We went over to the Little Greek on Linebaugh for lunch today.  It’s almost identical to the one over at Boot Ranch.  We both got Greek salads and Loren also got some dolmades.

I always forget that the mini-Greek is plenty of food.  Loren had ordered the mini with chicken and I got the regular with gyro meat.  I think the main difference is that there’s two scoops of potato salad and some more lettuce in the regular one.  The gyro meat was very fresh and tasty today.  Total bill with a drink was $24.

Little Greek
12117 W Linebaugh Ave
Tampa, FL
813-852-9898

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We went for a quick lunch at Athen’s in downtown Safety Harbor today.  Luckily, we got there before the crowd because it was standing room only by the time we left.  Loren got a Greek Salad with chicken and I got a gyro.

He said the chicken was flavorful and tender.  My gyro was good, but I think I would have liked a little lettuce on it.  It needed a little crunch since I get it without the onions.  Total bill with a drink was $17.

Athens Restaurant
226 Main St
Safety Harbor, FL
727-726-3471

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We were late heading out the door for dinner tonight, so wanted to find some place that wasn’t loud and didn’t have a wait.  We ended up at Taverna Skara in Safety Harbor.  We skipped the appetizers tonight and went straight for the entrees.  Loren got the Yemista, which was a stuffed pepper and stuffed tomato.

He really enjoyed this dish.  They were both very flavorful, filled with rice, ground beef and herbs.  The pepper wasn’t spicy at all, in fact, he said it was almost sweet.  He cleared his entire plate.  I went for the gyro platter.

The platter came with fries, side salad, pita and tzatziki sauce.  The gyro meat was good.  It wasn’t greasy at all.  I would have preferred the pita pieces to have been sliced larger.  I like to roll up the gyro in the pita and it was just difficult with the smaller sliced pieces.  I was most disappointed in the salad.  It wasn’t dressed at all.  There was oil & vinegar on the table, but I guess I just assume that if I’m in a Greek restaurant, that there’s going to be Greek dressing on the salad.  Last time we were here, they started us off with pita and olives, but that didn’t happen this time.   Total bill with a drink was $31.

Taverna Skara
2454 McMullen Booth Rd
Clearwater, FL
727-726-9000

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We ate dinner at the Hungry Greek over on Race Track Road tonight.  I swear, all these little Greek places have the exact same look and the food tastes pretty much the same.  Loren got the dolmades and I went for a gyro.

He said the dolmades were ok.  I liked the gyro, but I found it rather difficult to eat.  They really packed on the meat (which is ok) but the one slice of tomato on top didn’t exactly make it easy to bite into without getting the whole thing in one bite.   Total bill with a drink was $21.

The Hungry Greek
12950 Race Track Road
Tampa, FL
813-814-2707

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We’ve lived in Florida long enough that hunger wins out over rain any day.  We had just gotten out of a movie and even though it was pouring out, we braved the weather and ended up at the Marathon Grille for lunch.  Loren tried the chicken keftedes (at least I think that’s what it was) which came with a Greek salad and potatoes.

They were little chicken patties of tastiness.  Lots of Mediterranean type spices in a flavorful little package.  He really liked them along with the salad.  I got a gyro with Greek salad.

It was very good.  There were cucumbers & tomatoes on it (I had them hold the onions) and the tzatziki sauce was tasty.  Most of the places that I get gyros from have lettuce on them, but I kinda liked the cucumbers.  My only complaint was having the Greek salad served on the same plate.  The dressing just went everywhere and I had to save my gyro was getting soggy.  Since the rain decided to whip up to a frenzy about the time we were finished, we decided to try some dessert.

It was a tasty chocolate cake which we ate slowly to savour every bite and avoid getting drenched by Tropical Storm Debby.  Total bill with a drink was $26.

Marathon Grille
33675 US Highway 19N
Palm Harbor, FL
727-787-4246

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We were actually heading to Nauti-Nancy’s for lunch, but they still weren’t open at 12:30pm, so we headed into Clearwater and ended up at Angie’s Restaurant.  It’s a little diner and had a pretty good lunch crowd today.

