Akropolis Cafe

It’s closed!

It is closed-​gone-​dead

It appears this restaurant is now closed.

This used to be a fairly ok place, but I won’t be visiting again. The food always took at least 30min to come out, but I always overlooked this and made sure to go when I was wasn’t starving, and their were sometimes flies but I figured it wasn’t their fault.
On the last visit I ordered my usual dish, and they said they couldn’t make it. After inquiring why I was told they felt they had too big of a menu so they only make what they feel like each day, and I should call ahead next time to see what items on their menu they made for the day. Ummmmm… I think not. What good is a menu if you only make what you feel like on it? Nope I don’t want to play guessing games with a menu. That was my last visit.

When I lived in the university area I used to love this little mom and pop joint. The husband is the business manager, his wife cooks and runs the kitchen and their son generally works as the one server.
I don’t suggest going here if you don’t have some time to spare, it can take a while to get the food out. However, they do orders to go and you can always call ahead.
I’ve gotten a number of things here over the years and I definitely have my favorites. The menu runs the gambit of Greek and Persian dishes. However, my ‘usual’ is the saffron chicken with zakresh rice (with dried currants). I almost always get an extra side of tzatziki, which has the perfect level of tang to it.
The souvlaki, salads, kobideh and platter with dill rice and lima beans are excellent. As everyone else has said, décor is pretty stereotypical, but I find the place endearing and always feel welcome here.

I like Akropolis because they are a small family owned restaurant. I’ve probably been here a dozen or so times in the past 3 months, and most of the food I’ve gotten was good/​great.
That being said, there are a few things to know prior to checking out Akropolis:
–Although it appears to be a quick service restaurant you should expect to wait about 15 minutes for your food, because everything is made fresh.
–It’s not exactly pretty, looks like a diner or greasy spoon… but you can dine outside on their patio if you wish.
–They have a «secret vegetarian menu» on the back of their regular menu, just flip it over at the counter.
–They prefer you to order by number.
I don’t care for their falafel, but their veggie sandwich (#37) is great as is their hummus sandwich. Their greek salad is almost entirely lettuce, but their tzatiki sauce and pita are very good.
Their fries are a highlight! They are always FRESH and I believe they cook them with oregano and rosemary, absolutely delicious!

The hubs is Greek, and I have a soft spot for homegrown Greek restaurants, (this one is Persian too) so when I was in the University area I stopped by to get some take-​out.
When you step in, it reminds of you of an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Not that the décor is THAT terrible, but everything’s got an overall greasy feel to it. The table tops had a grease sheen on them, and there were jars of condiments and bottles of ketchup just strewn about, half open, contents dripping from the lids. Flied swarming around those drippy looking bottles.
I should have turned around and found myself a BK or McDonalds. That would have been smarter.
I ordered the gryo platter with salad, and I kid you not, even though I was STARIVING, couldn’t eat more than a few bites without getting disgusted and throwing it out. I NEVER do things like that!
The gyro meat was greasy and dried out at the same time. (How is that possible?) The pita seemed like it had been out for a few days and beyond the «best by» date. The salad though was the kicker.
The salad was pure iceberg, which is fine, but strangely enough, the whitest, palest part of the lettuce head. There was barely any actual green coloring to it. Fine, they had to use the center of the lettuce, no big deal. What was a big deal– the BIG BUG I found under a pita wedge in the center of the salad! I understand you can’t catch every bug, but you couldn’t miss this puppy.
The cucumber yogurt sauce by the way did not seem to be made of Greek yogurt, but instead sour cream, which is what a lot of fast food Greek restaurants do. There was no dill or lemon to brighten things up.
Later that night, I got really sick. It was food poisoning, no doubt. Now, whenever I pass by that shopping plaza where Akropolis is.(which is rare thank godness) – I cringe and have a mini nightmarish flashback.
Run kids, run.

If you are in a hurry and have little time to enjoy the dining experience, don’t go here. If you want some excellent Greek food in a Mom and Pop type restaurant, this is the place!

