Restaurant Review: Athenian Garden Restaurant

In my never end quest for high quality Greek food, I decided to try a place that is both famous and infamous throughout Pinellas County. Some people love it because of it’s reasonable prices and throwback to traditional Greek Cuisine. Others hate it because they claim sanitary issues and bad taste. My experience with Athenian Garden Restaurant (12670 Starkey Rd, Largo FL 33773, (727) 518-8888), formerly Faros Greek Italian Grill, has been satisfactory, both in cleanliness and in taste. While I wouldn’t say they’re the best Greek food I’ve had, they are satisfactory in portion size, taste and value.

The restaurant is nestled into the back of a strip mall along Starkey Road, all but hidden if you’re not looking for it. The building itself is unassuming, glass windows and a sidewalk lined with red and white umbrellas.

The inside is your typical diner attempting to imitate a Greek restaurant, filled with faux greek luxury, grape vines and similar archetypal relics. The waitstaff is courteous and quick, both to take the order and bring it out.

While we waited, they brought out a loaf of thickly sliced green bread. It wasn’t warm so the butter didn’t melt, but it also wasn’t like it was old and had been sitting out. While I was unimpressed with the bread, it was nice that they were prompt in bringing it out.

For the main course, I ordered the Gyro and Salad combo lunch. At $7, this gyro and salad are both quite large and filling. The salad is your typical Greek, including a dollop of potato salad in the center. All of the vegetables with fresh and the dressing was a bit too sweet for my tastes. It is a very filling salad, and probably wouldn’t have been enough by itself.

The gyro was definitely the star of the show. The waitress told me that this location alone serves up over 1000 gyros per week. I believe it, especially considering the price and the size. This was the largest pita I recall ever seeing and it was stuffed to the gills with lamb, red onions, tomatos and Tzatziki Sauce. Every bite was refreshing and satisfying. This is the way a gyro should be made.

I’ve been back to Athenian several times since and the service and food have all been consistent. While I definitely wouldn’t pick it over a place like Acropolis or even Little Greek, I’ve been impressed by their repeat performances and make this a part of my weekly rotation while in Largo.

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