I was going to get their lasagne special, but they were already out of it.  Must not have been a very big batch to be out of it by 12:30pm.  Instead I went for a gyro platter.

My first thought was that there was very little gyro meat on the plate, but with the Greek salad, fries & pita, there was more than enough food on the plate.  The gyro was tasty and I enjoyed the dressing on the salad as well as the tzatziki sauce.  Loren went for a chicken pita with a regular salad.

He also had plenty of food on his plate and it was amusing watching him try to pick this up to eat it.  He said the chicken was tender.  Total bill with a drink was $18.

Angie’s Restaurant
725 Cleveland St
Clearwater, FL
727-461-2880

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We were looking for a quick dinner tonight, so we went down to Greek City Cafe over by the mall.  Ok, so maybe it was because I had a chocolate craving and wanted one of the Chocolate Bomb desserts they sell, but we’ll get to that later.

I went for a gyro with Greek potatoes and a Greek salad.

The gyro was good.  The meat was flavorful and the tzatziki was tasty without being overwhelming.  The overwhelming part were the potatoes.  I found them to be rather inedible.  They were so sour as though they had been drenched in vinegar.  Loren actually liked them and said they tasted more German than Greek.  They just made my mouth pucker.

Loren decided to try one of their specials, the portobello flatbread with a Greek salad.

The flatbread had a nice crunch and really good flavors.  It’s something I’d order again.  You’ll notice a slight difference between our two Greek salads.  I remembered how much stuff they put on them and they dice up everything, so I had them build mine without the onions and peppers.

And then there’s the thing that keeps me coming back to this restaurant.

This is just one delicious dessert.  It’s got layers of mousse inside and it’s so creamy and decadent.  They brought over two forks and I tried to hide Loren’s, but he still managed to grab a few bites.  Yum!  Total bill was $24 with a drink.   Speaking of that drink, it’s not something that I mention often, but most places do such a horrible job with their soda fountain mixture that it’s such a wonderful treat to actually go to a place that does it right.  I’ve never had a bad soft drink here.  Whoever sets up their machine actually knows what they’re doing.

Greek City Cafe
2518 SR 580, Ste C
Clearwater, FL
727-726-9600

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We drove into Tarpon Springs tonight and ended up at Chloe’s Family Restaurant for dinner.  There were quite a few people in the restaurant and we quickly found out why… the food was really good.

I started off with a Greek salad which came with my entree.

It had a nice, tangy dressing on it.  Then they brought out fresh bread.

This just oozed awesomeness.  Fresh and hot out of the oven covered in a buttery garlic sauce.  It was so soft and delicious.  I’d go back just for the bread.  Loren got the Greek Keftedakia which came with a salad and fries.

The salad didn’t have any lettuce and when we asked about it, our waitress said it was called a village salad.  Who knew?  But, she was nice enough to bring out a side dish of lettuce for us non-Greeks.  The meatballs were flavorful and there was enough for leftovers.  I ordered the Greek combo plate since I like to try out lots of things when we go to a new restaurant.

It came with pastitsio, moussaka, gyro, chicken and spinach pie.  I really liked the pastitsio.  Normally, that’s what I would have ordered and I’d have been happy with a big ol’ plate of it.  It was moist with just the right Greek flavors.  The moussaka was also really flavorful & tasty.  The spinach pie was also pretty good.  Flaky with a nice filling.   I tried both the gyro & chicken and ended up taking most of it home for leftovers.   The gyro was good, but the chicken was dry.

And then as a nice surprise at the end of the meal, the waitress brought out complimentary bowls of ice cream.

A perfect finish to an awesome dinner.  Everything was fresh and homemade.  Service was really good and everyone was very friendly.  Definitely putting on our list to try again.  We’ve been having some really good luck with restaurants in Tarpon Springs lately.   Total bill with a drink was $32.

Chloe’s Family Restaurant
1722 S. Pinellas Ave
Tarpon Springs, FL
727-943-2999

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Stopped at Famous Green Salads on McMullen Booth for a gyro today.