Meh is the only way to describe my experience here yesterday. As other reviews have noted, definitely family owned. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I usually get excited when I hear family owned. It is usually a great welcoming, friendly, comforting experience. This visit was anything but.
Walked in, about 5 tables were full, we stepped up to the counter to place our order. The one guy working was refilling another tables drinks, and didn’t even look up, acknowledged our presence, or anything. A «hey guys, i’ll be right with you» would have been sufficient.
He makes his way up to the counter and just stands in front of us waiting for us to order, no hello, no how ya doin today. Just a blank unfriendly stare.
I tried to order the #15, the koobideh. He slowly looked at the menu, then back to me, and just says «that takes a long time». Ok… I wasn’t in a rush, but felt like he was pushing me to order something else, out of frustration I ordered a burger. I was excited to try something new and this experience left me never to try Greek food again if this is how the «family owned» restaurants are run.
Wife had been here before, many years ago while a student at UNCC, and she commented on how downhill the place has gone over the years. Service and food wise. Very, very, dry falafel. Too bad, I was looking for a good, new, dining experience. Should have just gone to Amalfis.

Went there for breakfast and the food came out quickly, service was quick, waitress was nice. Just ordered dinner from there and well let you know about the Spartan Lamb chops

11÷12÷10
Salad was still good, but I didn’t enjoy the falafel platter– the patties were too dry, and the hummus, which was sprinkled w/​sumac by a heavy hand, was very bland. Was able to sample the fries– pretty good! Sister still enjoyed her chicken pita, but Mom found the gyro to be on the dry side. BIL loved his #21 combo platter of shishkabob and gyro. I’d have tried some baklava (pistachio allergy be damned!), but there wasn’t any left to order.

Last night, we had some errands to take care of in the University City area. I hopped on to Unilocal and found a few restaurants in the area that looked like they needed updating… and the wifey had a hankerin’ for some Greek food. Enter: Akropolis Café!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the menu listed some Persian fare, and asked the cashier how this came to be. Interestingly enough, we found out that he and his wife (the ‘boss’ and cook!) were Persian! Now, I love me some Persian food (the tasty dishes of a 3000 year old civilization tend to be just about right on after all that time!) and was sort of bummed that there weren’t any ‘real’ Persian joints to speak of in the area. Man, am I glad the ol’ lady wanted some Greek!
So the misses ordered a chicken kabob and I ordered the koobideh (ground meat w/​spices). Awesome. they served it with saffron rice and a grilled tomato… as authentic as it comes! After dinner, we stayed and chatted with the owners and their restaurant. They showed us a «special» menu that had a lot of real, honest-​to-​goodness, authentic Persian dishes (including their stews, or khoresh), sour cherry rice, and the like. If only I had known this menu existed! Glad I do now so when we go back, we’ll be able to sample these delicious fares!
Now, the rough part… Only the couple works there, so there’s only really one cook, one server. Wait times can be a bit (we waited about 20 minutes, but I was excited about the food, so the wait wasn’t bad, and we had a Creative Loafing mag to go thru as well!). If you’re going during a busy time like the lunch rush, I’d suggest bringing something to keep you occupied (iPhone/​Android handset, computer, book) if alone, or make sure you have stuff to talk about with your compadres. The food is worth it. They also cater and take phone orders, so if your patience tends to wear thin, try that option!
Noosh!

To try someplace new, we visited the Akropolis Café one day for lunch. We sat ourselves at a table in a rather blah setting. Nobody came by and then… nobody came by. We looked around and noticed that there was one other table of people and someone standing for takeout. Both sets were waiting for their food. Angrily. And apparently only one person working? He was doing the cooking. It soon became evident that it was a family owned business… and only one family member showed up for work that day. As the woman waiting for her takeout became vocal, we decided to duck out and go somewhere else. I only get an hour for lunch… and I didn’t want to spend it sitting at a table with no service watching a fight break out.
So, sad to say, my review is based only on the service I experienced and observed during a visit one day for lunch to Akropolis Café. I have not yet been back, and based on that experience during what should have been a slow period of the day, most likely won’t give them a second chance. I’d hate to see what happens when they actually might have a full restaurant!

Decent service, fairly good food, average pricing, decoration and visual aids a bit outdated.