Christos Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Surfside Beach

Here is our honest review after trying here for the first time. First, there was no wine or any alcohol because they are still waiting on their license, they said. Second, they don’t have Caesar salad. Their House and Greek salad option is very confusing. The waitress said the only difference with the “dinner” salad and the greek salad is that the Greek salad has olives/feta. The “dinner” salad does not list that it’s their “house” salad. After picking the Greek salads, the waitress asked us what dressing we want?? She didn’t mention that it comes with a particular dressing. The salad bowls are small so you can’t mix up your salad with the dressing. We ordered garlic cheese bread. They brought out the bread that comes with the salads, which is part of the entrees first. The bread was plain bread with minimal butter/oil. 2 of the prices had no butter/oil drizzle on it. They then brought our garlic cheese bread. Would have been nice to have the appetizer first and than the entree bread, with the entree. Both breads did not have a lot of flavor. We put salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes on the bread to add some taste. The Waitress never came over and asked us how are food was until we were almost done. I had barely any marinara sauce with my chicken parmigiana. So I got a side of sauce to go with a Togo box. It looked like the owner was behind the bar with another young lady that was a hostess? They talked the entire time and didn’t help the 1 waitress that had our table and all the other tables. Our waitress was clearly stressed and not friendly, very bland and not sincere. We were surprised of their menu. The pasta entree section seemed like the smallest part of their menu with not many choices. Only 1 seafood option, Shrimp Sacampi. If the waitress asked us if we would like dessert, we would have said yes. We didn’t think about getting any until we were leaving and it was too late. Overall, I most likely would not return. The chicken for my chicken parmigiana was cooked well and the cheese was nice and golden on top. (The garlic cheese bread was blobs off white cheese without any color to it) Good luck as a new small business. It would have been nice to feel a bit more welcomed. We thought that the owners would have came by to say hello or see how everything was, but they did not. Our service was not tentative. **forgot to say their house salad dressing...

Went to have dinner opening week to try to support a new, local business. When our group went inside, we were advised by one of the owners that things were running slowly and someone would be with us shortly. The restaurant was exceptionally cold and the AC was blowing directly in the area of our table. The menu looked great; however, there was a separate "Limited Menu" on the table as the full menu was not available. Approximately 10 minutes after we sat down, a waitress came to our table and advised they were not expecting the turnout they had and we would probably not get out of there until at least 9:30. It was 7 when we got there. We decided to leave, so I can not comment on the quality of the food. The waitress was exceptionally friendly, courteous, and encouraged us to come back and give them another try. I feel like this establishment was not prepared to open and had not researched the area well enough for an opening. For example, there are three campgrounds very close to this restaurant and all three have activities the last two weekends of October for Halloween. We do plan on going back at some point and at that time I'll revise this review.

UPDATE: I went back this past week to give it another "first chance." This was an entirely different experience. Our waitress, Stephanie, was fantastic! She sat us quickly, got our drink order, and made sure we didn't need a thing during our dining experience. The restaurant was comfortable, bathroom was clean, and the food was remarkable. THIS is what I was hoping this restaurant would be as I patiently waited for it to open for business and I will be going back soon. Definitely worth a five...

Arrived well before close on a Sunday evening. They have a staff shortage and it was immediately apparent. I did not ding our server for that, but am including it in the rating.

We were immediately informed that about half the menu was unavailable due to running out of ingredients.

Recalculating our plan we placed our order, only to be informed after an additional 5 minutes or so that what we ordered ALSO couldn't be made.

Considering wether we should leave, we decided to stay. A pizza, Chicken parm, and Lasagna later we finally found a combo in stock.

When the salads arrived, I knew we were in for disappointment. Everything, and I mean everything tasted as though it had been picked up at the local grocery store. The quality of ingredients was not there.

When the food finally came out, our 8 year old was extatic about her pizza, ranking it just short of "pizza hut"... warning sign #2

My chicken parm consisted of 2 small frozen / pre-breaded chicken patties, like what you'd find in a tv dinner, and a pile of spaghetti hidden under what seemed like a full pound of mozzarella. Props where props are due, the cheese and sauce were both great tasting.

My wife's lasagna was basically frozen stouffers again hidden under a pile of cheese.

Out of curiosity I tried the kids pizza, if that wasn't boxed crust then I dont know what is.

The total for our freezer-section meal after a solid tip for the poor waitress/bar-tender/busser/hostess?

Seventy five dollars.

Was it better than fazollis? Debatable. Was it a better value? No.

Pros: The place looks nice inside and out, was very clean, and the food was not terrible

Cons: Price,...