Atena Pizza

I’ve been here a couple of times. One reason I like going is because I’m a broke college student, and their pizza is definitely cheaper than most places, especially that expensive Mellow Mushroom. Their pizza is pretty decent. My class was having a pizza party so I went to them for the pizza. They gave me four pizzas at an incredible rate. With tax and tip included I spent under thirty dollars for four pizzas! The guys I talked to there were really nice; one even gave me a tasty mediterranean dessert on the house. How sweet! I will be going back, since I live close by and, again, their competitive prices.

I really, really wanted to be wowed by this place… and will try again when they have been open longer. It is within walking distance from my office and the flyer we have says it has pizza and «authentic Mediterranean» food… including falafel, baba ganoush and tabouli… all of which I love… I saw visions of weekly falafel in my future.
For starters, it is located in part of the old Capers building… and they are still doing construction on one half… messy, noisy, and the parking lot is iffy, at best. On the inside, it looks like it was renovated, and I use that term very loosely, by stoners. The walls (including the exposed brick walls!!) have been painted a smashed pea, boiled celery green and paint is everywhere… on the ceiling fans, light fixtures, everything. The booths are mismatched burgundy and pink vinyl (really? With pea green walls?). The floors are kinda cool old linoleum from the 50s or 60s… could be retro if anything else had been done in the same era. Mismatched light fixtures, homemade-​looking decorations, and a plywood, cobbled-​together desk-​y thing rounded it out. Everything was clean (93 health rating)…but just off… it has the potential to be really cool… but falls waaaaaaay short. I would love to get hold of this place to decorate it! Starting with sandblasting the paint off those bricks! Add to that the two young, deer-​in-​headlights looking guys who were working and you have the whole picture. I could have forgiven ALL that if the food had been amazing… after all I love dives and kitsch!
Now, to my visit… when I walked in, there was one couple, one single guy, and myself. The couple had already ordered. The single guy and myself both wanted take-​out. No one was there… waited about 5 minutes before guy 1 came out of the kitchen. I asked about the aforementioned falafel… which, it turns out, «nobody made.» so I ordered a gyro salad and the other guy ordered a pizza to go. The guy in the kitchen hollered to the guy in the restaurant… so he went into the kitchen… we were all alone… waiting…and waiting. Finally, a pizza came out for the couple. Smelled amazing. And still we waited and waited. I couldnt help but wonder why, once the other guy’s pizza was in the oven, someone couldnt bring me out my salad… no cooking required, right? And still we waited. In the meantime, the couple finished their pizza and the phone rang continuously, and loudly, and no one answered… they were in the kitchen, remember? Finally they brought out the pizza and my salad. I figured it better be freakin’ amazing since it took 25 minutes to make.
Got back to my office and there was a thin layer of very pale iceberg lettuce (including the core) in a pool of water (I am glad they washed it, but invest in a salad spinner), some tasty gyro meat, a TON of onions, some pretty, red tomatoes, some tasteless, pre-​sliced black olives (no kalamata? No whole olives? Those pre-​sliced olives are horrible), and a really good tzadiki dressing. Also a tiny bit of tasteless feta and a couple of slices of green pepper. None of the cucumbers promised in the flyer. I will say They had really good, fresh pita bread. Everything was so dripping with water, that most of it went in the trash. The two guys looked panic-​stricken (the few times I saw them). At one point, guy 1 hollered to guy 2 (before deserting us for the kitchen)…“but there are three people out here!” really? Three people are too many to handle? I was the only cook for a blues bar that seated 70… and I managed to keep it together… with no one but ME to cook and deliver the food.
As I said, though, I will try it again… a lot of places are rough when they first open.
Rumor has it that this place is a hookah bar at night… maybe they should stick with that and just close for lunch!