Giorgio's Greek Cafe — Restaurant in Puyallup

This past Thursday July 26th, my wife and I came to Giorgio's for dinner. Having been here a handful of times previously, we always received friendly, attentive, warm service - This was FAR from the case on our last visit.

• Preface - Because I did not catch our waitresses name, you will see I use descriptive words in this review.*

Upon being greeted by a very friendly younger gal in her perhaps 20s, we were given our menus and brought to our table.

About 5 minutes later, our waitress arrived to our table - she was perhaps in her late 30s and was rather loud and had an unkept appearance.

Being it was a relaxing dinner, our waitress was extremely loud. We would ask questions about the menu, and she would continue on and on in a loud voice, a few times spit had flown out of her mouth onto our paper covered table top.

Which is fine, I understand business, and talented staff have different personalities. So we let that pass and ordered our food and drinks - Mind you, I ordered a Diet Coke.

Upon receiving our waters and my Diet Coke, I tasted it - and it was extremely flat. We've all been there, tasting a soda drink that does not have carbonation. No problem it happens. So I flag down the younger 20s aged waitress and mentioned her my Diet Coke was flat. She apologized and went to the bar area to get me another.

Upon her receiving my 2nd Diet Coke - it too was also flat. I again flagged down the 20s aged waitress, and mentioned to her that my 2nd Diet Coke was also flat. She apologized, and mentioned that the Diet Coke does come in a can, and perhaps it was expired.

I understood, and agreed that perhaps the Diet Coke cans they had were perhaps expired. As the 20s aged waitress returned to the bar area, where she was met by the 30s aged waitress. I can watch from my chair they are discussing my drink situation.

Immediately, the 30s aged waitress storms to our table and begins to explain in an even louder voice,

"OUR CANS OF DIET COKE ARE NOT EXPIRED, IN FACT - YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN DRINK DIET COKE BECAUSE IT IS FULL OF CHEMICALS THAT WILL ROT YOUR TEETH AND IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH"

I was taken back at her explanation, as I've never experienced or witnessed a service professional "SCOLD" a paying customer for their choice of food w/ such a condescending tone.

I explained to this waitress that I'm not too concerned about her judgement, as I work in healthcare and am an adult that can drink a Diet Coke if I'd like. I told her to forget about the drink and not to worry about getting me a 3rd Diet Coke.

She scoffed and walked away toward the bar area.

In a bit of disbelief, my wife and I looked at each other and was wondering what just happened. Did a service professional just talk down to a paying customer for ordering a Diet Coke?!

And if this were not enough, the rude 30s year old waitress walked from the bar to the kitchen. Passing our table, she once again in a demeaning loud tone said to us,

"EVEN THOUGH YOU WORK IN HEALTHCARE, JUST SO YOU KNOW -- THE ASPARTAME IN DIET COKE WILL KILL YOUR INSIDES, AND YOU SHOULDN'T DRINK IT"

At this point, instead of worrying that this waitress will spit in my food, my wife and I got up and left.

How dare a server insult a customer in this way.

Before leaving, I asked another 20s year old waitress - Is it correct for wait staff to judge your customers orders? If a customer orders a beer or a glass of wine, are you going to judge them and remind them that alcohol has killed millions in drinking driving accidents and also leads to liver damage and cirrhosis?

The 20s year old waitress apologized and mentioned that her coworker was completely in the wrong. Another couple sitting behind our table, said to us before leaving, that the waitress was completely inappropriate.

Imagine going out to dinner, ordering nearly $60 worth of food and drink, and the server tells you not to order fries because the grease will make you fat, or not to order cheese because it will clog your arteries.

This incident was enough for my wife and I never to return...

UPDATE 04/29/24: I wish I could give Giorgio's another few stars. This place is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. I've told probably hundreds of people about it by now, including people from other states. (".. if you're ever in Washington go to a little Greek restaurant named Giorgio's..")

I recently heard that the owner is still very involved with the actual operation of the restaurant: cooking, cleaning, helping with prep, and the business stuff. To me this is gold, what every small business owner should strive for, being involved with their business. Being in the trenches with the front line folks.

Incredible. I've been going to Giorgio's for a number of years and I just love their food. I've had maybe 50% of the menu at this point and have recommended Giorgio's to many people when they're looking for a place to go in downtown Puyallup. Tonight I tried the spaghetti (with meatballs) for the first time and holy moly it's beyond good.. I can't believe I waited this long to try it. I've had spaghetti at numerous places over the years and am always disappointed (maybe I just have high expectations), but this was definitely not a let down. For some reason this called out to me on the menu tonight and now I know why! It's got such a unique flavor to it, I'm not even sure I can place the flavor profile, I've never had spaghetti quite like this. Whatever combo of spices make it 'Greek,' this has that.. It's absolutely not your average spaghetti and puts other places to shame. My son had the myzithra spaghetti (with bacon) and it was unreal.. Imagine spaghetti alfredo-ish flavor with bacon and myzithra cheese pieces. Just close your eyes right now and imagine this.. Yep. It was so rich my son could only eat half of the portion. Of course everything comes with pita bread and it is also so tasty. I stole a bit of his myzithra spaghetti and mixed it with a bit of my meat spaghetti: wow. The flavors and textures together was so unbelievable. My only recommendation is to get two plates, one for each of you, and then each take half of the other! (Or maybe Giorgio's will make a spaghetti combo plate..?) Overall I love the vibe in this place and the staff is so great!! I am a local and I highly recommend Giorgio's to everyone who likes...

So disappointed, I ate here years ago and thought it was amazing. Finally had the chance to come back again and really talked it up for my party. We were not greeted at all until someone was actually ready to seat us. The wait staff was really nice but only did the bare minimum. We waited for a while for our food and it came out super over cooked and the portions were super disappointing. Most of the plate was store bought pita bread and dry rice. The potato side tasted dirty. The moussaka was so good last time I ate here - like eating a potato cloud! I was so excited to eat it again! This time it came out like a frozen Costco lasagna, and a very small portion for what we paid. The other meal was stuffed chicken which also looked really good. It had a good sauce, but it was a small piece of chicken for what we paid, and also overcooked. I was just disappointed that what I remembered as feeling like a luxurious dining experience before ended up being an expensive basically home-cooked meal. Unfortunately, I also barely made it into my car in the library parking lot before I started to feel like I might puke. I'm so sorry to leave a bad review, I'm hoping we just came on a bad day but I'm also hoping that maybe this gets to the right person so we can try coming back...