The pita was very soft, but overall the gyro was tasty.  I liked their tzatziki sauce.  I could have done with a lot less oregano sprinkled over the potato salad, but otherwise it was good.   The staff there was very friendly.  Total bill was $7.44.

Famous Greek Salads
2508 A McMullen Booth
Clearwater, FL
(727) 797-4998

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We ate dinner at Zeno’s Grille in Clearwater today.  It’s a small restaurant and it looked like only one guy, I’m assuming the owner, working in there today.  Loren got the hot chicken gyro and I ordered a philly cheesesteak.

Loren said his was ok, but mine was incredibly salty.  I guess when I think of philly cheesesteak, oozy, gooey cheesey goodness comes to mind.  This wasn’t that at all.  I’d almost call this more of an Italian beef sandwich.  The cheese was just laid on the bun and then the beef, onions and tomatoes scooped on top of it.  It was ok, flavorwise, but the over abundance of salt made it difficult to eat.  With a drink and fries, the total bill was $14.

Zeno’s Grille
1530 McMullen Booth Rd
Clearwater, FL
(727) 216-6752

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We ate dinner at the Olympia Greek Restaurant over by Fresh Market on US 19 in Clearwater tonight.  There are so many of these little Greek places in the area and they all seem very generic.  It’s pretty much Greek fast food. 

I’m a sucker for pastitsio, so I had to try that.  It came with a Greek salad.

The salad had a little bit of everything in it and the dressing was tangy and tasty.  The pastitsio was ok, but both it and the sauce lacked in flavor.

The sauce really tasted like it had just come out of a can.  It was tart and definitely needed to simmer a lot longer to give it any depth of flavor.  The pastitsio had a decent texture, but just didn’t have enough spices in it.  Unfortunately, the rice was a bit overcooked as well.

Loren ordered the gyro platter.

There’s a mound of rice under the gyro meat, but out of everything we had here, the gyro was the best.  It had a nice flavor and texture and tasted very fresh.   Both meals came with pita bread & tzatziki sauce and I also ordered a side of potato salad, forgetting that there’d be some on the salad.

I like the pita and tzatziki.  It was creamy and had a good flavor without being overpowering with garlic.  The side of potato salad was way more than we could eat.  I was expecting one scoop, not four, so this is definitely a side to share.  I also ordered a cannoli to go.

It was disappointing.  The shell was too thick and not crunchy at all and the the filling was also too thick.  It had the consistency of cookie dough.   After the $5 coupon from their website, the total bill with a drink was $23.  If I was in the area and wanted a quick gyro, I’d try it again, but otherwise, there wasn’t much that would draw me back in.

Olympia Greek Restaurant
25821 US 19 Hwy N
Clearwater, FL
727-724-0099

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We were actually headed to Marina’s for lunch, then noticed Cafe Bresimo next door so decided to try it instead.  There were two women behind the counter and they were being kept very busy. 

I ordered one of today’s lunch specials which had a gyro, chips, and a drink.  I also got a side of potato salad.

The gyro meat was pretty good and the tzatziki sauce wasn’t overwhelming.  It wasn’t a very thick sauce or maybe it just thinned out once it got on the heated gyro meat.  The tomatoes weren’t very fresh though.  The potato salad had the consistency of mashed potatoes, but had a very good flavor.

Loren ordered the Chicken & Guacamole pita.

He didn’t realized there would be tzatziki sauce on it as well and he said it watered down the guacamole so you couldn’t really taste it.  Overall, the food was ok, but nothing really stood out.  It was similar to most of the little Greek places around town.   I think everything on the menu was under $7.   Total bill with drinks was $17.

Cafe BreSimo’s
12117 W Linebaugh
Tampa, FL
813-852-8009

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We went back to downtown Safety Harbor for lunch today at Athen’s Restaurant.  I was craving breakfast, but then decided a gyro sounded better.

