Athenian Grill

great food, great employees great prices, dinner is a little more expensive, but the same portions...but you have a waiter/reytraunt style in the evenings . Pros: Downtown great outdoor area Cons: no parking more

Eat at your own risk! Having been to Greece, I was excited to learn that there is a new Greek restaurant in town. I checked the place and was extremely disappointed. The waiters were rude and slow. The food was NOT even close to Greek food. It was cold, tasteless, and chewy. To make things even worse, my date got food poisoned after our dinner and I had to take her to the Emergency Room at midnight! Save your money and health and go eat some where else! Pros: None Cons: Everything more

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY A WONDERFUL PLACE TO EAT!! IT IS A LITTLE PRICEY BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY. PS....THE ONSITE OWNERS ARE GREEK!!!! Pros: AWESOME FOOD!! NUFF SAID! Cons: PARKING CAN BE AN ISSUE BUT GET OVER IT AND WALK more

Austin5 must be confused...it's on 6th, not 5th, and there are no waiters. You order cafeteria style from a line. Maybe she's thinking of a different place?? I've been there twice in the past month and have enjoyed it both times. The lamb on the sampler plate is moist with great flavor, and the sauce is perfect. The plain jane greek salad was awesome as well. It's a great place for a quick lunch downtown. Pros: Great food, fast service Cons: A little pricey more

This place just re-opened on 5th Street after having been closed for over a year. Not only have the prices more than doubled!! The food was nasty. The waitress took our order without writing it down and then came back over 3 times to confirm what we had ordered. My husband got the sampler plate and I ordered the vegetarian plate. The meat was apparently tough and dry and the mousaka had a sandy texture to it. The vegetarian plate was bland. I got sick from the meal before we even reached home. Do not go there unless you want some overpriced food and get sick from your meal. Such a disappointment! Pros: New decor and better location. Cons: Worst tasting greek food. more

I have never been to this restaurant, but the one time I tried to go it was closed. They are moving to a new location and the move seems to be taking forever, so if you are planning on going there I strongly suggest calling ahead to make sure they are open before making your way down town. I have heard great things about the food though... more

This is an outstanding place to eat - great lunch deal. Lunch is cafeteria style... Dont order off the menu at lunch like moron user below did are, of course, it will take too long. Dinner is excellent as well - menu here. Food is not good for you, but excellent tasting. However standard greek salad for lunch is pretty healthy... Lunch is quick, in and out, and comes in at under $10 usually. If you work downtown, you are doing yourself a huge disfavor by not going here. I dont, but I go out of my way to eat here anyway. I have never had an issue with getting sick here, like those below, but I suppose anything is possible. However, I have eaten at this place way more times than most and never had an issue. Highly recommended. These guys are now moving, somewhere away from Colorado - how sad. more

Sick employees coughing on the customers and the food. Very weak apology. No attention from the management. They are too busy to care. Ranks as my #1 place to avoid in Austin. Pros: Nothing Cons: Sick employees coughing on food and customers more

The best greek food I've had since I was in the Greek Town area in downtown Detroit. This is saying something. The saganaki was very, very good and the dinners are generously portioned. The waiter was a treat - even though he was a bit younger, he knew his Greek wines and appreciated the importance of tasting something before committing to a glass. Pros: Great ambiance, fabulous food Cons: Parking looks like an issue, it's very quiet on a weeknight more

this place is a great find. my fiance and i are from Houston and were longing for some greek food ala Niko Niko's and found Athenian Grill. while to me nothing compares to Niko Niko's this place is great. you may have to ask for feta or little things that your used to but it is a really great restraunt. we go there frequently for date night! more

