Taso's Euro Cafe — Restaurant in Norwood

I can understand why this place has good reviews, food is better than most restaurants and being Greek food it is unique to many which impresses them. However, having lived in Greece for 15 years and also having tried Greek restaurants in various countries and at a lot of places in the US, I can tell you this is at best at par with ok places.

I went to this place twice, to make sure I sample more of their dishes in order to be able to justify my rating. Had a left my review after just 1 visit, they were getting 1 star. At my first visit I got the gyro and the pastitsio. The pastitsio was ok. Like any ok Greek place. Nothing special. The gyro was not. First off I asked if it was the sliced meat from the spit or the frozen type meat, and they told me it is the sliced meat, not the frozen, they lied. Anyone who has ever tried a real gyro, knows the meat that is right and they use the frozen slabs. They also put lettuce in it and their tzatziki is basically the lazy way where the cucumber is barely strained so the tzatziki is very watery and the flavoring is so toned downed no self respecting Greek would call that tzatziki..its basically watered down yogurt. Not to mention that you cant eat it like a greek souvlaki that you eat wrapped cause it has so much lettuce and drips so much from their watery tzatziki. If you want a proper gyro, go elsewhere.

Second time I went I got the pork chops (Greek style) and the chicken gyro. I tried talking to them about the gyro and they insist they prepare their own meat and slice it, but that is not possible because it looks and tastes just like the frozen slabs of meat you can get at any "Greek" restaurant here. The woman tried to convince me that they dont use the spit cause its unsanitary...and I thought..so being Greek is unsanitary...noted.

I tried asking that they replace the fake Greek salad with lettuce( that is the Greek Salad that most places serve for Americans) in the pork chop dinners with a proper Greek Salad and she said they couldnt do that..seriously..literally EVERY place I ask for that does that. So I ended up getting 2 sides of lemon potatoes for it as I didnt like the other options. So I ordered a true Greek salad on the side which ended up being huge.like for 4 people and only had 2 small pieces of feta cheese..talk about stingy.

So after proper sampling of their food and checking there prices (really expensive in comparison with every other Greek place here in the U.S.) and the fact that they truly are rude (I noticed tons of reviews mentioning that after I went there), they get 2 stars and I am definitely not going...

My friend and I flew up from Long Island to eat at Taso’s.

We arrived around 2:45 and placed our order. When the woman at the counter asked what I wanted to drink, I responded, “Just some water.” She rang up my purchase (never providing an itemized bill) and charged my card. She then gave me a bottle of water. I told her that I just wanted a cup of water. Her response was that Taso’s does not have tap water. I don’t understand how you wash dishes without tap water, but that is another issue. In New York, as I told her, restaurants have to provide tap water on request. She said that, “We have a pandemic going on up here. We don’t have tap water. That’s probably why you are doing so poorly in New York.” First of all, New York is doing better that Massachusetts, with 23 cases per 100,000 people compared to Massachusetts’ 40 cases per 100,000. Why someone working at a restaurant, which must be struggling to survive during this pandemic, would choose to alienate one of the few customers at the establishment is beyond me. That remark was rude, incorrect, and totally uncalled for.

I told her that I did not want the bottled water, and to my surprise, I was told that she would not issue a refund. I have NEVER been to a restaurant which would not make good on its error. If a dish is unsatisfactory, EVERY restaurant I have been to either provides a substitute, or a refund on request. I had not even touched the bottle! This is extremely poor customer service. In any case, she would have been ahead even if she had issued a refund out of her own pocket. The tip would have been $7.50 on that bill.

The food was not bad. My friend had a BLT hero and I had stuffed haddock. However, I will not go back to someplace which insults me for living in New York.

I attempted to contact the manager via email and address my concerns, suggesting that going forward, if someone asks for “some water,” they explain that they only have bottled water. I told him/her that I wanted to give them an opportunity to respond before I published a review. I got no response. I followed up with an email saying that I was going to publish the review without their response. They responded, "So it has been noted." I guess it’s more important for them to squeeze an extra $3.00 out of their customers. It’s not the money. I flew to Taso’s in my private plane. It is the attitude which made me ill eating there.

Bottom line...

A friend and I went to see the World War 2 bombers at Norwood Memorial Airport, and decided bring our lunch money to Taso's Euro Cafe, in the airport's parking lot. Their hours sign showed that they were closed on Sunday, but the door was open, so we went in.

My friend ordered a sub and I saw a small Gyros pitta on the menu, which I ordered. The food came really fast. The sub was decent, the Gyros tasty. I was a bit disappointed that the Gyros was americanized Greek meat loaf, not the traditional pork-and-lamb-sliced-off-the-grill that Greek restaurants in Europe serve.

My coffee was decent, but my friend took a sip of his coke, made a face and left it on the table: a fountain drink made from unfiltered chlorinated town water.

The waitress, a young Greek lady, came and asked how the food was, but didn't wait for an answer amd turned around and left before we could ask for a bottled coke from the refrigerator. No refill on the coffee either.

When the bill came, nicely tucked in a leather pouch, I noticed that the fountain drink and the coffee were $2.95 each - pricey. The bottom line showed $20 and change, we decided to leave $22 As we walked out, the waitress came running behind us, telling us that we didn't leave enough money for the meal. My first thought was, that I accidentally pulled a $10 note in stead of a $20 note, but no, when I looked at the cash register receipt the waitress showed me, I noticed I should have pulled the receipt out of the pouch: I had missed the tax and the grand total for $22.26 ... I had shortchanged them by $0.26 - my mistake.

When I tried to explain what happened and see if I could find a few bucks to make up for my mistake, the waitress interrupted me several times and aggressively remarked that "even if we didn't want to tip her, we should pay at least the entire bill". I couldn't believe what I heard and asked the waitress "can we be nice to each other?", waited for the waitress to compose herself. She didn't. While I was waiting, my friend got four quarters and dropped them in the waitress' hand. She kept her hand out, not a word from her, no apology, just glaring at us. When she realized she really wouldn''t get more, she spat out "No tip?" " After how you treated us here, outside?" I asked her. She pushed three quarters in my had and told us to "never come back".

Don't...