At first glance, it looked kind of deceiving.  It didn’t look as though it had much gyro meat on it and that it had tons of tzatziki sauce.  It actually had quite a bit of meat on it and the sauce wasn’t overwhelming, so it gave it a nice balance.  The gyro meat was flavorful and tender.  The pita bread was very good too.  I think a little lettuce would have added a nice crunch to it.

Loren got a bacon cheeseburger.

They make a pretty good burger here and definitely slather on the mayo.  the fries were nice and hot and yummy.  Service was ok.  Our waitress spent most of the time talking to customers that I’m guessing were friends of hers.  She didn’t come back to our table until we had already finished eating.  Total bill was $15.

Athens Restaurant
226 Main St
Safety Harbor, FL
727-726-3471

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Tzatziki sauce is a wonderful thing as long as you’re not planning on being in close quarters with anyone later in the day.  It’s so garlicy, yet so good and my gyro from Little Greek had plenty on it today.

The gyros here are packed full of meat, lettuce and tomato and rather messy to eat.  Half of it inevitably ends up on my plate.  They make a really good pita here as well and it just wouldn’t be the same without a side of potato salad. 

Loren got a Greek salad with chicken.

He said he should have ordered a half salad, and yet, he still managed to eat the entire thing.  With a drink, the total for lunch was $19.  It’s fast, tasty food with a lingering taste of garlic.

Little Greek
320 East Lake Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-785-7782

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We ate lunch at Pita’s Republic in Oldsmar today.  We’ve eaten here a few times and the food is usually pretty good.  They were busy today, so the service was a bit slow.

Loren and I both ordered gyros.  He got a supreme which has hummus, tabouli, feta and olives on it.

It was a big sandwich.  The flavors are strong and definitely stay with you throughout the day.  I just got a regular gyro pita with no onions and a side of potato salad.  I also got a pina colada smoothie which was really tasty.

Both the tzatiki and potato salad have quite a bit of garlic in them.  I really like their pita bread.  Total lunch including another drink ran us $19.

Pita’s Republic
3970A Tampa Road
Oldsmar, FL
813-854-2700

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We had a Restaurant.com coupon for Greektown Grille and headed over there for dinner tonight.   Loren’s son Alex moved back in temporarily and he joined us for dinner tonight.

We started off with some calamari which came with a lemon sauce for dipping.

The calamari was very tender.  Even the tentacle pieces were surprisingly tender.  The lemon dipping sauce didn’t really have a lot of lemon flavor and had the consistency of mayonnaise.

I ordered the Moussaka which came with a Greek salad.

Their Greek salad dressing was very weak and there wasn’t a lot of it on the salad.  I’m used to very flavorful Greek salad dressings and this was more like just a splash of oil and vinegar which is odd since the last time we were here the dressing was very good.

The Moussaka had some really nice flavors in it though.  Layers of eggplant, zucchini, beef and potatoes topped with a bechemal sauce and a flavorful tomato sauce.  The lemon potatoes on the side weren’t cooked long enough, but I didn’t have room to eat them anyway.

Alex and Loren ordered the Souvlaki and Gyro platters.

The gyro meat was very tasty and not greasy at all.  It was probably some of the best we’ve tasted.  Plus there was enough on the plate for at least two meals.  The souvlaki pork could have been a little more tender, but otherwise it was pretty good.

We decided to try some desserts tonight.  Loren ordered the baklava and I ordered the galaktobouriko which is a custard dessert inside phyllo dough layers.

The baklava was very dense and chock full of walnuts.  Loren liked it. 

I found the galaktobouriko to be inedible.  The custard had the consistency of old, overcooked jello.  It wasn’t creamy at all, just very rubbery. 

After the $25 coupon, the bill came to $37 and we had lots of leftovers.

Greektown Grille
1230 Cleveland St
Clearwater, FL
727-447-7800

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My sister and I meet up every year in Orlando in July to exchange birthday gifts since our birthdays are only a few days apart (8 years & a few days) and we usually try to find a play or something to do.  This year, she chose “The Little Red Riding Hood Show” at the Shakespeare theater.  Yeah, it was a kid’s show and we were probably the only ones there without kids, but it was still pretty funny.  The kids in the audience were hilarious.