I've been to this place a few times in the past at different occasions. The place has been going down hill since my first visit there. The food quality is CHEAP and the service is BAD. This is NOT a romantic place by any means. You can even see the cook (with his dirty clothes) walking between the tables and sipping drinks at the bar. I don't think that either of the cooks (and even the owner) are Greek. I have Greek origins and I can assure you that. They are somewhere from the Middle East I guess, but they are using the "catchy" name "Athenian Gril" to pretend they are Greeks! During my last visit, I and a couple of friends got food poisoned!!! The choice is yours. I've already warned you... Pros: None Cons: Food poisoned, cheap quality, sketchy cook and waiters more

I tried this place for the first time for lunch today and am sorry to say that I will not return due to the terrible customer service. A few coworkers are regulars at this place but they order standard plates from the main menu. I attempted to order a side salad (listed at $2.99 on the menu) and a side of hummus (listed at $1.99 on the menu), which you would think would be easy enough, but due to a language barrier I ended up with a regular salad and an appetizer portion of hummus which was going to cost me nearly $13! The cashier did not care that the problem was not MY mistake and replaced my salad with the side salad and insisted that I pay the appetiizer price for the hummus. Basically, I think if you deviate at all from their standard dishes, you may run into some problems and if you do, be prepared for terrible treatment. The salad and hummus I ended up with are so-so. I am a regular customer at Marakesh on Congress (just around the corner) and I must say their hummus and salad are MUCH better and cost less too. In addition, they treat their customers far better than Athenian Grill. Pros: none, sorry to say Cons: terrible customer service, above average lunch prices, average food more

Athenian Grill is on Colorado Street right across the street from Gumbo's between 7th and 8th. For the lunch crowd..you can't find a better lunch..period. Drinks at the bar. Watch the game, he let us use the remote and watch whatever we wanted! It's set up like an express line for lunch and man...they're fast. I'm surprised to how good it is for the speed. The place only sits about 100 people at the most..and it's packed. Try to get there after the busy lunch hour. Gyros and Chicken and Mousaka like you've never had. They also have a dish called "Create Your Own," which lets you pick and choose. Dinner crowd is more my style. It's romantic, they change the setting completely around. Waitstaff is professional and polite. Candlelight dinner with greek music anyone? There was a family with a kid that would NOT shut it. But other than that I enjoyed it... just don't take your kids. There's a mc'donalds elsewhere. I was with my lovely lady, c'mon people. Little courtesy here. We don't want to hear your kid yappin' Food was awesome. We ordered the Saganaki to start which is a flaming cheese dish....no really, not that kind of flaming. It was lit up on fire to roast the cheese at your table and then sprinkled off with lemon. Be prepared though, they'll scare you with the big OPA! Fun times. They have an M-AZING lamb shank on Saturday nights that I fell in love with. Lamb lamb lamb just melting off the bone. They have beer & wine, and I asked about the ouzo and they said a full bar would be available in August. Plenty of wine to choose from. We had the Boutari Nemea...a great velvety wine with hints of cherry and plum...Waitstaff was very well educated in their enology. I highly recommend this place!! A+ It's aside from the norm and fun for a nice night out on the town. For you theatre folks, it's around the corner from State and the Paramount. My gf had the sovlaki which is amazing as well. Grilled lamb off the kabob with bell peppers...outstanding! Pros: They have their own parking lot. Free!!! Great Food. Great Service. Cheap! Cons: No ouzo yet, but soon more

Best Greek food in town, and it won't break the bank. Lunch can be a noisy, crowded affair; but you can always get your food to go. The gyro and souvlaki are great, as are the spanakopita, tiropita, salad, and tzaziki. Try the mixed meze platter for a group appetizer or a lunch for two. I prefer moussaka made with mashed potatoes, but the version here with sliced, layered potatoes is tasty. The lamb shanks (only at dinner on Saturdays, I think) are incredible - complex and indulgent-tasting - and huge enough for two. The keftedes are so good that my husband actually risked a jealous-wife explosion by suggesting we take some home and use them to improve my lasagna. Never in several visits have I had the willpower to save space for dessert, but I vow to try the bakava eventually! Pros: food so good you'll tell all your friends Cons: crowded and noisy at lunchtime more

