Eleni's Philoxenia — Restaurant in Portland

I’ve been to Eleni’s with friends over the years and always had good experiences (albeit mostly on week nights). Good portions, inviting atmosphere and the food has always been delicious. Liking it so much, I decided to invite my family and have them join my husband and I for a joint birthday celebration, raving to them about how amazing it was. And I have to say that I could not have been more disappointed in how the night turned out. We had to wait extended periods of time for absolutely everything - a drink menu after being asked several minutes later what we wanted to drink (hmmm, where’s the menu?), the drinks themselves, more bread, the meal, you name it. Our waiter was passive, unorganized and seemed to almost be avoiding our table and there were two occasions where I had to get up and find him so I could request more drinks for our party as well as remind him of forgotten items or appetizers that were served by mistake, etc. I felt like I was babysitting! At one point, I politely made mention of this to a young woman who was helping to bring out food and asked if a bit more attention could be paid to our large group and that helped but only momentarily. By the time the meal came, 2 hours after we had arrived (and after eating the smallest portion of calamari I’ve ever seen served there), our waiter was again nowhere to be found. He failed to bring the last two drinks we ordered and so we ended up ordering them at the bar. My brother-in-law asked the owner if he could order another beverage and she told him she wasn’t his waiter. Unbelievable! It was a fairly busy night and yet, as we observed other tables, it was clear they were being served without a problem and were mostly happy. I couldn’t believe our bad luck and hated that my husband and I had to stress out on our birthdays. Such a disappointment for us considering we don’t go out often and there are a million awesome places to choose from in Portland. Unfortunately, the delicious food alone is not enough to bring us back. I won’t...

We just had the BEST MEAL EVER at Eleni’s Philoxenia and we shared it with 24 (yes - TWENTY FOUR) of our closest family and friends! Eleni created the most delicious family meal that she served to our table which was situated in the center of the restaurant for our guests who traveled from all over the country to be with us for a special occasion. Guests wrote to me afterwards, “the courses never stopped flowing...loved them all” and “everything was fabulous!” One guest (who is a world traveler and has eaten at the finest restaurants around the globe and plenty of restaurants in Greece) wrote, “it will be remembered as one of my best meals ever.” I am so glad we chose Eleni to prepare our important dinner. Truly, she catered it as though we were in her home in Greece! When food is cooked with love, it is divine. We ate: grape leaves, saganaki, Greek salad, spanakopita, branzino fish, eggplant, risotto, chicken, moussaka (meat and vegetarian)…and we were served wine and ouzo. Everything was prepared to perfection! Our guests will never forget this meal and neither will we. We regularly go to Eleni’s Philoxenia and love it and now we are grateful for having had the opportunity to host others at Eleni’s. Thank you to Eleni and her staff! It was a beautiful evening with delicious food. We will be back next week for dinner to enjoy the food and to watch Eleni in action! She is a pro and brings honor to the Greek tradition of serving outstanding food to those who can take pause to enjoy a delicious, fresh meal with friends and family. Our special dinner was a celebration of life...and life can be...

I took my girlfriend here for her birthday and wanted to try some place different as we almost always eat some variant of Asian or Mexican food regularly. We don't often get the chance to have any Mediterranean food as often as we'd like in our neck of Portland. I was looking for a nice, romantic spot with some gluten-free options and I came across this gem in the heart of The Pearl. The service was fantastic and the food was absolutely delicious. I believe one of the persons who run this restaurant came over and always made sure everything was right and she was very attentive to my girlfriend's gluten-free diet. I know I will absolutely be coming back here to try the other options they have on offer. If they're half as tasty as my last visit, they'll still be deserving of a 5-star review.

For the record, I'm a huge fan of Filo pastry in all its forms... but on this occasion I opted for the "Arni Me Filo" which is lamb with layers of greek cheeses wrapped in filo pastry and topped off with some tasty veggies... I've had similar in Queens where I frequented many Greek restaurants, but this one was by far the best of the bunch. My girlfriend opted for braised lamb shank and "Melitza Nes Yemistes" (Rose garlic, fresh tomatoes, herbs & basil stuffed in eggplant). As you would expect from the tone of my review thus, it was all very tasty!

My girlfriend complimented me on my taste for restaurants when, in reality, Eleni's Philoxenia did all the...