09/28/09

Obnoxious owner!!!

by CSMobileUser

This place has a cozy nice abience one of the best in Portland . But the loud crewed and I'd say mentaly unstable j owner screeming at her staff just ruins the whole Dinng experience The food comes out sloppy although the taste is OK I had a bowl of avgolemono soup that had so much lemon in it it puckerd my mouth definitely won't be going back the owner actually made nervous

02/18/09

check the shameless restaurants site before you go

by wccrowley

Read the post on shameless restaurants dot com on eleni's where employees discuss some of the food recycling practices at this restaurant. Look in the portland section and read away.

Lots of info to digest before you dip into that tapenade! Sorry eleni.

01/05/09

Fabulous Food - Flavorless Service

by melissamcclure

We were thrilled and grateful to get into Eleni's without a reservation on a recent Saturday night. The food was truly wonderful - marvelous! However, we were disappointed by the curt and bristly waiter who informed us, with no apologies, that they there were several changes on the menu to note, given that the oven was not working on that particular evening. Oh yes, and they were out of bread as well - so the appetizer would have to be served on ...? He certainly had the "like it or not" attitude about most things, but in spite of him WE DID LIKE IT - very much.

07/06/08

lovely and tastey food; and some suggestions

by Aleko

Being Greek and cooking Greek, my standards are high. Eleni's does the job and then some. You've got some fine traditional fare, like dolmathes and mousaka and spanakopita, but also some nifty Cretan dishes in tapas style. I loved the meatballs and the calamari (refreshingly broiled), and the tzatziki and skordalia were a delite. The Minoan salad is not to be missed, and I like it that they don't drown it in feta. The gigantes (beans) were great, and my companion was wowed by the rabbit. Service was friendly, prompt and unstuffy, and though I see some folks have said it's slow...well, good things do take time. Munch on the cabbage salad with almonds, roast paprika and a little lemon while you sip some Santorini wine and decide on what else to order. It's fine to eat slowly. Oh, and the sauce on the shrimp appetizer is scrumptuous and subtle.

I think what would make Eleni's offerings even better would be some specials where you could choose 3 or 4 items from specified groups of food and get a glass of wine or two for a set price. as at TABLA. Also, since we're talking Oregon, why not feature some locally grown lamb or veggies (the spanakorizo (spinach and rice) is mahvelous)? Deserts could offer more seasonal fruit as an alternative to baklava (a little dry, needs more marinating in honey). But this is a great place to share your eats and sample in an unrushed atmosphere

• Pros: tasty appetizers, calamari, lamb, veggies
• Cons: deserts

07/05/08

I am of Greek descent and originally from Chicago, city of great Greek retaurants. Eleni's is superb.

by Yiorgo

If you want some carefully prepared and wonderfully presented distinctive Greek food, you'll love this place. Eat as much or little as you wish in this tapas style establishment, with several fine entrees. The grilled calamari is fabulous as is the spanakorizo (spinach and rice); the Minoan salad is luscious and the tzatziki and skordalia nicely pungent and garlicky; try the Greek meatballs with a nice hint of mint to give them a distinctive flavor; the dolmas are served with tzatziki and are meatless but have a nicely understated sweetness with raisins etc. Those looking for junk food like Gyros should stay away, but if you want a new experience of Greek cuisine, get a party together and spend an evening eating slowly and happily at this relatively small European style restaurant (estiatorio) with some Greek music (on tape) not so loud so you can talk. I'd recommend the rabbit and the lamb wrapped in filo, or any specials that chefs conjure up. Again, I've sampled lots of Greek restaurants, both here in the US (especially in Chicago) and abroad (Greece and Crete) and this place is in my top five. Service is attentive, friendly, and unpretentious --- Kalee Orexee. Ya sas!

• Pros: Fine service, greast tapas choices, fabulous vegetarian options; great garlic sauces
• Cons: sometimes the owner is a bit testy towards her help

05/12/08

Awful Owner!!!!

