The Great Greek

I’m not really a fan of their live music, but the food is awesome!!! You must try it!!!

I’ve been coming to the great greek since I was a kid, so that tells you to the testament of how popular and favored this restaraunt is to the community.
I always enjoy coming here at night, and advise you venture at that time as well. They start playing music around that time, and accompany it with dancing as well, so you get a taste of the greek culture! Not only from the food.
This is a great date spot! For those looking for a warm, glowing, and pleasant atmosphere :) plus the music definitely amps up the fun.
The food is wonderful, a bit on the pricy end but it was worth it. I enjoyed a delicious egg plant dish with rice and veggies, also with tatziki.
The services is excellent as well, checking on you in a timely manner, and not when you’re stuffing your face! ! :) also, a full bar is there, if you are looking for a nice drink.
If you enjoy greek culture, not only from the food but the music and interacting with the people: then this is your place!

A seemingly popular Greek spot in the area! we were the first to dine in at dinner at 5 pm on a Sunnday but many parties started filing in after us!
very easy to order vegetarian here and that’s just what we did after our hike in Malibu
—complimentary bread: very crusty/​flaky warm white bread, yum! great dipped in the olive oil
—pita bread: very soft and pillowy, we ordered this to dip into the vegetarian platter
—combination vegetarian platter: of all the things on this plate i liked the veggies of the day and the babaganoush (you could definitely share this with 3 people at least, the 2 of us could not finish)
—greek village salad: a refreshing crisp salad!
i wonder what their meat dishes are like
NOTE: they offer valet parking but if you’re lucky you can find a street spot

The scene: Saturday night, rainy, cold, 6:30 p.m. The restaurant is half-​full and fairly quiet.
Turn to 7:00 p.m. BAM! Every table is filled, there’s live music, the waiters are dancing (some together, some solo), and the place is loud with the sound of people talking, eating, celebrating occasions, and generally having a great time. This is a true party scene and there are smiles all around. And yes, the sound level is very loud, but in a good way.
Oh, they serve food, too. Unfortunately, my photos of the food were not well lit so I’m not posting them.
The hummus appetizer is huge and could satisfy 3 or 4 people. It was very fresh and delicious. You get free loaf of fresh bread, too, and it’s good, but I highly recommend paying a couple bucks more for the basket of fresh pita to dip into the hummus and to accompany the other foods which will be arriving to your table.
The saganaki (you know, the cheese they light on fire) is a must. It’s rich and decadent and honestly, I personally cannot visit any Greek restaurant without ordering it. Plus, I just love hearing the waiter and other customers shout, «OPA!» As an aside, I’m shocked the nanny state (both L.A. and California) hasn’t totally banned this display of culinary pyrotechnics but I’ll enjoy it while I can.
The Chicken Athenian brings you two enormous pieces of chicken stuffed with cheese and spinach, sort of like a Chicken Cordon Bleu without the meat. It comes with a ton of carrots on the side and some very good rice and I dare you, or you and a friend, to finish this plate in one setting. It’s very rich but delicious and extremely satisfying.
We also tried the combo platter which brings you a mountain of food and a sampling of a variety of traditional Greek dishes, including spanakopita, moussaka, pastitsio, a stuffed grape leaves, more rice, veggies, a potato, and possibly some other things. It’s a great dish to share and to try a little bit of everything. We licked our plate clean.
Valet parking in front of the restaurant is freeeeeee so use it and spread some love to the guy who parks your car.
There is also a kid’s menu and lots of families with children here. They serve booze, and the drinks were flowing, but it’s very much a family friendly place. In fact, the waiters actively encourage diners, including children, to get up and dance with them to the music.
Also, cheers to the maitre’ d’ who endlessly patrolled the restaurant and who must have walked 6 miles in total steps while I was there, all to make sure everyone was doing well and the ship was steering in a straight direction. That is outstanding management.
If you’re looking for a quiet night out, you came to the wrong place. If you want high energy, great food, and a real party, this is it.

One word: AMAZING. From start to finish. Bread & Olive oil Greek Salad Beef Souvlaki with rice, carrots & POTATO Top it off with live music, great service, & dancing servers, as well as delicious bar drinks, and you have yourself a 5restaurant! (Oh and it’s also VERY kid friendly!) Not my first time, but it suddenly occurred to me that I never sufficiently raved about this place. Thank you Great Greek for being one of the few restaurants I can ALWAYS count on!

