Atheneans

The cheese fries were good but be hungry when you order it because it is a large order. The meatlovers puzza was really good and crispy. Not any ordinary toppings herr. The ground beef must be made in house. I tasted something and cone to find out they cook the ground beef themselves and put there own twist on it. I would definateley come back. We hear the steak and cheese is the best in the area.

Great veggie pizza! Quick friendly service too. This is our second time lunching here and it will remain our go to place when in Culpeper.

Excellent restaurant. The people are very friendly and the food is great. Definitely the best prices for drinks in town. I highly recommend the gyros.

The Gyro pizza was fantastic. My GF and I both loved it. The crust was light and flaky. Fantastic pizza. Best pizza we’ve had in Culpeper.

This past Sunday we try out this place and Great Veal Sub and everyone loved what they got! Desert is on point! Looking forward going back again

Love this place. Friendly staff. Spaghetti is amazing. Salads are huge and fresh. The meatballs are delicious too.

I LOVE the food here. Wait staff is ok. Prices are awesome, you won’t find a better deal. And bring your appetite, a whole lotta food. I will review the items I have had:
Bacon cheese fries– these are delicious, good amount of cheese, bacon is good, homemade ranch (all dressings are homemade here!). Cheese fries are a super bargain, like five bucks for a huge plate.
Chef’s salad– soooo good. My only criticism is that I prefer my meats and cheeses more finely sliced. But other than that, it’s awesome. Sometimes I get poached eggs added, depends on how busy they are if they can do this non menu adjustment or not. There is a TON of meat and cheese on this salad… it’s not a salad for the faint of heart.
Greek salad with grilled chicken-O.M.G. Ridiculously good. And have I mentioned that these salads are ginormous? Chicken on this salad is perfectly cooked, juicy and well seasoned.
Filet mignon– ummmmm, basically just know that this is the very best steak for $ 14.99 you will ever get. You don’t even need a butter knife, a fork alone will do.
Gluten free pizza– I have sampled a lot of gf pizzas and most are horrific. This pizza is really really really good.
Angus burger-​super high quality beef served in this place and the burger is no exception. And it is like six bucks or something. I grew up on a beef farm. Trust me, it’s a good burger. My only criticism is that it should be twice as big, but only because I am crazy over a huge burger and doubt that I have ever had a large enough burger from any place other than my kitchen.
Gyro-​normal gyro, lamb is good, but what is great about this gyro is the pillowy pita. And it’s a huge gyro. Tsatsiki is awesome.
Cheesesteak sub-​whaaaaattt? It is super delicious… the beef, remember. They gotta good supplier.
I have not had the regular pizza, calzones, or Stromboli, but I know some ppl purposefully make Culpeper a pit stop just to come to this place to have these menu items. I have also heard the prime rib is delicious and I do not doubt that one bit given the delicious beef elsewhere on the menu. I have never had the desserts. Coffee is disappointing, just plain old commercially brewed coffee and it would be so great if they offered espresso. The food is ALWAYS fresh, the place is clean, and you can see them prepare your food if you want to spy. There is plenty of parking due to e location, but really this place deserves a spot downtown as the fare is so much more consistent than some of those eateries along Davis Street.

I’ve only been here once. Willing to give it another try. The waitstaff was okay… nothing too great or friendly. The prices were cheap which is always nice. The noise was a little much for me, and maybe better suited for families with small children. I enjoyed my calzone and am willing to go back again.

Greek with an Italian flare I’d say. Been here a few times and each time it’s a different experience, feels like my grandparents house. Very homey and dated but the food changes quality from day to day kinda like an Italians temperament (don’t get mad I’m Italian) Some nights/​days the food is really epically good. Others not so much… Which is a let down in a major way. Pizza really close to Jersey board walk so major bonus points. But their desserts on the counter under glass worry me, they look fresh but don’t taste it.
Everything is home made and you can taste it in the food but again the quality changes day by day… Sigh I’m sorry Athenians you’re only getting 3 stars until I can figure out your moody food mood swings.

One word — GROSS!
It would take me an hour to list all of the things that I do not like about this place but in a nutshell here it is.
1.Not clean, no one wears gloves, people are cleaning up and then handling food.
2.Homemade? It should be a crime for this place to put homemade on anything they sell.
3.Taste? I give it a zero out of ten.
I could keep going but just do yourself a favor and do not go.

Authentic Greek and very good. Waited to review until I visited several times. Atmosphere is casual and comfortable. Wait staff friendly — locals who know the menu and very attentive. My only criticism of wait staff is that they aren’t prepared to recommend a compatible Greek wine. Greek owner takes pride in his restaurant and will personally greet you if he has time. Dining room clean and there is a separate bar area.
Greek pizza was excellent, fresh ingredients and perfect crust Tzatziki with pita very nice with fresh dill — yum! The gyro is superb — come very hungry. Baklava ok, I’ve had better. Prices all very reasonable. Other non-​Greek items on the menu, but I wouldn’t bother with them since they’re only on the menu for the local clientele. Why go to a Greek restaurant and order a Philly cheese steak? Instead try the delicious chicken souvlaki.

3^rd visit to Atheanens. It was just as good as the first. I had the Greek calzone this time and it was fantastic. The crust was nice and soft, the fillings (spinach, feta, & mozzarella) were very flavorful. My wife is set on the chicken souvlaki, it’s by far her favorite. Can’t wait for trip #4

Interesting menu. The lamb gyro pizza is my favorite.

