Vios Café

An excellent dinner is to be had at Vios.
We came here this past Friday evening before 6:00pm and while Vios was lively, plenty of seating was still available. Service was friendly, efficient and responsive. Our server was extremely knowledgeable about the menu, including pronunciation of each dish’s name. Perhaps he was one of the owners?
We started out with a cup of the traditional Avgolemono soup. As the name suggests, yes, this soup had a lemon flavor. This tart and creamy soup had carrots, celery and, I believe, chicken. Very good.
Being the lamb lovers that we are, JP and I ordered the Pastitsio casserole. The Pastitsio is topped with white cheese, then layered with ground lamb and bucatini pasta, all brought together with a delicious (exotically-​seasoned) sauce. What I found especially cool was the side-​view appearance of the bucatini pasta in slices of the Pastitsio.
For dessert, we went with the Portokalopita cake. The Portokalopita is a moist dense cake with a light orange flavor. Accompanying the cake is a scoop of an excellent vanilla gelato.
In addition to the restaurant, Vios sells several food items at the counter by the front door.
I recommend Vios.

pretty tasty food but definitely too expensive for what u get. Dinner portions are small and are offered no sides are included, bummer

First I have to say I am shocked that the reviews are so generally good on this place, I know this is a pretty well to do area but people must just love getting hosed. Went in for lunch, Ordered a «Sampler Platter», now to me the terms sampler would imply various items, little taste of each, great for sharing etc and platter would imply a reasonable portion of food, perfect. Pay the $ 18 for it and took it to go, opened it upon arriving at our destination and found 1 pita bread cut into quarters, 2 small dips, a few slivers of diced lettuce with one laughably small souvlaki stick on it. We assumed that we must of not gotten all of the packages of that there must of been a mixup with it. So we ate what we could (yes one pita bread doesnt go far with dip) and sure it was ok, and then headed back to vios to pickup what we assumed was the rest of our food. Upon going back in, the server (who was really pleasant) greeted us again and I explained that we must not of gotten the right stuff when we took our order. She explained that no, vios (which im guessing means rip you off to the max in greek) considered 1 souvlaki stick one bread and 2 dips to be a sampler platter and indeed worth the 18 bucks.
You could from the servers face that I was certainly not the first one to bring this up.
It sucks I live in the area and loooove greek food, but this is just so crazy that I cant possibly go back. Unless you just hit the powerball I wouldnt bother/

yum, we have been here several times and the food is always fantastic. I highly recomend this place.

What a wonderful place. Great food and great staff. My husband and I had a variety of dishes and they were all wonderful. We both had hummus, the best in town, and lamb skewer. The lamb skewer was outstanding, the best we had ever tasted. My husband had their soup, which he said was great. I had the spanakopita and it was great. I also had baklava for dessert, to me it tasted salty, I am not used to salt. The taste grew on me and soon I enjoyed the great taste of this treat.
Overall a wonderful visit. Because we bought so many dishes, our meal got pretty expensive, but we thought it was worth it since we got some many great things.

The food was delicious. We started with the Trio Sampler of Dips, and then got a calamari special and the Lamb Souvlaki. There was a bit less lamb than expected, but what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. I’d go back to treat myself again.

Sooo delicious! I had the Mediterranean breakfast and my husband had the lamb souvlaki platter. They were both amazing. Warm pita, crisp falafel, delicious yogurt sauce and hummus. We sat outside and it was so peaceful. Our server was very friendly. She recommended the Galaktoboureka for dessert, which was one of the most amazing things I’ve tasted (custard, phyllo, apricots and honey yogurt). We’ll be back!

From the food to the service it was such a great time. I didn’t care for the look of the place, very generic, but the staff and food make up for it. The food is fresh, many things made daily in-​house. The waitress we had was an older, very sweet woman who was bubbly and made us laugh. Very warm lady.
Will be going back again and again

So the food at this place is actually really really good. But it’s also really really expensive. Sadly no 5 stars for that as I do think it’s a bit overpriced. I had the Mediterranean breakfast plate which comes with pita (amazing and fluffy), falafel and hummus (also amazing I even bought the hummus to take home), a boiled egg (which I got poached– highly recommend doing this), and a «salad» aka an embarrassing plate of lettuce. My boyfriend and I split the small Greek salad which had good flavors but probably the smallest $ 6 salad I have ever seen. So if you’re going to get the salad opt for the large. Overall I liked the food so I’ll be back, but this won’t be a regular place for me because of the price.

Sit at the counter and watch the chefs work their magic.
Delicious vegetable hash! Large portions. Friendly service.

The food is really good. But it’s really over priced for what you get. I ordered a lamb souvlaki plate was told it was like the sandwich but with more food. What I received was lamb, pita and lettuce? But for $ 18.00, with no other sides? Seems excessive. It was tasty, but not for $ 18.00.

Best food, kids friendly environment. I took my kids here for breakfast, they already want to come back every weekend from now. If you have little ones and want to sit in the play area, make sure to call for a reservation.

How awesome is this place! Kids were super happy, food was amazing and we had a great time

Loved this place. Amazing atmosphere and great yummy food! My kids were able to play which is a massive reason why I gave the place 5 stars but the food was honestly very well prepared and delivered quickly. The place was also very cute and well lit. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone from singles to married with children to grandparents. It is really a wonderful lunch spot.

Great food, nice staff.
We’ve been here many times and like both, the veggie options and meat.
Special feature: play area for kids!

