. Pass.

My wife got the spanakopita which she orders everywhere and did not like the one here. Said it had too much of an oniony taste. I tried a piece and thought it was just ok. It’s not a dish I usually like though so don’t take my word for it.

For main dish we got the marinated and skewered chicken and roasted lemon potatoes. The chicken was grilled nicely and had a good herb flavoring to it on the outside, but inside was dry and not very juicy at all. Underwhelming for the way it looked. Lemon potatoes were just ok. Have had better.

I lived in Astoria for 11 years (just moved out in November) and have been to a lot of Greek spots. This doesn’t compare to any of the other many Greek spots in Astoria. Take your chances if you like though.

Let’s not forget the ridiculous credit card processing fee which they don’t tell you about when you hand them a card. What restaurant does that these days? Ended up being an extra $6. Won’t break the bank, but can’t remember the last time I paid a fee for dinner for using my credit card.

Try...

A few weeks ago I had the displeasure of visiting Bahari restaurant. The reason it was a displeasure is because the overall dining experience lacked everything but disappointment. The day before my visit, I had made reservations for 11 at the restaurant. Upon walking in the next day I went up to the hostess and told them I had made reservations. To my surprise we were told our table was not ready. No problem I thought, it'll probably be just a few minutes. A few minutes went by, then a few more, then some more, until I came to the realization that all 11 of us had been standing on our feet for over 35 minutes still WAITING for the table I had reserved from the night before. I thought this is ridiculous, so I went up to the owner and asked why our table was still not ready and what was the point of taking reservations since the restaurant did not reserve the table. Long story short I don't think they understood the concept of "reservations" and went on blaming the people that were eating at our reserved table-something along the line of "I can't tell them to just get up and leave when they're still eating". The whole point of reservations is to hold the table so that no one sits there in the first place-if they did that, there wouldn't be anyone eating at the "reserved" table to begin with. Anyway, we decided to wait a little longer and sure enough 10 minutes later we finally got seated. After ordering food and wine I found the overall quality and taste to be bland and definitely not worth the wait. Burnt meat, overcooked fries which were almost black from old cooking oil, and house wine that probably wasn't worth more than $5 a bottle. I wish the story could have ended there but unfortunately there was a sequel to this which was even worst than the first. The next day two of my friends reported that they had thrown up while me and my wife were battling to keep the urge of doing so at bay. 3 days later the urge finally left us as the last toxic remnants of our meal had thankfully cleared out of our stomachs. Bahari -you will...