Every time we visit family nearby, we get takeout at least once from here. It’s SO GOOD! I lived in Greece for a summer, and their tzatziki is the best I’ve had in the US. Everything is so fresh — one of these days we’ll actually eat in the restaurant!

An LA institution. I’ve been coming to The Great Greek since I was a kid (for over 30 years now), and they continue to be one of the absolute best restaurants in LA, if not THE best. The food is always consistent, tasty and plentiful, the atmosphere is always awesome and fun, and the service is always top notch. I’ve been here for simple lunches, family dinners, business dinners, birthday parties I’ve thrown 20 – 30 people, etc., and I’ve never been disappointed. There’s a reason they’ve been so successful for so long. But you come back because the food is amazing — from the Greek salad to the saganaki (flaming cognac cheese) to the calamari to the entrees to the desserts. It’s all fantastic.

If you want to try some Greek food, this is the place to go. I come here often for dinner. I love all of their lamb dishes, and my favorite appetizer is the cheese they light up of fire.
The place is always busy, so definitely make a reservation. The atmosphere is always nice, they have life music and servers that dance.
My server was Aleksandar, he was great with recommendations for food and wine, and made sure to come back and ask how we liked our food a few times.

This place is so much fun on a Saturday night. There is live music, large families and a lively energy. The pita bread is super yummy and the eggplant appetizer is amazing! Our waiter was really nice but the only awkward part was when we walked in everyone was too busy to address us and ask if we would like a table. Great food overall I would go back.

The food is wonderful, the stuff is friendly and prompt, the atmosphere is worm. Good place for kids, friends, and everything else.

Boy, do I wish this place was on the westside. Literally, the best Greek food place I have ever been to. My family, who took me here, have been to Greece a lot and said this was their fave place in all of LA.
I had the veggie plate, the meaty eggplant thing (name?) and a chicken-​lemony soup. I also shared my husband’s salad and my mother-in-law’s lamp kabob. Every was… SPECTACULAR!

I was pleasantly surprised by this restaurant! The food was fantastic and the live music and dancing was so much fun. The only reason I’m not giving 5 stars is because of our waiter. Maybe he was having a bad day but he was a little rude and totally MIA.
The family feast is delicious!

Not my favorite. The food here is so rich compared to every other Greek restaurant I’ve tried. Today I got a greek salad and it was very lackluster. Last time I tried the gyro wrap and the gyro was fine but the sandwich was huge with a dense pita… I wish they’d off a gyro plate instead. Their veggie platter is HUGE too and like way too overwhelming for one person so I’d suggest splitting it. Also — not crazy about their hummus. I don’t know it’s sad to say but I’m just not a fan. Plus prices are $$$

It pays to check Unilocal… I didn’t, so I ordered the gyro, and rather than the spit-​roasted hand-​carved strips of succulent ground lamb and beef that I expected, I got uniformly sized rectangular strips of what I knew (and confirmed) to be prefab frozen meat. It tasted good, but I felt a little let-​down. I want to go back to do the appetizer sampler and try more of their homemade foods in general. I loved the atmosphere and service.

I will start by saying if I could give 10 stars, I would! It was perfection in every respect. The grape leaves and grilled octopus appetizers were the best I’ve ever tasted! WoW! My Greek friend and I also had the Great Greek Village salad and Combination Platter. Every bite was delicious! The lamb, and all the items on the platter were fabulous. (Sorry no photos of that, was eager to eat it – next time!) Their Greek cocktails and martinis –I had the ones with Greek brandy and mint – were breathtakingly tasty. The service was impeccable and swift, and on top of all of this, we were treated to live authentic Greek music and dancing –by the waiters! One waiter even did a solo with a full shot glass on his forehead! I haven’t had so much fun at a restaurant in a long time. GREAT GREEK AMBIANCE. It felt like a private Greek party! No wonder every table was full! I would love to come back here every week! This is an experience you do not want to miss! Save the airfare to Greece, come experience authentic Greek cuisine, and entertainment here. Actually, it inspires me to want to go to Greece for a nice long vacation!

