Maria’s Mediterranean

Must try Maria’s oysters. I should’ve ordered it as a meal. When we got to this place the outside makes the restaurant look small but once you walk in the restaurant is very spacious and not crowded at all. Staff was ok. But we had to ask for things like knives and sauces at least twice. Food was good. The platter for 2 was very filling. The fish we ordered was a tad salty tho. Overall I liked the environment and will come back to try other items on the menu as well as ordering Maria’s oyster again.

We recently had a very poor experience of Maria’s, Our family who is 100 percent Greek decent and frequents many fine Mediterranean establishments had ordered the Grilled Octopus and the Baby Lamb Chops… «VERY SIMPLE «
We had immediately brought to the attention of the owner Maria that the Octopus tasted funny and chewy, Her reply was that sometimes the octopus comes from Brazilian waters and the consistency may not be the same. Being that we were there for an occasion we were not going to argue with her. Bottom line is that the octopus was left out too long and turned bad.
When the Lamb Chops arrived there was more fat on the bones then there was meat so we ate what we could and let it go as really the owner was not interested.
The fact that there was no owner hospitality especially Greek hospitality knowing of our distaste of the Octopus she made us pay the bill in full,
Therefore, we would never go back… The Octopus as well as the other dishes does not compare to Kyclades, Loukoumi Taverna, Elias Corner (Astoria) and Yefsi (NYC),
If your local Bayside Avli which is a few doors down is great food and the ownership is more than hospitable,

We usually go to Avii’s but we decided to try this restaurant. My sis and I had a
coupon which gave us more value for our money. The chicken soup was perfect, not too salty. Their green salad was very flavorful. We also order fried calamari, rib eye, moussaka (which went home) grilled filet of sole and sis had rib eye which was cooked to perfection, simple and very buttery tender. She had some fries which were cold so that was basically the only thing that we did not like. The lemon potatoes were very good and my sis actually liked them.
So I highly recommend this restaurant. Food was very tasty, not too salty. Overall this is a good place and we definitely intend to come back.

I really hate to say this but my new thing is, if you like this place then I can’t trust any of your other reviews. Sorry. Bland, boring and shamefully not authentic Greek. I don’t buy the hype– and this place is definitely all hype.

Really good and kind waitress! The grilled chicken was awesome with lemon drizzle. Greek coffee is a must.

had the spanakopita, side salad, grilled octopus and swordfish. really good. spanakopita was light and a bit crunchy with tasty spinach cheese filling. swordfish was really moist. i didnt order the grilled octopus as im not into octopus especially the tentacles because it looks repulsive. but i tried a piece of the thick end and it was nice and chewy. cute waiter with the glasses too. i’ll be back. ;)

Great food and great service! When being seated for my party of 6 the manager informed me of a 30 min wait but offered a round of drinks for the whole group! We ordered the grilled octopus, stuffed mushrooms, and calamari for apetizers and all packed tremendous flavor and freshness but was def small in portion. I had the flank steak skewer dish with lemon potatoes and I cleaned my plate. Perfectly balanced with spices and the Greek sauce was wonderful. We had the house red wine with the meal and it was aromatic and flavorful. Great place in all aspects.

I love Greek food and in Bayside you have many choices. I have dined at Maria’s three times and each time it gets better and better. This is my hands down favorite Bayside Greek restaurant.
The service is warm and attentive. The photos around the dining room are authentic family photos. I learned last night that the family is from Northern Greece close to Bulgaria to the cuisine is more meat driven than seafood. That does not mean their seafood is secondary, I have had their Shrimp Mykonos and swordfish which were amazing.
Their spreads are the best I have ever eaten. So fresh and bursting in flavor.
I highly recommend this family owned and staffed restaurant. Great value and delicious food.

I would have given it 4 stars but the service was lacking. I honestly couldn’t care what your face looks like as long as we don’t have to constantly flag you down for service. Which is what we had to do to get any acknowledgement. The food on the other hand was great. I like my food flavored. Nothing is worse than me spending my hard earned money on bland food. The watermelon salad was good. The fried pita with 6dip is good for 6 people easily. The dips are delicious! That’s a must have. The octopus was OK. I didn’t hate it, nor love it. It needed to be a bit more tender. The lemon dressing on it was yummy. The grilled chicken is sooo delicious. Its pure Lemony goodness. The steak kabob was alright, the chicken stole the show in my opinion. The seafood with orzo was good. It had a nice bite and kick to it. A bit too fishy for my personal taste, but if you like that you’ll love it because it really is good. Be prepared to wait for your food tho, because it took a while for our food to come out. The grilled chicken and pita dip sampler are a must have when you go.

We were a party of 5. Both the entrees and the desserts were delicious! We sampled only a small portion of the entire menu. Worth the trip and parking is not too bad even for Bell Blvd.

