Athena Restaurant

Ordered takeout, was told 25 min. Arrived on time, waited for a half hour to get my food as the restaurant clearly forgot my order. There was one register to handle all orders, which resulted in pandemonium. The food was mediocre at best. Feta cheese sucked, meat underseasoned and overlooked. This is my first and last time coming here. Basically, I would have rather gone to whole foods and cooked something myself in the same amount of time. Thankfully there are a few other Mediterranean options within a 10 min drive, which is where I’m going next time.

Had dinner here in late December 2015. Food was great and service was attentive. Will definitely go back when I’m next in town.

Terrible service ruins this otherwise decent Greek and fish restaurant. Located across from the Keswick Theater, the restaurant brings in a large theater crowd. As such, the need for prompt service to permit the guests making show time is no secret to the restaurant. Despite this fact, on our last two visits, the service was slow, inattentive, ineffectual and disorganized. On our last visit, the waiter managed to avoid our table for 35 minutes from the time of our arrival until we walked out without ever having out in an order or being served even a drink. This was despite having made a reservation days prior. A request to speak to the manager was ignored, as was a later call to the restaurant to speak to the manager. Their loss — we walked to a nearby Chinese restaurant, were promptly served and made our show despite losing over half an hour to Athena. Needless to say, this will be our last visit ever to this restaurant.

I decided to order from there for lunch since I had never been there before. I ordered a Greek salad– if the salad is bad, so is the rest of the food. Not only was it not bad, it was amazing! HUGE, filled with tons of olives, feta, dolmades… you name it, it was in there. I have never LOVED a salad like I love that salad. I can’t wait to go for dinner and actually enjoy the restaurant.

What a great meal! I had the pikelia and the items on this combination plate hit all the key foods. The bechamel in the moussaka was semi-​firm and creamy underneath (instead of firm throughout) and very flavorful… just the way I like it. All of the other items were just right and plentiful though the spanakopita was chopped a little rougher and more onion filled than I like. The baklava was one of the best I’ve had away from home… crispy, sweet, nut-​filled, and huge! Very good food and very good value. The staff was friendly and the the ambiance seemed right. I will be back!

The service was slow and indifferent and that was the best part of the meal. The pastitsio had no pasta or cheese to speak of. It consisted of a foul tasting glob of foam over what tasted like Dinty Moore beef stew. The gyro platter was even worse. The menu claimed it was leg of lamb but we were served dried out fajita seasoned beef with soggy vegetables. It in no way resembled or tasted like a gyro platter. When we politely voiced our displeasure no attempt to remove any of the falsely advertised food was made. Worse than high school cafeteria food with less attentive service. I felt violated like I had been robbed of $ 60.

Nice quiet lunch during the week. Great Gyro and Baba Ganoush. Attentive service. Parking is horrific. Decent enough venue, clean, quiet. Has a covered patio deck.

Don’t try to go after a play in the nearby theatre without reservations. They’ll really treat you rude. Hint to management: get a better website that tells people to make reservations

Always a good place to eat before a show at Keswick. Staff is always pleasant and helpful. Food is good.

We went to dinner here before a Keswick show. We were running late due to traffic and when we called to tell them, they graciously told us not to worry, that our table would be there for us. When we got there, it was packed but our table was still waiting for us! We had a great dinner with salads, grilled octopus, and a combination sampler. My friends complimented the grilled octopus and thought it was some of the best they’ve had. All the food was delicious and the portions were generous. Staff were friendly and attentive. Authentic greek and steps from the Keswick. Fun place to grab a bite to eat before a show. Just remember it is a BYOB. All went great with a red wine!

