Olympic Flame

CLOSED! :(So sad this great little place is closed.

This little place is gold! I visit this quaint little restaurant at least once a week and am satisfied for days. Quality ingredients is key to this restaurant. The meat, vegetables and dressings are amazing. The owners are incredibly sweet and enjoy having their customers in their restaurant. Five stars for sure! Love, love, love this place. The salads are the BEST Greek Salads in town!

I have the best, freshest salads here for lunch. It’s a bit pricey for going here too often so I save it for when I really just need a nice salad. The pitas are the best too! The owners are super nice and get to know you personally. It’s a good place for a date.

A well run local restaurant is a little urban gym and this place, located in a well kept shopping center along a busy section of Thomas Road, is one of those places. Friends of mine from work were raving about it so the annual Friday eating out group decided to head over and give it the once over and experience one of the more ancient of culinary styles, Greek food.
The place is tucked into a shady corner of what I believe is called the 10 Palms shopping center and is small enough to have a communal feel to the place. The decore is nothing special, but clean and kept up and the food is fresh. I had a salad with dolmas (rice wrapped in grape leaves) along with the addition of some gyros meat. Two of my other fellow diners had the salad but with the chicken which looked wonderful, marinated and then cooked without being dried out, they said it was wonderful.
We also had an appetizer of some warm dolmas with pita bread (nothing special about the pita bread, might be nice to grill it a bit first to warm it up) and then some Greek fries, which came with a Bechamel sauce (white sauce) with some crumbled feta cheese. I’m not a huge fan of fries but the ones here were light and crispy (crinkle fries).
Overall, good solid food. I’ll have to come back and try the lamb dishes before I give higher than four stars but as I said, classic little neighborhood restaurant. The nice thing, you get good food and it won’t break the bank and leave your dining out budget depleted till your next paycheck so worth a try.

This is a good restaurant for the money. It’s usually pretty dead, and so your orders come out pretty quickly. We got the hummus, gyro pitas with fries and a small greek salad. The hummus was pretty good and I like the pita brea. The gyro was pretty big and was good. They have very good tsziki sauce, but the fries aren;t anything special. They kinda taste like they were frozen, but for the price, I think maybe $ 6 for the combo, you can’t beat it. Once, we tried to go here during the business hours at like 7pm one night and it was closed, whcih was weird. Other than that, it’s a good quick place for greek food!

I was sitting at work the other day and had this sudden craving for Greek food. I’d already used my lunch break to sit around NOT eating anything, so I told my stomach to shut up, ate a cracker, and did some Googling to find somewhere close to my office, and planned on going there the next day to satisfy said craving. I looked at their online menu a little bit before driving to their location, and thought I might get the Little Taste of Greece (I think that’s what it was called, anyway) and give some to a coworker, since it had moussaka, spanakopita, dolmas and a side Greek salad, which all sounded heavenly. I got to the restaurant and stood at the counter for about 5 minutes before anyone realized I was there, but finally the phone rang and someone came out front to get it and very nicely took my order. I was sad indeed to see that on their menu they had changed from moussaka to lamb for the LTG plate I’d planned on getting… this beezy does not eat lamb, ever, end of story. (Instant My Big Fat Greek Wedding scene pops into my head.) But, oh well, I was running short on time anyway so I just ordered a Greek salad and tzatziki. Cost less than I expected and it was ready quickly. Got back to my office and did not realize that the Greek salad was the size of a small house — only ate about half of it, but it was delicious. Their dressing is excellent. The tzatziki was also awesome, had lots of cucumber in it and fresh dill on top, and the pita… oh, don’t get me started on the pita. I probably ate half my body weight in pita that day. It was warm and soft and I could pretty much write a ballad about it. I’m hoping to go here one day when I have more time, maybe for dinner after work since it’s right around the corner, that way I can order something a little more substantial than the salad… and if their salad and tzatziki were that good, I have high hopes for everything else on the menu!