I Bookmarked Maria’s because of their seafood options and kept it in my back pocket. Dishes looked mouthwatering and that instantly drew me in– and since I was in the area, I went for it. Maria’s gives off a cute welcoming exterior. Interior design, on the other hand is, basic with a sizable bar.
Hospitality was at a high at Maria’s and we were immediately greeted and seated. Within 2 minutes, pita and olives were brought to the table and I certainly, did not have our server take the pita back. Our server was very attentive in the whole process, and never skipped a beat. Loved it! Nothing worse than hunting down your server continuously.
I went for something out of my Martini spectrum (because hey… I’m in Greece) and settled for a tropical/​Ouzo cocktail that was different for my palate, but nonetheless all right. Menu was popping with an enormous selection of seafood and lamb dishes that made it hard for me to make up my mind. We started with Grilled Octopus, that was tasty– though, massive for my liking (it quickly turned me off). My Garlic Scallop and Shrimp were nicely done, but I also devoured Mr. Man’s Lamb Kabobs, which were beautifully grilled.
While Maria’s Mediterranean offers a wide array of traditional Greek food, it is in fact, wholesome and tasty. But, please accept my apologies… I too, use another restaurant– a favorite of mine, as my base test for other Greek restaurants… and my Grilled Octopus was just grotesque.

With so many incredible and tempting places in the immediate area… I walked by this place for a long time and it took about a year before me and my wife finally ate there… all those award banners they display are well deserved.
Me and my girl went there on a saturday night and it was busy. The hostess told us it would be a half hour. So we said that would be fine and we went to the small bar they have in the back. The owner happened to be at the door when we came in and bought us a round of drinks at the bar… good start!
We waited for a long time… it was saturday night. Then sat down. Our waitress was amazing… can’t remember her name. We got an appetizer special at the waitress’ recommendation; stuffed calamari. It was incredible. A whole cooked (not fried) squid stuffed with this incredible spinach cheese vinegarette stuffing. I’ve never had anything like it and it was awesome.
Our entrees… I got a seafood risotto (thats my name for what i remember eating… I don’t know what the name of the dish was). It was really good. My wife got filet of sole. Amazing.
Next time I go there im gonna get a whole fish. I saw the servers carrying out some whole fish dinners and they just looked amazing.

Absolutely loved their food here. This is a nice ambient restaurant to take a date or to bring a group to experience a great Mediterranean/​Greek dinner. I came here to try the food since I bought a restaurant certificate of $ 25 and it was totally worth it.
For starters we ordered Maria’s Oyster and the Dips and chips. They also give you a small complimentary plate of olives and some toasted pita bread. The oysters were topped with a creamy spinach sauce which was amazing. It came in a count of 6. The Dips and chips consisted of 6 different Dips which included tahini dip, yogurt dill cilantro dip, potato dip, caviar dip, olive oil feta cheese dip, and a dip with some veges. I may be a little off but that’s the best to my memory of how the Dips were. My favorite one was the yogurt dill dip, caviar dip, and the feta olive oil dip. The chips were basically fried pita which was nice and crisp. This appetizer is definately one to share with a group.
For the main entrée, we ordered the seafood sampler. It was actually an appetizer but it was great as an entrée for 2. This was a combination of shrimp and calamari. They had 2 skewers of grilled shrimp in which each skewer had 2 jumbo shrimps. They had 4 breaded fried jumbo shrimps as well. The Calamari was grilled and they had the other fried. It was accompanied by marinara and tartar sauce. The grilled calamari and shrimp both were the better of the 2 choices of each. They had a grilled charcoal flavor and had a nice texture.
I was really looking forward for dessert, but I was stuffed. In conclusion, I do recommend this restaurant for their friendly service, atmosphere, and food of course! My bill came out to be about $ 40 after the $ 25 credit. Totally a steal! Oh, did I mention, get a free glass of wine by checking in with Unilocal

Finally made it here the other night. Cozy little restaurant, seems like it would be a great place to go with the family. It had its pros and cons here, I think the food may be better here than Avli, however the prices at Avli are better.
The waitress was hit or miss. There was a table of 6 which she definitely catered too and neglected other tables due to it. She wasnt terrible, but tracking her down was sometimes a pain.
The sell Tzaiki as an appetizer for about $ 5.now if you order this I would think it comes with pita. Even though they give you complimentary pita with olives in olive oil, they should replenish your pita bread if your ordering this big dish of Tzaiki. Anywho, it was really good though, alot but good. One of the better Tzaiki’s that I have had in the Queens area.
The fried calamari is so fresh! Its hard to find a good restaurant with such fresh calamari, especially one thats not on the water. It was seasoned well and just melted in your mouth.
I ordered the chicken souvlaki with vegetable rice and my boyfriend ordered the pork chops. Both good meals, very tasty, seasoned and cooked just right.
Overall a good time here, and I would definitely recommend this place for someone whose looking for a good greek cuisine.

