Philia Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

Dinner for four recently .. Choose your time carefully. This is small, narrow dining area offering some level of intimacy. That intimacy comes at a very big price. The noise level in the place was unbearable when filled to approximately 75%  - given, a typical problem in most establishments but much worse here because of the size. It's a lot like traveling by car, avoid the heavy traffic periods. Given the increased cost of dining out, there were service issues which ought not to occur before paying a premium for the experience. Two appetizers were ordered to share. One came out, the other didn't appear until after the first was finished. Four entrées were ordered. Three came out complete accompanied by only the side order of the fourth. When the fourth did appear, it was lukewarm. (I chose not to send it back to avoid the risk of being the only one eating after the rest of the party were finished. My bad, it should have been returned) The background music. At one point, I heard a heavy Bon Jovi and other similar material playing. Not loud, but IMHO not appropriate for the setting. What are they thinking?? Lighting in the entire dining area would randomly go dim and then brighten again after several moments. This is likely due to the lights being wired on a heavily loaded circuit with other high-current demands (kitchen equipment, etc.). This was rather annoying throughout. And the finale. A 3.5% "SVCC charge" with no notice of such posted anywhere on the menus (or those on the website). To make the matter worse, the scvc charge was applied despite paying by debit card (a big NO NO :  google "Are Debit Card Surcharges Legal? What You Need To Know" ). Overall, a good, but not great, meal. However, the noisy environment, service faux pas', poor choice of background music, bad lighting, and imposition of an unposted service charge when paying by debit, have removed this establishment from my list of places to return...

Philia restaurant East Meadow👎🏻👎🏻 Wanted to try it based on a rave review in Newsday. We had a 7:00 reservation for four. Arrived about 10 minutes early. As soon as you enter the restaurant you are standing on top of a table of diners. Felt very uncomfortable. The restaurant is very narrow and has filled in as many tables as they can. Not really any room to move inside No host station and nobody greeted us. Another couple came in behind us also with a 7:00 reservation. They squeezed in and went to the bar. Finally greeted and told it would be a wait of 5-10 minutes. We saw a family of four finish and thought that would be our table. Instead it went to people who were seated and waiting at the bar. Continued waiting and saw another table of four open up. By now, we’d moved to the bar just to be able to sit and be away from people already seated and eating. Instead of giving us that table, it went to the couple who came in after us. Kept being told another five minutes. Decided after 40 minutes to walk out. As were walking out, were followed and told they had a table for us and they’d do something for us. No thanks! Had a great dinner at Grand...

Went in with my daughters and ordered calamari, a pasta dish for my vegetarian and the spicy shrimp dish for my other daughter and I. The pasta was served in a broth type sauce and almost looked like soup. My one daughter and I enjoyed it however it was a little runny but I will say the flavor was delicious. The calamari was okay, nothing to write home about. The spicy shrimp dish was nicely presented with extra large shrimp. I thought it was really good but my other daughter said she didn’t love the spicy sauce. I’m not a fan of spice and I thought it was good. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and a nice portion. The winner was the pita and dip served on the table. It was fantastic and my family enjoyed it very much. I will say this is a cute spot, nicely decorated and good service. It was just a little pricey for a regular weeknight but I think it would be nice for a date night or special occasion. Just check the menu before you go as it is a...