Athens Family Restaurant

Recommends

meggieR

Joined 2 years ago

Amazing! Very tasty, wonderful service!. My husband and I stopped in Athens. I have celiac disease and cannot have anything with gluten so I don't really like trying new places. But the owner, Muhammad, was so accommodating and went over all the ingredients with me, and personally made sure that the food was cooked correctly. On top of that it was absolutely AMAZING! Very tasty, we will definitely be going back.

Recommends

tomjk

Joined 3 years ago

ONLY Authentic Down-Home, Greek Farm Style Cuisine. It is in the top echelon of Nashville Greek restaurants along with Kalamata's. Athen's Family Restaurant is lovingly managed by a hands-on lady and is a sole location. The ambience is nice, but functional. The waitstaff is professional, but personal. My favorite dishes are the lamb souvlaki --primo, and the suzukakia meatball dish with just the correct portion of cumin. It's Greek American and there is a moticum of American comfort food

Recommends

Miessj

Joined 3 years ago

What happened to the friendly staff?. It's been awhile since we've been to Athens to eat, but we stopped by this evening because we were on that side of town. The place was virtually empty when we arrived, but soon afterward a huge party filled several nearby tables.

(Based on the reviewer below who complained that they were slighted based on ethnicity, I have to say - the restaurant discriminates against all kinds of people. The large group received lots of attention and frequent refills. Our glasses were empty. We asked for a refill which never arrived from our waiter, but later another employee asked if we needed something more to drink.)

The food was great as always, but the service was the absolute worst I've ever had there. Our waiter was not one of the ones taking care of the large party, but he never once asked us if our food was alright. In fact, nobody seemed that happy to see us there, in stark contrast to our previous experiences where the friendly staff made the experience one we wanted to repeat.

The food is good. The dolmades I had was excellent. The three potato cubes in the bowl wasn't really a side of potatoes, but I was stuffed from the stuffed grape leaves and the green beans so I wasn't really that hungry for the potatoes.

My suggestion - go for the food, but don't expect to see the old warmth and charm which used to exist there.

Doesn't Recommend

Kayla1234

Joined 3 years ago

PROBLEMS AT ATHENS. The staff was terrible both times we went. They seem to be racist against interracial couples. My husband and I are a caucasian/latino couple. The first time, a waiter took our drink order and never brought them, another man had to ask us what we ordered and he went and got it. There was a party of 4 sitting close to us, 2 couples, all caucasian, they had the same waiter as us. He was very attentive to them, and also very friendly. He seemed to want nothing to do with us. There was barely any interaction at all other than to get our drinks, and food (which took forever). The second time we went at a different time on a different day to give it another chance, and yet again, We were the only people who were ignored the whole time. There was a caucasian couple, and a african american couple. They were both treated very well. But we received no refills, no checking if we needed anything. They literally threw our menus on the table, took our order, and gave us the ticket. No interaction in between, no clearing dishes, they didn't ask if we wanted anything else or dessert. They were unfriendly. The food is good, but not good enough to deal with being treated badly when everyone else around you is being treated well.

Recommends

Samhibella

Joined 3 years ago

GREAT!. This is my favorite place to eat in Nashville! It's got a very big city feel, the food is excellent and they are open late! I love the tzaziki!

Doesn't Recommend

Sheepsnot

Joined 3 years ago

What the Food Channel didn't tell you. Having seen the show on the Food Channel spotlighting this restaurant, we went right out to try it. No one greeted us at the door and we had to ask other customers what the seating policy was, then search out someone to take our name. It took forever to be seated, which I take as a good sign, usually. My wife said, "This place is filthy," which for a man means it's OK unless he's a neat freak. The flies were in abundance. The food arrived about 40 minutes after we ordered and it was very good, though I must say it was not any better than the cheap Greek place near home where you're served within five minutes. After paying the bill, we heard a scream. I looked and some poor little girl was crying in horror because a very large beetle was crawling across their table. Dad tried to play it down, but she was sobbing, "I want to go home!" I don't care what you have to spend, AFR, but spend it and clean that place up and place a big ad telling me or you have lost a customer.

Recommends

kim rome

Joined 3 years ago

great spot. Xian H.

This place hits the spot. It's my default 'no-frills' brunch go-to when I just want to eat something that makes me feel good and I'm too tired to try to be more creative.

Pros: Nice, decent-sized portions of both Greek and American dishes and warm, friendly service. The perfect remedy for a wicked hangover. I'd recommend for breakfast: Eggs Florentine (or any of their poached eggs for that matter) or the Greek Breakfast. And if you stick around for dinner try the Pastichio. Closest thing to a diner in Astoria.

Recommends

sadek26

Joined 3 years ago

best greek diner. Carly M.

Nashville, TN

6/28/2010

I have eaten here multiple times and each time they get 5 stars. We live nearby so it's very convenient but we would drive here for the food, service and value.

The place is usually pretty busy except for the slower times (between breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner) on weekdays. Even when it's packed, the tables turn quickly enough that we've never had to wait more than 10 minutes or so. The service is always fast and excellent. They are very attentive and always get our orders right. The place is sparkling clean, there's ample parking and they serve breakfast all day. The food is delicious and fresh and at very affordable prices. The menu is pretty large so there's a great variety to choose from. This is one of our favorite place to grab breakfast or a casual meal.

Doesn't Recommend

chayden0216

Joined 3 years ago

Similar to eating fast food in a dirty environment. Normally wouldn't complain about spending fifteen dollars for lunch, but the fact that this establishment was given even a dime out of my pocket made me so sick I almost purged the three bites of food in my mouth. I ordered the

Lamb Suzukakia,

and it was one of the worst meals I could ever remember having.

The rice was cold and completely tasteless.

The "greek vegtables" were some old, brown, slightly pickled looking canned vegtables slopped onto the plate that tasted like they had been heated up at 5-6am and were dumped into a hot well and continued to cook for the next 8 hours before they were served to us, strong taste of vinegar.

The "meatballs" were very oddly shapen, and had obviously been frozen in open air. The center of the "meat ball" turned to mush when it was cut into, and if i wasn't in a restaurant full of people i would have spit it back onto the plate. The sauce that was on them was some sort of red, highly acidic sauce that was practically inedible, with a sprinkle of some old "fresh" parsley that looked like it had started to turn.

The only thing I was able to eat was the warm pita bread that was brought out. All of the other meals at the table looked equally disgusting, I don't understand how anybody could ever give this place "5 stars", you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Doesn't Recommend

ksm4178

Joined 3 years ago

Complete Waste of Time and Money. Ordered Mousaka:

Tiny portion of mousaka. Rice was uncle bens with some tumeric and no flavor. Vegetables were overcooked and bland. Food was cold and the mousaka looked like it had been frozen and thawed.

Also at the table:

Gyro Plate:

Overcooked strips of processed meat and a pile of the same rice but a small salad that looked a bit wilted and certainly was not appetizing.

Lamb Suzukakia:

Same crap rice and bland vegetables. Looked like overworked meatballs in an oblong shape with canned sauce of some sort.

Underwhelming appearance of food, cooks were slovenly and loud. The owner, I assume, was on the line stuffing something in his mouth and then continuing to touch items that would be served. This place just sucked. As a chef I may be a bit harsh, but I usually give points for effort or affordability in this case there was no effort and eveything was grossly overpriced. Just not worth the time or money. Actually pretty nasty!