I have never been disappointed with the food or the service at Athenean! I am so glad that I discovered this gem in Culpeper. The food is excellent and prices are very reasonable. I have ordered in and taken out. Each time, I have been greeted by a friendly hostess/​waitress. The food is always fresh, cooked to order and service prompt and friendly. Last night I had delicious baked stuffed shrimp with a crabmeat stuffing. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and the crab stuffing had great flavor with a side of lemon butter for dipping. I have had the chicken souvlaki pita bread sandwich (excellent), salmon, pizza, and chicken fingers (love the mustard sauce). The tzatziki sauce with pita bread is excellent. The salmon dinner I had was so flavorful and cooked to perfection. Where can you get a huge piece of salmon, broccoli and roasted potatoes for a $ 14.00 dinner! I keep coming back with friends and colleagues. Everyone I know loves Athenean. The desserts are excellent too. Homemade bakalava, peanut butter cheesecake (to die for), berry cream cake. All of the desserts are made locally and the bakalava is made in house. Check this restaurant out! My only complaint is the parking. They need more parking. It is so popular that I can never get a parking spot on a Friday or Saturday night. I have never gone in this restaurant when it wasn’t packed. You can always tell the sign of a good restaurant by the number of people in it. Try it out!
Michelle

I’m not a fan of giving out poor reviews unless they are really needed (especially when it comes to local joints). That said, I think, this place needs to learn how to make a pizza. I cannot think of a more dismal excuse for pizza that has ever come across my plate. I should have taken a clue and hit the door running when I saw that their «margherita» pizza had broccoli and chicken on it — a sure sign that they slept through basic pizza 101. Reservations aside, I ordered a 12″ pizza. What I got was truly an epic disappointment. The crust was more like some puff pastry mutation of pizza dough, bland and not the least bit chewy, crusty or yeasty. I would almost think that the crust was of frozen origin, except for two reasons: 1) I’ve never even had frozen crust that bad. 2) Making pizza dough from scratch is so inexpensive I cannot imagine why any restaurant would not make it in house. There could not have been more than a ketchup packet worth of sauce on the whole pie. The cheese was bottom rung quality and so thick that the toppings were lost in it, not that they had much flavor to begin with.
The service was pretty good, but with food like this coming out of the kitchen these poor servers are polishing brass on the Titanic.
Bottom line: Making a great, good or even decent hand tossed pizza dough with a tasty sauce and quality toppings is not hard to do.

Since we’d only sampled Atheneans before via takout, decided Tuesday to stop in for a lunch/​early dinner around 4 p.m. A sort of odd time, so it wasn’t really surprising that we were the only patrons in the place. Unfortunately, & once again — mixed feelings.
We started by sharing an order of Spanokopita (remember, this is supposed to be a combination GREEK/​Italian restaurant, & the owner himself is supposed to be Greek). The Spanokopita was, in a word — HORRIBLE. Worst I’ve ever had. Now perhaps I’m biased because my grandmother’s homemade Spanokopita was to die for, & my own version is none too shabby either, but this version consisted of 6 tiny obviously commercial triangles about 3″ long, consisting of spinach filling barely covered with what looked like maybe 2 layers of phyllo. You could actually see the filling right thru the phyllo! And it wasn’t even browned. Worse? Three of the 6 triangles were not only cold, but one was still half frozen! We didn’t bother to say anything because we didn’t want anyone spitting in the rest of the food they were still making for us — lol!
Husband’s calzone was, in his word, «Meh» — «Margarita» (chicken, broccoli, & mozzarella — odd name for such a concoction since chicken, broccoli & no tomatoes has nothing to do with the term «Margarita»). The chicken was extremely dry & the dough was — as in my last review — strange — sort of a cross between pizza dough & regular pastry. Portion/​size was very large, yet accompanied by nothing more than a tiny (as in 2″ x 2″) cup of marinara sauce for «dipping». Sort of laughable, & made it difficult to get down.
The only high point of the meal was my «Black Angus Greek Burger». While the only thing that made it «Greek» was a sprinkling of Feta cheese, the burger was really thick, handmade, obviously of superior-​quality beef, & perfectly cooked to medium as requested. Burger comes with — nothing. I had to pay extra for a side of fries, which were excellent (but really should have just come with the burger for the price). Golden crispy on the outside, tender & fluffy on the inside, & lightly seasoned with what seemed to be seasoned salt & black pepper. Very tasty.
Service was friendly & attentive without being intrusive.
Bottom line: It’s kind of funny that a Greek/​Italian restaurant has lousy frozen Spanokopita & «meh» calzones — both mainstream components of Greek/​Italian dining. If I was «really» hankering for a good burger & didn’t have other options open at the time, I might go back for that alone, but to have only one out of three things ordered be worth the money? Life is too short & there are too many other restaurants around. Since we’ve never tried one of their pizzas, we might try this place one more time for that, but otherwise, we’ll be giving it a pass.

Simple review: The best pizza I have ever had and I have had a lot of pizza. Perfect crust cooked to perfection! The steak bomb is awesome! The fried oysters are awesome! One compliant — tried the fried mushrooms and the were a little under cooked (would go five stars if not for this). The owner and staff are refreshing compared to some other places in town. Always friendly and provide great service!

We tried this place for the first time tonight — & we’re so glad we did! I couldn’t find the number, so I went in to order carryout. I ordered a large pizza with pepperoni, sausage, & extra cheese — grand total $ 17. The pizza was ready in about 15 minutes & the staff was super friendly while I waited. The place is really inviting & has a lot of seating compared to what I thought it’d be. I got the pizza home…& it’s delicious. The crust is crispy & really good. Everything about this pizza is great… we definitely found our new pizza joint! :) & we can’t wait to try the other stuff they have to offer.