I work downtown, so I am constantly trying to find new and exciting places to eat for lunch in the area...but after eating at the Athenian Grill, I find it hard to go anyplace else! I'm a huge fan of grilled chicken salads (not the most exciting thing..but what I eat) and this one might be the best in Austin. Meat tastes amazing, lots of flavors in the feta cheese and dressing, and enough for 2 substantial meals. Everyone that I have brought here loves it. Overall...wonderful! Pros: value, great food, variety Cons: bad dinning setup, parking more

We love greek food so we tried this place out and it was wonderful!!! We were well taken care of and the food was very good. We got the sampler with an assortment of yummy foods. My husband had a greek neighbor once and now has an authintic greek recipie for mousaka that is to die for. The mousaka at this place wasn't the same, however it was delicious and isn't that all that matters!? It was melt in your mouth scrumptious food. The meatballs were good, my husband liked the stuffed grape leaves *not my personal favorite at any resturant*... we will be going back very soon! It isn't great for kids here, but it wasn't bad; we have a 4 1/2 year old and dinner went well... OH! and I'm not a wine person, but the bottle of wine we had was very good! Pros: GREAT food!, good wine, not bad on price more

We were a little concerned when we walked in. Not the most beautiful ambience and we felt a little ignored (we stood there for a while before they acknowledged we were waiting...) Frankly, we almost left! I'm so glad we didn't! The food was wonderful and the service was exceptional! We had the greek sampler plate and beer/wine. The Greek wine was really good- I've had Greek wine before and not really enjoyed it much, but their wine selection was quite a surprise and very good. So, not sure why we were slightly ignored at the start, but the exceptional food and service really made up for it later. Would be nice if they had a better ambience-- the dining area is mostly flat and a bit noisy as a result. But for the money, you can't get better Greek food unless your Greek grandma makes it for you! Pros: great food, great service, good $ value Cons: flat dining layout, noisy more

I'm not familiar with traditional greek food, so I'm not sure if this is authentic, but it sure was yummy! I love the thadziki sauce, and the portions were bountiful, especially for lunch. The baklava was phenomenal, but you may have to share b/c it is soooo rich. I will be going back. If you go for lunch, the line will be long, but its moves fast, so don't despair. Pros: good food, thadziki sauce, baklava Cons: limited lunch seating more

Updated Review: OK - I went back to Athenian Grill after 3 years last night - food was substantially better, and I can tell that the wine list has improved, although I didn't partake. We got the chef special, "surprise" - delicious saganaki, roasted vegetables, great fish entree and good souvlaki. The avgolemono soup is still just OK. The baklava was not so good, but the kataifi looks promising (it's in the fridge). Service was great, but a little overbearing (it was slow). Furthermore, this is an insane bargain - $19 for appetizers, soup, salad, entree, and dessert! The Overall, I recommend Athenian Grill now. I'll still make the trip out to Bastrop to Konstantinos Estiatorio when I am really in the mood for Greek food, but Athenian Grill will definitely be a regular stop in Austin. (review from 2004:) Having spent a good deal of time in Greece, I completely disagree with the majority of these reviews. I found the moussaka dry, the lamb boring, the wine *horrendous* (there is good greek wine - just not here). The meze plate was OK, but difficult to share. The avgolemano soup was simply fair. Maybe I got spoiled on the great Greek in the Boston area, but this was just not up to par. Furthermore, the service was terrible. Orders were wrong; we had to ask 3 times to get bread, etc. I am a former waitress, and extremely patient, but even I was getting testy by the end of the meal, and the food wasn't helping any. Not recommended. Pros: Great bargain, terrific mezes Cons: medocre baklava and soup more

10/01/04, Just ate there for the first time, wow! Excellent service, great food, great Greek wine! If you like Greek food, I highly recommend it. I'll be going back often and will recommend Athenian Grill to my friends. Pros: Service, Food, Price more