Bayside is turning up its restaurant heat… Watch out.
The gold standard for Greek food in NYC remains Taverna Kyclades in Astoria. Hands down. I use it as my litmus test. However, it’s not easy to get a table there and the location is not convenient for us.
When visiting my in-​laws in Bayside, we often choose greek cuisine. We used to dine exclusively at Avli, due to the Unilocal ratings. However, today, we decided to change it up, so we went to Maria’s. Such a great decision.
Let. Me. Tell. You. about two items that blew me away:
1) Maria’s Oysters: I have never put anything in my mouth that tasted remotely like these. Pure decadence, flavor and delight. Blown away part 1.
2) Lemon Potatoes: Hot damn. These are the best greek potatoes in NYC… *Better* than Taverna Kyclades’. They are thick, browned on the outside, warm and luscious on the inside with the perfect dose of lemon.
The other food was good (i.e. horiatiki salad, antipasto sampler, baked clams, stuffed sole…) but still not at the level of Kyclades.
There was one true disappointment — the Galactoboureko dessert. All 5 of us thought it was pretty bad, as it’s a family favorite (one of those dishes we order in the heat of a political discussion — because we all melt and agree that we can agree on our love for this). They serve it in triangles instead of cut from a pan — so the ratio of bread to custard is off… there is WAY too much phyllo. Taverna Kyclades gives it to you on the house each time you eat there and it is perfectly divine! Even Avli’s galactoboureko, which is down the street from Maria’s, is much better.
Overall, Maria’s food is a notch above Avli, it’s neighbor and competitor. However, the galactoboureko at Avli comes about ahead. Why not dine at Maria’s and head to Avli for dessert?

The most friendly staff everrrr. Our workplace ordered delivery from Maria’s and the lady who took our phone call was SO charming. It was a great delivery phone-​call experience haha.
On top of that, the food here is banginggg. We got the meat platter for 4. It was HUGE! We couldn’t finish it and it was 5 of us. The meat platter had bifteki (ground meat patty), pork chops, grilled chicken breast, beef, and sausage, including pita bread and tzatiki sauce. We also got the Greek salad, vegetable rice, steamed vegetables, and lemon potatoes. Everything was on point. Best Greek food in Queens!

This stretch of Bell Blvd is a cross section of Queens with a slice out of the diverse food scene to represent more than a dozen different types of cuisines. Maria’s fits into this fabric by contributing fantastic Greek seafood to the mix. Sundays are as quiet as it gets in the area, so there was no wait for a table. Service is excellent as we are told the specials of the day and a basket of warm pita bread with a dish of olives in EVOO is placed on the table.
We start with the grilled octopus, which was a large tentacle, but tender in repose on a bed of dressed arugula. It was almost sensual in both presentation and taste. The avgolemono soup was also outstanding and came in a huge bowl. The Greek Salad even had bonus stuffed grape leaves, which you don’t see very often. Grilled Branzino was served with the fish turned out and deboned. It was flaky and tender with a nice char and smokey flavor, but was a little pricey at $ 35 (for the XL) which was the «market price». The Greek style Smothered Chicken was very tasty and was a large portion, great for sharing family style. A return trip is definitely worth it.

Top notch Mediterranean cuisine.
From the retsina wine, to the warm fresh pita bread, to the olives, to the grilled octopus, to the baby lamb chops, to the combination meat platter, to the galaktoboureko. Aces.
All aces.
Gia Mas !!!

Absolutely loved the food. Ordered a chicken souvlaki and a Pinot Noir with a side salad. Ate every little bit because it was delicious. My partner ordered grilled chicken with lemon potatoes and a Merlot. Delicious as well. The restaurant was clean and pretty inside. It’s suits a casual little date. The only thing that took one star away was the grilled vegetables. They were received after we almost finished our entire meal and they didn’t seem grilled. They were not crispy like they typically are when they come off a grill. Instead they were soft and rubbery. The balsamic glaze was missing also. Thankfully, the hostess/​waitress was FANTASTIC. She was beyond sweet. Even her helpers (a young boy that picks up all the plates and boxes leftovers) was a sweetheart also. We will definitely return for more. They earned our keep.

Greek and Mediterranean food is pretty popular up and down Bell Blvd. in Bayside. My wife noticed that this place was deemed the «Best Restaurant in Bayside» as per TripAdvisor, so we decided to finally stop by.
As it turned out, we came on Greek Easter, so the menu was special. We had the sautéed whole octopus in balsamic vinegar and capers (awesomely tender), Greek chicken (grilled chicken with rice pilaf), eggplant dip and a portion of the whole roasted lamb on a spit. The Greek chicken was a bit bland and dry but all the other items really made up for it. The eggplant dip was a bit less seasoned than the others I’ve had but not in a bad way. The sautéed octopus was incredibly tasty and I would highly recommend anyone try it if it happens to reappear on the menu. The lamb however was really the best part of the meal. I’m not a lamb kinda guy, but it was done really well and had almost no trace of the gamey flavor I detest. Kids ate it up like it was steak.
Service was attentive and good. Price is a bit higher than other restaurants in the area but well worth it.