Pappas' Grill — Restaurant in Vestavia Hills

I visited the McMullen Booth location on 11/25/23. Since I have food allergies, I contacted someone through email asking if I could eat at this location safely having both gluten and shellfish allergies. I was told yes and since I was visiting from out of state, I was very excited. Upon arriving at the restaurant that excitement disappeared quickly! There was absolutely NO ONE in the restaurant, yet I wasn't greeted AT ALL and had to yell for someone to recognize I had walked in -- Even though there was an employee at the grill. Finally an older man came out and while I tried to advise him of the emails exchanged and my food allergies before placing my order, he continuously dismissed what I was saying, speaking louder and louder to talk over me, encouraging me to place my order TO GO (as he did with a lady that came in about 10 minutes after I got there). I ordered a LARGE TRADITIONAL Greek Salad, he rang it up, quickly and then recapped, "Ok, a large CHOPPED salad no seafood", again I reminded him of my order. After I paid for my order, he tried to put bread in my bag, I reminded him sternly that I was allergic to bread!! I never once saw him put any gloves on. He acted as if he were doing me a favor. My salad was not what I had been dreaming off. Wilted shredded lettuce, mealy tomatoes, cucumbers that were mostly seed... my potato salad tasted like old mayo. It was not worth the $22 I paid for it. Even as I type this, the whole experience is just SAD. I expected better from the...

Update: I'm saddened that they are no longer open on Saturdays. One of my favorite dishes is the pan-fried tilapia, which they only serve during lunch hours. I work downtown and not able to drive to their location during lunch so I'll never get a chance to have that dish again. I hope they will potentially offer it as a dinner option!

Original Review: This is a great restaurant. It has pretty good prices and delicious food. Their spinach and rice and their Greek style potatoes are my favorite items on the menu. They also have a great Philly cheese steak pita wrap. I wouldn't recommend dining in. They don't have great ventilation so the smoke from the grill fills up the room. This makes it difficult to breath inside the restaurant. You will also leave smelling heavily of food and smoke if you dine in. I almost feel bad for the employees that work there because breathing that in every day for years can't be good for your lungs! Because of that I...

This review is tough so I’m going stick to just facts not feelings and opinions.

The food is great. If I never had to step in and see the restaurant I would give 5 stars across the board. The food is delicious!

The service was not good, it took about 45 minutes to get food and there were only ~8 other people in the restaurant.

Hygiene is lacking. The kitchen is open to everyone to see. Unfortunately, the cooks don’t use this feature to their advantage. Instead they show how they don’t use gloves and touch raw meat with their hands. When I ordered, the cook put two burgers on the grill to cook and then came over to take my order. He took my card to pay for my order and didn’t wash his hands before or after any of this. After paying I immediately took out purell to clean my hands and my card.

The place is dirty inside. While the pictures on the wall of Greece are nice, they are...