Eleni's Restaurant — Restaurant in Woburn

Last night, I learned what Greece must taste like. Our first time to Eleni’s was on a freezing cold, bustling Friday night. We wanted to enjoy a special meal for our first date night out in 2024; we opted for Eleni’s for the raving reviews of their Greek menu, service, and proximity. I personally have been disappointed in the flavor profile of Greek foods in my visit to other highly recommended Greek restaurants; this is the first of many distinctions that place Eleni’s a step above the rest.

We did not make a reservation, and this was not an issue for the 7pm seating, as we had the last table available. This last table is the single reason I’ve knocked off one star.

We were seated and instructed that they were very busy, but that someone would be with us as soon as possible. Less than 2 minutes in, our water was filled. Less than five minutes in, our server Jordan was describing the specials for the night (the entree: swordfish with garlic butter shrimp, the drink: Aperol spritz).

We opted for the whipped feta as an appetizer, we were influenced from the raving reviews. I’m not a feta fanatic, and it was tasty, albeit, tart. The pita assisted in balancing the tartness. There was a sizable portion of feta left after the pita was consumed and the staff did ask if we wanted more.

Before our entrees arrived, we also nibbled on bread with a house made spread consisting of olive oil, Parmesan, and what I believe may have been sun dried tomatoes. The third component in what is typically a standard offering was impactful. Needless to say we happily ordered more bread as not to consume by the spoonful!

With Jordan’s guidance, I ordered the Imam and complemented with a beet salad, which “if you like beets you must try.” My date ordered the Moussaka for an entree, which contains ground beef and eggplant. We ordered pop with our meal, they have Coke or Sprite.

My options were all vegetarian for the evening, but no less flavorful. The Imam and salad came out and this is where things began to become slightly chaotic with our small table. I did need to request they take away the feta and bread after I received the Imam and beet salad. The Imam was delightful, I could taste the impact roasting had on the flavors of the eggplant. The texture was a luxurious and reminiscent of butter. It truly was an indulgent experience. From looking at other Imam photos, I would say this dish was more of a deconstructed Imam, where the eggplant was sliced prior to roasting. It technically wasn’t stuffed, but I enjoyed nonetheless! My beet salad was delightful, with both purple and golden beets drizzled with balsamic and feta. It was slightly too much feta for me, but again I’m not a huge feta fan.

My partner’s plate arrived and it was a phenomenal spread—Greek potatoes with the perfectly sliced Mousakka and a side salad. I will dream of those Greek potatoes. I’ve had many versions of Greek potatoes, homemade and in highly recommended restaurants, and I can tell you none have come close in serving up a well balanced and delicious flavor like these did.

I will be back to Eleni’s, and if I had to order the same thing again I absolutely would. Next time I will certainly be opting for a dessert.

Why four stars for atmosphere? It all came down to the incredibly awkward position of the table, leaving us adjacent to a pillar and directly in front of a 12-top. There was virtually no space between the two tables, and when their order arrived the servers had to walk between their seats and mine in a very tight, nonexistent aisle. It was distracting but not worth removing a single star. I removed a star as this combined with the 2-top being too small for our plates was distracting is why I removed one star...

I really wanted to like this place based on the reviews as it is very close to us and everyone was raving about the food! We went on a weekday night so the restaurant was empty, minus 3-4 other tables. We were excited to finally make it here so we asked for a few recommendations about the different wines and the food. The waiter was very nice, but did not know the menus very well, which I guess is understandable for a brand new restaurant. I did appreciate that he let us taste the wines before deciding- the Genesis Sauvignon blanc was a solid choice. Just FYI, the Greek rosé is not actually pink (we thought our drinks were accidentally switched)! The complimentary bread came with a mixture of olive oil and feta cheese, absolutely unique and delicious! The bread was fresh, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. We got the octopus as an appetizer; it was very tender and the flavors were balanced (with a heavy dusting of oregano and black pepper), though I felt the presentation was a little sloppy and looked like something you would get at someone’s house, not a restaurant for $18. I did like the acidity of the beets and I’m not even a beet person. For entrees, my fiancé got the cod with the lemon potatoes. The cod was flaky, not overcooked- the quality of the fish was fresh and the meat was even sweet. The lemon potatoes sounded delicious, but I was disappointed to see it was equivalent to a half of a single large (?russet) potato. I had imagined potato wedges with a little crispness or even smaller roasted yellow potatoes tossed in a lemony, olive oil-based sauce. I was nearly full between the bread and appetizer, so I opted for the Greek salad with lamb kabob. I was disappointed to see such a conservative portion. The salad was based on a bed of mixed greens and severely missed the typical refreshing crunch that could be accomplished by adding texture through some romaine or iceberg lettuce. You only get 1 lamb kabob for the extra charge which, again, had the right flavors, but the meat itself was too stringy/chewy and a little cold by the time it got to the table and the pieces of onion/pepper were few and far between. Despite the restaurant not being busy, we waited a long time for both the appetizer and our entrees. Just before leaving, the waiter did tell us that live (Greek) music is in the works. The atmosphere and decor of the restaurant was clean and very tasteful.

Overall, there are always growing pains and trial and error with new restaurants. I want to emphasize that the flavors are excellent and the dishes have potential, they just need to work on the execution and it would be a great success. There is so...

I don't give out 5 stars, or even 4 stars easily. these should be reserved for above average spaces, and I want my reviews to be useful to those reading them. I have this at 3 stars = average for the genre. Ambience: Was noisey, can use some acoustic treatment as it was busy and hard to have conversation. Otherwise, music and space was bright and pleasant. Food. SPINACH PIE was best I ever had. it's a must try. this deserves the 5 stars. My LAMB over orzo and vegetables and sauce was very good. Meat cooked perfect, falling off the bone and retained some moisture. My father ordered the COMBO PLATE to sample what is essentially street food. disappointing. The Greek meatball was near raw inside. Ground beef should be cooked through. he asked for a replacement cooked more thoroughly... they seemed a little irritated, but quickly accommodated and came back with a much better cooked meatball. Lamb Kabob was good. chicken meatball was quite dry - he did not finish. My wife had the SALMON cooked quite well. DESSERT We split a nut and fruit cake dessert. was quite heavy, but I really enjoyed it. It is served on a hearty bed of cinnamon. Being a lover of cinnamon, I was quite pleased. Too heavy for one person though. Over all, for a full house, they seemed understaffed and as the space filled (father's day weekend) our service attentiveness became more sparce. This is the plight of so many restaurants post pandemic. Kudos to our server for maintaining so many people. So over all a mixed review. Average for the genre. Potential for growth and with a few improvements would easily get 4...