The Feisty Greek — Restaurant in Norwood

Once featured on Phantom Gourmet, the Feisty Greek features a good variety of classic mediterranean food - authentic and quite tasty.

The atmosphere is a little cold and sterile - think the dining room at a Five Guys', not cozy and warm like you'd consider a "restaurant". They do a brisk take-out business.

But that's where things kind of fall apart. They absolutely cannot, and I mean cannot, get anything but the smallest order correct - and, even then, you're taking your chances. We have now done six (!) consecutive take-out orders where items were wrong, missing, or both. And in most of these cases the order was correct - in that we paid for the items - but didn't get them. Last night's attempt had some desserts (Baklava and rice pudding) included, listed on the receipt, and even confirmed that at pickup ("Picking up this online order - everything all set?" "Yes!").

Get home to find no desserts. $24 dollars of food ordered and paid for but not delivered. They're always good about issuing a refund for the missing item, but what is the customer supposed to do? Take over a table at the place, untie the bag, unpack and inspect every item for correctness?

Special orders ("no tomatoes, please!") will arrive with tomatoes. Every time we've chosen Feisty for a group dinner, we're left scrambling because someone in the group didn't get what they ordered.

Some items on the menu have limited quantities available each day (particularly falafel and desserts), and neither the online nor phone ordering deals well with that.

The coordination and communication behind the counter is really lacking. Nobody is responsible for making sure that things are running smoothly and that orders are correct. Ever been to a restaurant where the waiter has to apologize that "the kitchen is backed up" or that something went wrong with your order and they had to remake it? "Hey, did you start on this customer's order yet?" That's what this place feels like. I've waited there for 45 minutes after an order was supposed to be ready, at...

As this family had done for a number of years at the Orchard Cafe, they now have opened a clean, friendly, fresh and delicious new establishment that has something for everyone on the menu.

With their customers come first approach, you can always expect to feel like a part of the family when they strike up a conversation with you, ask how you are and what's new, and show that they really want to invest their time and care into the relationships they build, not just the food they make.

And the food, well that is delicious all around. From the salads to wraps, lunch plates to dinner specialties, the level of freshness and genuine good taste (from flavorful Greek recipes, not overloads of salt and seasoning coverups) keeps people like myself coming back as often as I can to try new things and see what new special they are making that day.

The new facility is awesome, with tons of room, nice brand new bathrooms, a very open cooking space to watch your meal being prepared, and plenty of seating to accommodate either just yourself, or a nice sized group for a work lunch.

Working in Social Media, I also must applaud them on their progressive approach to stay in touch with their customers beyond the store, as they take suggestions and inform of new specials on their Facebook page and Twitter, and run Yelp Check In Offers as well as have a very active Foursquare account. This lets people know "they get it", and that at anytime we can be in touch with questions, compliments, suggestions etc.

Overall, you can't find a better spot in this area for great Greek food, or an atmosphere that brings you back to the day when doing business locally meant you new each others name, cared to chat and catch up, knew what the customer preferred and were sincere and genuine through...

The Feisty Greek had top notch ratings when I was scouting out the area for lunch and it lived up to what we were anticipating. We got off route one, drove for what seemed like a very short distance and it was right there. We pulled into the parking lot and walked in to find a pretty decently sized room with a counter of the left and the seating area on the right. No frills here, just a simple place with a simple decor but with some pretty damn good food. They even have a beer and wine licence complete with some Greek imported beer.

I looked at the menu and many of the items seemed very appetizing including the mousaka ($9.95) and pastitsio ($9.95) but I decided to go with one of their grilled plates ($9.50) which for lunch consists of one skewer of meat one side and a Greek salad. The dinner version of this has two skewers instead of one. I selected chicken as my meat, paid and went to the soda fountain to fill my drink and sat down. Moments later my order was called and my food arrived. The whole ordeal took less than ten minutes and felt quick which was great.

Fast forward to a clean plate and the whole meal was delicious. The chicken skewer was outstanding with a very well seasoned and flavorful chicken, a fresh and solid Greek salad and my side of lemon potatoes which was also fantastic. All in all a great meal.

The place is family operated and they are all very friendly. I definitely will be coming back for more when in the area. It sure beats anything else in the area but regardless, the ratio of value to quality is good and their menu is diverse enough to suit just about everyone from vegans to vegetarians and even people looking for some...