Newsflash! After 10 years of living in the East Central Phoenix area, I have FINALLY found my «go-​to» Greek place. It’s like comfort food, but it’s the entire restaurant.
My cousin and I stumbled into this place — the location is a bit difficult to find otherwise. We were waiting for our nail appointment at Andy’s salon a few doors down and decided to grab dinner since we had time to kill. Little did we know what happy customers we soon would be! An affordable, local, delicious Greek restaurant which quickly earned a #1 rating in my book! Can’t wait to go back and try more!
The woman who took our orders and cooked the food was just so wonderful! She recommended the Spicy Chicken pita to me, so I took her word (see my Humble Pie review, where I learned my lesson for not following restaurant recommendations!). It was a great choice! My cousin had the gyro pita, which was melt in your mouth delicious too. We also shared a spanekopita, which was just so fresh and well made. It was piping hot food, she cooked to order (hold the onions for me!), and the flavors were perfect.
The portions were great, the hummus was tasty, the pita so soft and perfectly grilled. The Olympic Flame has even mastered the use of garlic, which many restaurants seem not to be able to manage. The only downside to this place is that I guess I won’t scare vampires off at night after eating here (see my previous review of Eden’s Garlic Grill if you are looking to keep the vampires away), but I will sleep well with a fully belly and leftovers in the fridge for tomorrow!

After reading high reviews about this place we came down. The place is nice inside. The owner is asian, nice guy as well but can he master greek food? I asked what they are known for which was the lamb dish so i wanted to try it but they didnt have it available. And the asian guy is the only one here cooking and taking orders. The cheese dish was brought out in flame (looked cool) but when we ate it you can taste the alcohol he used to make the flame, it was gross. The place was dead and quiet so we can hear the guy microwaving the food in the back kitchen. I’ve tried much better greek food but i give the asian guy 2stars for being the only one there trying really hard.

Visiting Phoenix for a few days and found this place. Placed a to-​go phone order and the person who took my order (one of the owners – looks like a husband and wife team) was very friendly and helpful. She said the food would be ready in 15 minutes and, sure enough, the food was waiting for me when I got there.
I got the Mediterranean Salad with gyro meat (also comes with dolmades) and my wife got a grilled veggie pita sandwich along with a side of pitas and tzatziki. Everything was excellent. The prices were very reasonable for what we got, especially considering they threw in some extra pita bread.
Had a quick chat with the owner when I picked up my order and she was as friendly as could be – I felt like family by the time I left the place in about 2 minutes. If I lived here, the Olympic Flame would be a regular dining spot for my family and I. Loved it on every level. I rarely post reviews, but think a place like this deserves some props.

Everything about this place was great! The food (it just kept coming!), the service (we were completely spoiled), the quaint ambiance, and the genuine interest shown by the Owner in our dining experience. My experience was just as the other reviewers have stated — down to the personal attention showered on my child — suffice it to say, we felt at home.
I must now admit my shame… shame that I have lived here since 2001 and am just now patroning this establishment. Please don’t make the same mistake I did — you know you have driven by and glanced at their sign, maybe from the inside lane on Thomas and figured it was too much trouble to turn around — believe me, it is worth fighting the cross traffic — go and visit them folks, I promise it is worth the stress of shooting the Uey.

Tried this place the other day and the food here is very delicious. It’s around the corner from my house. Another mom and pop business that we should be supporting. Service was superb and the food is great !

I wish I could remember who it was that told me about Olympic Flame… I seem to recall that some out of town friends stopped by for dinner on their way to the airport and said that it was empty but great. 33 years old and losing it already!
Well, I’m glad I remembered that they said it was really good. Growing up in Detroit, we had awesome Greek food all of the time. It’s hard to find it here in the Valley, but Olympic Flame’s got it! At least they have really delicious Greek salads (that’s all I’ve had so far).
Frank, the owner, has been there both times I’ve stopped by. He must get bored as it seems business is slow, but they’ve been there for years so I guess their catering business does really well — either that or they’re making money elsewhere. Hmmm…
Anyways, back to the salad — crispy, crunchy lettuce, cucumber, tomato, peppers, onions (which I normally don’t eat but i did with this salad), feta, olives, and grilled chicken. I am very picky about chicken for some reason but this was thick, juicy, tender chicken and it came with a huge portion sliced on top. The dressing was the perfect balance of oil, vinegar, and whatever other secret spices they use, but it was delicious!
I’m kind of bummed that I waited so long to try this little gem… but then again, it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon. I’ll be back — maybe even to try their catering services.