by ibellap

recently visited Portland and was looking for a nice restaurant where I could have a pleasant meal with some long time friends. I first entered and a nice girl showed us to a table. The, what I assumed owner, came chasing her down and in a very gruff tone motioned for her to place us at another table. Our friends had a young child with them who was rather fussy. The nice waitress brought us bread for her son to chew on while us adults talked. The owner proceeded to pull her off to the side and scold her for bringing us bread? Apparently we are not allowed to eat bread? Through out the meal the waitress so very pleasant she talked to the baby while we discussed what to eat she mentioned some great choices. The food was ok. A bit watery and pretty average. I enjoyed the flavors and spices but nothing fantastic. Throughout the meal we noticed the owner running around micromanaging the staff and barking at everyones moves. I felt so horrible for her staff it was as if they were all walking on eggshells. We asked the waitress for our check early so it would be taken care of when we were ready, keep in mind we had a child with us. She did as asked and the owner started yelling at her that if the food was on the table the check should not be. The girl tried explaining and she refused to listen. She told the waitress that if we ask say no and that "Eleni said so." Ironically the service was great but the owner was horrible and disrespectful. I felt so horrible for everyone working there. If im ever in portland again I would not go based on principle!

04/16/08

Worst experience I can remember, a disaster on all fronts.

by leok

The worst dining experience of my life was Saturday April 5th in this restaurant. The first words out of the server's mouth were, "we have no soup today" and it went downhill from there. The were out of most of our first choices so we made other selections. When the server returned to tell me that my second choice had sold out during the visits to our table I sighed deeply and took the menu from him. This must have ticked him off because things went downhill from there. My third choice was mussels. They arrived somewhat after the other entrees. With mussels half the fun is soaking up the sauce with bread. One problem---the sauce tasted like water or rather was tasteless. Please understand this is not hyperbole---the broth was that bad! My companion prevailed on the server to taste it and off it went. Offered an opportunity to choose again I passed. The server apologized repeatedly, from the moment he notified us that the soup was unavailable. His "excuse" was that someone had changed the menu without informing the chef? A former restaurant owned among us was doubtful that this was the truth or at least the whole truth but he stuck to his story.

So, in the end, like all good servers and restaurants there was an attempt to rescue the evening. We were provided two desserts to split among the four of us. We didn't choose them, we weren't even asked what we would have liked, they just appeared. But I'm sure the reason for that was that the two were the only things available.

To sum it up...the service was disingenous at best and the food, what was available, was worse.

03/31/08

Rude owner

by mjdriscoll7632

I love good food. I especially enjoy good food with a spiritual dining experience. Both are lacking here because there is a woman, Eleni, who yells at staff. She put me on edge the whole time I was at this restaurant. She treats her employees in a most disrespectful manner and that put a knot in my stomach. The waitress was beautiful, friendly and professional. When she went to get our food I could see Eleni yelling at her. She actually dragged the waitress to a table where someone was served a beer in the wrong glass (beer glasses were not available) and humiliated the waitress in front of the patrons. I could not believe how unkind that was. I would not eat at this restaurant if it was the last restaurant in Portland. The owner is rude and unprofessional.

12/21/07

Bad Meal

by jballas99

Eleni's really disappoints. Salad and Vegatables were good. Something they choose to call sirloin was a cheap piece of meat that they did not know how to cook. It was tough and stringy and I could not finish it. It was so bad I did not even bring it home for the dog.

The cook must be a fry cook, because he could not be a chef. He should be fired or they should relabel their sirloin meal as a piece of shredded shoe leather.

They have disappointed twice, so we will not go back for a third disappointment.

• Pros: Meat was poorly done and not edible
• Cons: Meat was poorly done and not edible

09/23/07

Terrible Customer Service

by vernikad

My family and I went here last Saturday night. We were the first diners of the evening. Our waiter told us the nightly specials of which he only had ONE halibut left! It was strange that they were already running out of the special. I ordered their version of dolmas and spanakopita and a field green salad with baked feta. My food was a bit bland and lacking in originality. My salad was mostly bitter greens which were hard to eat and the baked feta was in a rectangular slab on the side. The dressing had a little lemon in it which helped to overcome the blandness. There are not many vegetarian options for entrees unless you like pasta. The rest of my family had lamb, chicken and halibut. The food was fair, but a little lacking in presentation and full flavor.

After the appetizers, we ran out of water. We had chosen to only drink water for the evening. The waiter never once came by to check on us or give us any water. The waiter finally showed up after we ate our entrees to pick up the plates. I wanted my leftovers to-go. My plate was stacked on top of the used dinner plates in the waiter's arms. My dad and mom both told the waiter I did want mine to-go. When the waiter returned with the check, my to-go box wasn't with him. He quickly rushed off. We were tired of waiting so we got up, paid at the concierge and left. We are still waiting for our water.

The poor service is a big turn off and my family and I won't be return customers.

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Service