The Greek Taverna — Restaurant in Richmond

We had a large group bringing $500 in food/drink meals purchase with a guaranteed tip of 20%. It was a 1.5 hour holiday dinner planned. The on duty manager/owner from the outset with hostess/waitress set the tone for an abusive environment. 17 guests were due on weeknight & restaurant had plenty of room beyond our reservation. As our guests filled seats leaving the entire back bench unable to get up even for the restroom without all rising & exiting, I separated 2 table groups with a 6 inch gap & also for COVID safety with all seated nearly shoulder to shoulder with no gaps. The waitress came up & pushed the tables solidly together despite no impediment to anyone. I explained it was only for health & safety & a shimmy out for restroom, but she walked off. The explanation was ignored & waitress went to manager/owner & motioned toward the back wall seating. He walked over without a word & SLAMMED the tables together crudely. I couldn't wait to get to Greek Taverna, but within 10 minutes of arrival, abusive conduct was established with no explanation. 2 guests were uncomfortable with the boxed in seating & closed arrangement & upon arrival, they moved not just to the adjacent table, but 1 more down & mentioned elbow room instead of just COVID safety or restrooms. Don't give a pass to abusive conduct anywhere. The owner was guaranteed a huge payout along with the waitress for a 90 minute dinner. Ignoring explanation for 2 small 6 inch gaps & then displaying a physically aggressive response without any cordial comment in explanation, it's best all exit unless it's a holiday dinner for work. Never will return here not due to the refusal to engage in any cordial explanation, but for the physically abusive presentation slamming the tables together twice despite the cordial reason for the access gaps. No group or woman deserves to be treated in a rude or threatening manner over such a small need. I was told later by a sister organization that Greeks don't like moving anything for customers. Surprised by his comment on his travel experience, but he's been to Greece. This is the United States. WE expect women to be treated respectfully & their explanations to receive a cordial response. I would not suggest this Greek restaurant to anyone. The manager/owner made homophobic comments. Google doesn't allow this & nobody should. As a guy, I like Greek food but Greek Taverna is unacceptable. First time in 30 years that I can say this. WE are not blessed with their restaurants. We provide great advantage & welfare in life compared to...

We found The Greek Taverna on Insta and had to try it! It did not disappoint! We were met at the door with a nice hello and seated in a booth (even though we didn't have a reservation and it was almost rush time). Right when we were seated they brought us house made bread! The servers were very nice and friendly and explained all the specials.

We ordered the Greek street fries as an appetizer. For our main course we had the Greek baked spaghetti and the special of the day which was stuffed salmon with rice pilaf and a salad. All of it it was FABULOUS!

The Tzatziki sauce for the fries was good and thick. The fries were hot and the cheese was very good! Great appetizer!

The baked spaghetti was fantastic! The noodles were perfect, right amount of cheese and the perfect amount of sauce. There is also pepperoni, sausage and meatballs in the sauce and it's huge! Also, I would name this as a #1 item for takeout in Richmond because it eats, travels and reheats well.

The salmon special was stuffed and came with a super tasty rice pilaf and salad. The salmon was cooked perfect and had a wine lemon dill cream sauce, my husband cleaned his plate! He loved it all!

For dessert we had Kataifi Ek Mek. It's a Greek dessert that the owner makes with shredded wheat soaked in a sweet syrup with vanilla sweet cream (almost a pudding) topped with homemade whipped cream! It was FABULOUS, I ate it all!

They serve Greek wine and have specials on food and wine. Next time we will try the wine and other new things.

This was a fabulous dinner out and we...

The owner is a bully. I am disabled, and I was carrying an oxygen tank when he rudely asked me to re-park my car. I apparently was off the parking line and did not notice because of my disability. As directed, I went back and re- parked the car. When I entered the restaurant, he overheard me talking to my friends about how rude he was about it. He got up from the bar to be intimidating and asked me to leave. He stated “I’m refusing to serve you“ quite frankly I’m glad he did the restaurant had an odd odor to it and it was empty. I believe he had one too many drinks, as his behavior is quite odd. There are a lot of bullies out in this world and he certainly is one of them. I will be sure to broadcast to the public about the uncomfortability of this restaurant. I noticed how grandiose he was with the gold jewelry hanging around his neck. Old old school.

There are plenty good Greek restaurants in Richmond area. We ended up at a great restaurant only 10 minutes later.

Nobody likes a bully, no matter what the circumstances are. But I’m sure he’ll justified in his mind that he was right. He looks like a very unhappy individual...