I visited Athena last night with my parents to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. It was very quiet for a Sunday night, only a couple other patrons, but it made for a relaxing dining experience. We started off with an order of the octopus appetizer and baba ganoush. The octopus was amazing! Perfectly cooked, not too chewy and very succulent. We also thoroughly enjoyed the baba ganoush which went great with the accompanying warm pita bread.
For my main course I ordered the Shrimp kabobs. This also came with a simple greek salad. Overall, I enjoyed the dish. The shrimp was cooked and seasoned well. The accompanying rice, green beans, and potatoes were plentiful and flavorful. I sampled the Spinach pie from my Mom’s sampler platter, which was delicious as well. She enjoyed the sampler, which had grape leaves, lamb meatballs, mousaka, among other greek delicacies. Its a great choice if you’re looking to try a little bit of everything. We ordered a baklava for desert, which they brought out with a candle for my dad. We all devoured this sweet tasty treat.
Authentic greek restaurants are hard to come by in the Philadelphia suburbs, and Athena is a great place to satisfy your Mediterranean cuisine cravings. The staff is friendly and accommodating and the atmosphere was very relaxed. I will definitely visit again and take advantage of the BYOB next time.

The food was very good. The waitress was very nice. It was an enjoyable place to have lunch.

Food was amazing, the place looked dated but it did not bother us. This was a unique find and I look forward to going back! The servings are large and the Greek coffee is a must!

We brought our baby. She slept. We pigged out. Recommended for fish, hummous, and their yummy warm bread. Haven’t tested the limits of the menu, but it’s a solid place, BYOB as noted, we have had friendly service, and it’s a white tablecloths kind of place. Good for a date, good for a family outing, generally good.

Waited 10 minutes to get order taken. Waited 30 minuets for food. Was a show that night and crowded but food made it worth it.

Decent Greek food. Atmosphere is less than impressive. However, their Avgolemono soup is delicious. I order it as takeout frequently. The staff is friendly.

Athena is an A-​OK place to grab a decent Greek meal, but not necessarily worth a special trip. The food is nothing mind-​blowing, but I’ve enjoyed everything that I’ve tried, and it is great bang for your buck.
The décor has a very «renovated in the1980’s» feel to it, and Greek music plays at a nice volume. In my experience, the service has never risen above average. I have only been for lunch with groups ranging from 4 – 8 people. Even when the restaurant has been practically empty, they are rarely willing to move tables around so we have enough space to sit comfortably.
Our group starts out with their dips sampler platter — pretty standard hummus, tzatziki, eggplant and tomato dips, with feta, a few grape leaves and olives scattered around. It comes with a meager supply of toasted pita, but they will (somewhat begrudgingly) give you more. Soups are very good, salads are enormous, and sandwiches/​gyros are decently executed examples of what they are. The meats, in particular, are recognizable cuts and very nicely grilled.
If you go simply expecting a yummy and satisfying meal for a good price, you’ll likely be pleased with your decision.

It’s 2013 so naturally, I thought the «Jim Crowe» Era was over… Wrong! My husband and I took an overnight trip to Philly and decided to do dinner with my family that lives 20 minutes away from the restaurant. My husband is Turkish and we are a multicultural family. Athena was the only option for Mediterranean cuisine in the area so we decided to give it a shot.
It was a lovely night out, so we wanted to sit outside to enjoy the cool breeze while we dined. We patiently waited as the waitress zoomed by us four or five times without even a hello, may I help you or any eye contact whatsoever. That should have been my FIRST sign! My husband stopped the waitress and asked her if we could dine outside. She rudely waved for us to go inside to be seated. That was a new one for us; to go inside only to be escorted back outside, but we went with the flow. As soon as we got inside, we waited while the hostess Lisa looked through us as if we were not standing there. We asked if we could have a table for four and she immediately asked us if we had reservations. Of course we don’t. We just popped in from the city! She pretended to flip through a book, went into the kitchen, came back out and flipped through the book again and said sorry, we are booked solid. We looked at each other and looked at the semi-​empty space inside and the empty tables outside and walked out. My husband was behind us and was unaware of what happened until we were making our way out of the door.
Something just didn’t sit right with me. As we headed to the car, I decided to call and make a reservation from the parking lot. It was 7:15 pm when I called back and asked Lisa if I could make a last minute reservation. Without hesitation, she asked me what time I would like to come in. I told her that we were right around the corner and would be there at 7:30 pm. Sure. No problem; she told me as she explained their BYOB policy. She told us to come right in bring wine or whatever we wanted to the restaurant.
My husband made sure he went back in alone at 7:25 pm and walked right up to Lisa and asked if he could get a table. Lisa looked around the room and asked him where he would like to sit. He asked her if she was 100% sure that she was not booked. She told him to pick any table he wanted! My husband told her that was funny because when he came in with his family 10 minutes earlier, she told us they were booked to capacity. He told her that the family she turned away was his family and he thought separate but equal was over. As her face turned red, she admitted that she did not know that we were together. He gave her a few choice words and walked away. Lisa kept insisting that he misunderstood her as he made his way out of the door, but we all understood her message loud and clear. I guess Athena has a problem with the color GREEN! because they didn’t want us to spend ours there.
If I could, I would give this place a fat ZERO! But since I had the pleasure of NOT eating there, I will be satisfied with giving them a 1.

