Athens N.Y. Style Diner in Mount Dora, FL

I always enjoy my visits to the Greek Diners up in New York and New Jersey. They seem to be a mostly regional thing and rarely are seen elsewhere. While the quality varies greatly from diner to diner, I seem to always end up at a Greek diner at least once whenever I'm up north.

While in Mount Dora one afternoon, I decided to try Athens N.Y. Style Diner to see how they compare to the Greek diners that I've eaten at actually located in New York.

Athens is located in a strip mall. No classic diner building here. The interior of Athens seemed very dated...

A basket of rolls was brought out first. They were okay, but where was the challah and assorted crackers that you get in Greek diners in New York? And how about the appetizer plate of celery, carrots, and radishes that you get from New York Greek diners at dinner time?

I ordered a Chicken Souvlaki Pita. Rather than getting the normal side of fries, I substituted a side Greek Salad. It consisted of lettuce, onions, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese.

My pita soon followed the salad. It was filled with chicken, lettuce, onions, and tzatziki. While there was nothing exactly wrong with the pita, it all tasted very bland. Even with the tzatziki drenching the interior of the pita, there really wasn't much of any flavor that stood out. Athens needs to put more seasoning on their chicken or maybe add more spice to the tzatziki...

I've had some pretty tasteless souvlaki pitas in true NY Greek diners, so maybe it was authentic. Overall, Athens NY Style Diner had pretty average food. Nothing worth going out of my way to return to...

Pita Pit in Downtown Orlando

I ate at the Pita Pit on Orange Ave in Downtown Orlando. I ordered a chicken souvlaki pita and had no complaints except that the setup of available toppings for the pita was a little confusing. I didn't realize that some sauces and cheeses were available until halfway through my meal.

Eating at The Pita Pit was also a good people watching experience. All of the restaurant employees showcased all sorts of piercings, tattoos, and dreadlocks. Over in one corner of the restaurant, there was a group of vegans eating their meat/dairy free pitas. Every so often, the vegans would go bother the tattooed employees with some vegan food related question. About halfway through my meal, a man entered the restaurant who I paid no attention too until he sat down and started singing what sounded like a Gregorian Chant. The chanting made me think of Catholic churches, and it then clicked that this man looked a whole lot like Silas from the Da Vinci Code. His whole meal, he looked angry and kept on sneering at the group of vegans. When going home after eating, I noticed that he had returned to his post on a street corner holding a sign about how the world is ending and we are all going to hell. Definitely an interesting crowd in the Pita Pit.

Athena Chicken Souvlaki Pita

I ate a Chicken Souvlaki Pita at Athena Cafe in Altamonte Springs, FL. The pita was filled with very flavorful chicken, lettuce, and tzatziki. Tomatoes were also an option, but I had them left off of the sandwich. Pasta salad was served with the pita and it was all very tasty.

Even though the food is good, the atmosphere of the restaurant could use some improvement. Being able to watch the employees do crossword puzzles due to there being so few customers isn't a good thing.

Stop 20 Diner

I ate lunch at Stop 20 Diner in Elmont, NY today. I ordered the Chicken Souvlaki Pita lunch special. It came with soup, a side Greek salad, the sandwich, dessert, and a drink.

There were several choices of soup to choose from, and I picked lentil. The soup was good. A basket of challah bread and crackers was brought out at the same time as the soup.

The soup and bread was followed with the side Greek salad. It didn't come with the wonderful items that make Greek salads from these Greek diners special such as the stuffed grape leaves or anchovies, but these generally don't come with side salads. It consisted of lettuce, tomato, onions, feta cheese, and olives. It tasted good enough, although it would have been much better with some stuffed grape leaves...

The Chicken Souvlaki pita came out next and was the biggest disappointment of the meal. The pita was filled with lots and lots of grilled chicken, chopped green peppers and onions, and chopped tomato. It was served with a cup of tzatziki. The sandwich was way too much chicken, and not enough other stuff. Each bite was almost all chicken and was way too much and lacked enough flavor. I've had much better chicken souvlaki sandwiches elsewhere...

I ordered a cheese danish for the included dessert. It was tasty enough, and had some currants in it which was a nice touch.

The lunch special was a great deal with the amount of food that was given for the money, but the quality of the food could have been better. My souvlaki had room for improvement. Two of the other meals ordered at my table was a spinach quiche and a spanakopita (spinach pie). The spanakopita and the quiche were exactly the same thing, only the quiche was served as an upside down spanakopita. A quiche is more than a spinach pie turned upside down.

The food here has been better in the past...