I have sampled a good amount of greek food, and Vios is the real deal. Some unusual items on the menu that are wonderful. Have been a few times now and they are really showing consistency, the real mark of quality. Best Greek Food in Capitol Hill, no question.

We came here for dinner with reservations for a party of 6. They gave us a great table — nice open floor plan that is not too noisy or crowded and gives it a family vibe as though all diners are sharing a meal. I loved our service — was attended to by multiple people who I think were the owners? They were so genuinely glad we were there and eager to see we had what we needed be it drinks, more water, or extra pita.
We ordered off of the daily dinner menu and most everyone took advantage of Vios Mezze Plate option which allows you to pick your meat and two sides from a large list of dips, salads, or small plates. I had such a hard time picking and ended up strategizing with others at my table so we could all nibble on many things. It was all delicious and very reasonably priced for the ingredients and portions. We loved the roasted beet salad, greek salad (yum), kalamata tapenade (yum), and babaganoush. Also enjoyed some olives with a shot of ouzo, which I recommend as a great start to your meal. One person ordered the seared cod sandwich and enjoyed it.
I will definitely come back — keep up the good work.

I won’t give them any star if I could. We were at the door waiting to be seated for over 10mins, and the host just busying getting people’s check without even greeting us.
What a service! I can’t imaging what would happen if really eat there.

Excellent food, service, kid friendly bathrooms (changing tables and step
Stools!!). We called ahead for an early (530) dinner with my toddler and they gave us a table «with a view» — right on the play area! She played 2 feet from me while I ate appetizers with my companions. I couldn’t ask for more. I live in San Francisco and desperately wish there was a place this kid-​accepting/​welcoming with the level of service, value, and delicious food there. This place is a home run that I can stop telling my friends about.

Updating to include dinner from last week. Amazing mezza plates. My wife and I ordered two so we were able to sample six total dishes. Highly recommend the gigantes (beans) and spanikopita. Served with lots of warm pita. Definitely a fun place to do family-​style dining.
The ouzo on ice was good as well if you are like me and enjoy anisette.

Kid friendly with a play area, but had a broken highchair and it’s a good thing I brought a sippy cup because two year olds don’t drink from regular adult sized plastic tumblers with no lid. The food was average. Good pita but mediocre hummus. The souvlaki sandwich had four or five small pieces of chicken, it was mostly bread. Fries were limpid and lukewarm. My sister’s sausage sandwich was also light on the meat, heavy on bread.
Service was frazzled. My kid was starving so I asked for a piece of pita now to tide her over til food came. «I can’t just give you pita, it’s a dollar.» We ordered a mezza plate for the table, she could have given us ONE PIECE from that setup, but whatever, fine, I’ll pay a dollar. When we asked for the extra pita order after awhile she said, «your mezza plate is ready, there’s pita on that.» Defeated the whole purpose of ordering it earlier, as I had to feed the kid snacks from my bag until the mezza platter came. She brought the pita order out with our meals. Thanks for nothing.
Another kid had a fruit and chicken plate which was «not good», with mushy fruit and cold chicken.
The whole experience wasn’t great. It’s not terrible, it’s completely average food and service.
It’s touted as «kid friendly» but I didn’t find it to be so, in the environment or service.

Delicious! This is a great neighborhood café. I had been meaning to try this place out for the longest time so I’m glad I finally got in here. They have a pretty extensive menu with a lot of good options. The falafel sandwich is great and comes with a choice of a side of soup, salad, or fries. I found that best way to try out a lot of their various offerings was to get the «Vegetarian Mezze.» You could then pick any three of the choices from the Salads/​Small Plates or spreads. Their Greek Salad was delicious and the stuffed eggplant was super tasty. The different olive tapenades are good too. I preferred the Green over the kalamata. And they will refill your pita bread as needed. They also have great selection of beers from Greece which were actually really really good!

I LOVE eggs benedict. Vios makes them Damn good. I recommend getting the ham and sauteed greens on the dish… I believe they are both optional. Service is great. Guy that seated us was really cute. I didn’t like the coffee very much (but I admit to being a bit of a coffee snob so it’s hard to please me). I had lunch here once. I had a sandwich and I remember it was WAY too much bread. Breakfast is where it’s at.

There is goodness in Seattle!
After living here for a year (prior to California), I think that most of the restaurants here are lacking in flavor, quality ingredients and simply good intentions. Also the price you pay for much worse food is anywhere from 10−30% more.
However, I was nicely surprised and finally left content after checking out this place. I came here twice, solo and at a busy times and friendly staff that works there didn’t make my party of one feel unwelcome or awkward. They didn’t stick me in the middle of the dining room, facing a wall and locked down, but twice I sat at their nice window table. It’s really nice to look out on sidewalk on 19^th ave while waiting for food.
First time I came here I had the chicken shawarma sandwich and it was OK (the chicken needed just a little more time on the grill), but the beef shawarma with lemon chicken soup on my second visit blew me away. I could really taste the charred flavor of beef and the soup tasted wholesome and home made. High five! Thank you! It’s that simple!
Yes, you will pay a little more for that, but I am ok with that (since I am not in San Diego anymore) and it’s worth it.
Another bonus: they have the cutest, most attentive and gracious servers working there. It’s also nice that they are multiple employees and there is always someone who will acknowledge you.
I look forward to many more lazy weekend lunches at that spot.