Before the show, we ate lunch at the Greek Corner on Orange Ave.  It was a quaint little restaurant that had a nice patio as well as seating inside.  It was too hot to be outside today, so we chose the dining room. 

My sister asked if they had sweet tea and our waiter said they didn’t, but he could make her some.  I don’t find it often that a waiter will go through the trouble of making something special, but he did and she said the tea was good.

We started off with the spinach artichoke dip.

This was a very unique take on this dish.  Any place else I’ve had it, it’s usually chunky, but this was completely smooth as if it had been through the blender.  It had a lemon-garlic taste to it more than spinach artichoke.  It was tasty and the pita bread that came with it was fresh and yummy.

We both ordered gyros, mine with rice and hers with a Greek salad.

The rice was bland, but the gyro was very flavorful.  The tzatziki sauce was creamy and garlicy, but not overwhelming.  There was a lot of meat on the pita, so much so, that I was only able to eat half of it.  My sister ended up taking the salad home since it was just too much food.   Total bill was about $30.  Based on all the other plates I saw served, I don’t think anyone leaves here hungry.

Greek Corner
1600 N Orange Ave
Orlando, FL
(407) 228-0303

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Went to the movies this morning and saw “Knight and Day”.  It was entertaining, better than “Killers”.  We were out of there around noon and headed up Hillsborough to find some lunch.  We ended up at the Garden Grille Cafe.

We’d eaten here once before but neither of us could remember much about it.   Loren got the grilled chicken and Greek salad.

He liked it.  The chicken was tender, the Greek dressing was tasty, and the pitas were fresh.  What else could you ask for?

I ordered a gyro with a side of potato salad.

This was also very good.  The tzatziki sauce was pretty mild, but I like it when it’s not overwhelmingly garlicy.  The potato salad had a nice flavor to it too.   I didn’t think of this as a Greek restaurant, but both of our Greek dishes were pretty good.  Another $20 lunch and we both left with happy tasty buds and full stomachs.

Garden Grille Cafe
8425 Hillsborough Ave
Tampa, FL

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We went to see the movie “Killers” this morning (not great), and decided to just drive up US 19 until we found a restaurant for lunch.  We didn’t have to drive far before we saw a sign for the Marathon Grille in Palm Harbor.

The restaurant is at the end of a shopping plaza in the back away from the highway.  We never knew it was there and just drove around the parking lot until we found it. 

Loren ordered the Panini Italiano with fries.

He said it was like an Italian Cuban sandwich.  Good flavorful meats on a lightly pressed roll. 

I ordered a gyro with potato salad.

This was a really good gyro.  Very fresh and the tzatziki sauce was flavorful without being overwhelming.  Too many have so much garlic that it’s all you taste.  This sauce complemented the meat and didn’t steal the show.

As for dessert, how could I pass up a chocolate mousse cake?

This was yummy.  It was covered with a chocolate shell and inside were moist layers of cake and chocolate mousse.  Total lunch was $20 and it was way better than the movie.

Marathon Grille
33675 US Highway 19N
Palm Harbor, FL
727-787-4246

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What used to be the Happy Greek in Palm Harbor is now Little Greek.  We asked the guy at the counter why they weren’t happy anymore and he said well, the economy’s rough right now.  He then went on to explain that they didn’t own the Happy Greek name and they’re part of the Little Greek franchise.

Today was a gyro day for both of us, one chicken and one with gyro meat.

I also got a side of potato salad.  It was typical gyro fare.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  The tzatziki sauce had me tasting garlic the whole rest of the day though. 

I saw this is the dessert case and had to have one.

It was chocolate sponge cake with layers of chocolate mouse and some chocolate sprinkles.  It was pretty good.  Not a deep down rich chocolate, but rather a lighter, fluffier chocolate dessert.   Total lunch was $20.

Little Greek
320 East Lake Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-785-7782

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