Saw a show at the Keswick and had reservations afterwards at Athena. We didn’t get a chance to breathe between the appetizers, salad, and entrees being rushed the whole time we were there. The pita bread was nice and warm, the kids at the table are bread mongers, so they loved that! The appetizers were so-so…entrees were ok. I’ve never seen/​heard of an entrée (only appetizer) of Spanakopita, when they came out (two in our party ordered them) they looked like they had been sitting under a heat light! The kids got the Galaktoboreko for dessert and weren’t too happy when they couldn’t find any custard inside. Also, it’s a little confusing as to why a Greek restaurant would offer an Italian dessert of Tiramisu.
I also found it extremely rude when we were asked if we wanted to wrap some of the dishes up to take home when two people were still eating! Blatant ignorance and less than mediocre food will prevent me from going back there again!

After visiting Greece, my wife and I have been searching our hometown for similar dishes. Greek food isn’t bold but it makes up for it with fresh ingredients and simple seasoning like salt, lemon, & olive oil. We’ve tried Estia, Kanella, Zorbas, & Dmitri’s in hopes of rekindling a taste of Greece but no one comes as close as the cozy & homey, Athena. From the outdoor seating to the Greek music to all the Greek tiles you’d find at the souvenir shops, this restaurant reminds me of Greece.
I’ve been to Athena many times in the last 3 years and all I can say is they have some really good food and some really mediocre items. The good outweighs the bad and it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for Greek cuisine.
The Good: Most of the appetizers are decent. Our favorites include Saganaki (fried cheese), Grilled Octopus, Loukaniko Skaras (chargrilled greek sausage) & Baba Ganoush. The Octopus is the best I’ve ever had, anywhere. Grilled perfectly and meaty without being overcooked. Saganaki, crispy on the outside and melty goodness on the inside. You’ll also get a big plate of hot pita bread if you want to make a meal out of it.
Sadly, the one entrée I can recommend is the grilled whole fish which is offered as their special. You normally have 2 choices of fish, a Mediterranean sea bass or red snapper (market price) and they are accompanied by a side salad and roasted potatoes & green beans. Go with the sea bass and you will not be disappointed. Athena grills their fish perfectly. Head to tail crispiness with a tender flesh. The best grilled fish in the Philly area short of being invited to a Greek family’s home. The braised lamb shank w/​red wine sauce special is a distant second place but a good alternative if you don’t eat fish.
Now the not so good. Don’t even consider getting any of the pastas. You could make better pasta at home. The Lemonato Chicken Kalamata and pork chops tasted like they spent too much time in the freezer. Mousaka was dull and regretful with bland meat. Chicken Souvlaki lacking the moistness of being prepared on a vertical rotisserie. The desserts… save room for ice cream elsewhere on the way home.
3 apps, 1 grilled fish = $ 67. This is plenty of food for two as their appetizers are generously sized and can be enjoyed with pita.
Quickies: BYOB, Small strip mall parking lot but plenty of metered street parking. Check the Keswick Theater schedule before hand unless you don’t mind a packed restaurant with patrons all trying to get in & out in an hour for the show. Visa or Mastercard ONLY.
I wish: Athena Restaurant served their lamb shank with a white wine sauce and had a few more palatable entrees.