I’ve passed by this place, ignoring it on several occasions. It’s awfully hard to see scrunched into the corner of the strip mall and it doesn’t draw you in with it’s signage. I’ve seen it’s poorly designed website and it’s lack of reviews by people. Most of the time when I’ve glanced over I haven’t seen anyone eating there either, so I shrugged it off. What a loss to me!
It was a Friday night and I was craving lamb so I cajoled my partner to at least go look at the prices posted on the door. Walking over to it I was drawn to the outside babbling fountain and greenery, simple, calming. They nodded form the door that the prices were within tolerance and we could head in. The seating area was light and elegant, folded napkins, music playing soft ballads. The mirrored area seemed to make such a tiny place truly expand, but we were comfortable not squeezed in. The proprietor, Frank was smiling and came over immediately. A lovely welcome, a drop of menus, a discussion of drinks. He showed my daughter how to make a folding napkin shape and asked some personal questions, but he spoke to us individually, including my child. He took stock of us and volunteered his insight outloud, that we seemed to be happy, good people. While it would have seemed strange and disconcerting in many venues for some reason it didn’t feel intrusive here. It was … pleasant.
We chose hot teas and enjoyed having a broader selection than in most places and he left the whole box right at the table in case we wanted others. We selected the Greek Combo appetizer with spanikopita, dolmodes and pita with tzaziki. It was simple fare, but a good indicator of the pita quality we would see later ~ fresh, not greasy. The dolmades were wrapped tight and flavorful. The grape leaves were properly seasoned so they just melted in your mouth. They were the best dolmades I have ever had. It did what an appetizer should do though and we got excited for the next foods to come.
I knew immediately that I was going to order lamb, but I wasn’t sure which way. I ended up selecting the shank because the restaurant said it was their specialty, my child ordered the Keftedes appetizer as her main meal, and my partner the gyro platter. When the meals came everything was plated nicely. The keftedes were resting beneath a beautiful bechamel sauce that wasn’t skimped on at all surrounded by more pita triangles. I had to steal one of her greek meatballs to cut in half and share with my partner. These were juicy and perfectly browned, no grease, no burned edges, no dryness. The texture was smooth and we were very impressed. But would the meatball connoisseur be happy? My talkative daughter didn’t interrupt us so much as she was busy saying mmmm and yum and mmmm again. Smiling. Spooning some of the sauce onto the pitas when my daughter got full, was an added treat for the grown-​ups.
My lamb shank was perfection, in seasoning, in cooking, even the bone marrow required sucking out. While the rice was nice and the kernals moist and fluffed, I didn’t find any seasoning to it really. I’m not sure if that’s traditional, but I liked it for it’s simplicity against the lambs more savory parts.
My partners Gyro platter, was as standard as could be, but the serving was large, the rice was the same as mine. For them the real standout was the Pita itself which was fresh, warmed and easily folded into a it’s implied role. We’d been to so many places where the pita’s were terrible that I think we were extra happy about this. Although I think they were wistfully wishing for keftedes of their own.
Dessert was definately an option when I saw the chocolate mousse cake. I’ve been hunting for a mousse cake done right for awhile now. So many times these mousses disappoint me. This one came chilled and smooth drizzled with chocolate sauce, but not buried in it. It had a fine layer of mocha, which normally my daughter would balk at, but she couldn’t get enough. I would be happy coming here for some coffee and mousse cake alone! I think I found a new source of joy.
Fortunately other patrons came in and we got to see presentations of the the saganaki appetizer, baked kasseri cheese flamed with brandy and the seafood entrée’s which I must return to try. I noticed that Frank was equally personable with them and when he left the room the lady gushed over their food and whispered across to me, «Why is this place so empty, it’s fabulous!» Why indeed? Give this place a shot if you’re nearby.