I love Mediterranean food and Greek cuisine falls into that category!
We came here for a birthday celebration for one of my friends. It’s a cozy little place serving some really good dishes.
The four of us started out with some appetizers of hummus, Melitzanosalata or Grilled Eggplant, Dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) and Cognac-​Flamed Cheese «Saganaki» which is lit on fire and a real crowd pleaser as you see the spectacular flames upon being lit. We ate this with a basket of pita bread and a bread loaf. Everything was very tasty. I especially enjoyed the grilled eggplant (⁵⁄₅) and the Saganaki (⁵⁄₅) both of which I would definitely recommend be ordered! The Dolmathes was very scrumptious too (⁵⁄₅) with the mixture of rice and minced meat and some kind of hollandaise sauce on top.
All this was somewhat filling but we decided to share a Peasant Chopped Salad (⁴⁄₅), Seabass dinner plate (⁵⁄₅) and the Greek Meat Balls and Linguini Pasta (⁴⁄₅). Again, all the dishes were delicious. I wish they were a little more generous with the pasta noodles and I thought the spaghetti sauce was a tad runny but other than that, it was good. The sea bass was nice and flaky which I enjoyed. A little on the pricey side being $ 26 though. The chopped salad was just average, however.
The atmosphere was very lively as they had a live band playing Greek music and some of the waiters would start doing a Greek dance in the aisles. At one point they had a few of the patrons up and dancing around with them!
Although a little pricey, it’s an awesome place to go if you are celebrating something and even if you aren’t. They have a full bar serving liquor, wine and beer and the wait staff were all very friendly, attentive and accommodating. The music can tend to be quite loud so this isn’t your quiet romantic spot for a meal.
They have valet parking and street parking if you’re patient to find one.
I look forward to returning again sometime because I really want to try some of the lamb dishes. Overall, it was just a really magnificent experience! Opa!

Well, why three stars: Was here on Tuesday eve and was very excited to have some fun with the music they play, but unfortunately, on Mon-​Tues there is no music :(
But this is not the reason they get three stars! My ORDER was the reason! The quality of lamb I ordered was soo bad that I could not even eat half of it!!! I WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE FOOD at all this time!
I mean, I have been here before 2 times and liked it but based on today’s visit, I want to give them three stars!
Im gonna come back here I know, wanna give them another chance :) and next time try their Athenian Chicken & Salmon that were very tasty per my friend and mom.

Came to LA to visit and was seriously craving for Greek food. Heard about this place for a long time and decided to try it. I was so happy when my food arrived. For appetizer, I ordered taramasalata and pita bread. I was VERY impressed. The portions were huge and the pita bread was so warm, fluffy and soft. The taramasalata was so creamy and to die for! Not too salty which is so important to me! I was in HEAVEN for sure. For entrée, I ordered a vegetarian plate. It came with a choice of soup or salad. Again, the portion was very generous for $ 13.95. I was so full that I could barely finish the DELICIOUS food!
It’s a small place but very welcoming. I can tell the food is authentic cause I eat a lot of Greek food when I’m at home in Texas. I definitely will be back when I visit again =)

A cool authentic greek restaurant in the valley. I was here for a birthday lunch and the restaurant easily accommodated our group of 22. The restaurant is filled with really kind/​knowledgeable staff and (BONUS) they speak Greek! It was so fun for my Greek in-​laws to be able to speak Greek with the staff!
The food is pretty good and the pita bread is on point. It’s a bummer that it costs extra, but really you need to order it or else you will be missing out. Here’s a rundown of what I got to try:
–Pita (Hot and wonderful)
–Hummus (Good flavor and excellent with Pita obvi)
–Lemon Soup (OMG… ON POINT… Try the soup or you will be missing out)
–Combo Platter (I wasn’t super impressed here, my favorite on the plate was moussaka/​spanokopita)
–Lamb Kabob Souvlaki (Lamb was juicy but a little bit fatty)
The staff was excellent and friendly. Even though I wasn’t super impressed by the main dishes, I love the apps and staff so much that I would definitely come back to try something different.
Pros:
–Yummy appetizers
–EXCELLENT staff
Cons:
–Main dishes are ok
Tips:
–Parking is available via meter on the main street
–You can also try parking in the residential, but make sure you don’t park for more than 2 hours

My little 2 day trip to the valley did not disappoint on the foodie front!
So snowman wanted Mediterranean food again and I said aight. I really wanted Asian food but he wasn’t havin that! I was looking at some of their food porn on IG and I was convinced to come here. This place is definitely LOUD AS FUCK! So this isn’t choice for a romantic quiet date! But that’s ok I didn’t really need to speak that much to him anyway LOL. So we walk in and I’m like where is the proper hostess desk. Just standing there for a few minutes feelin awkward. It looks like the manager will be our greeter, seater, runner and waiter. I guess most of the waiters were on break all at the same time, because they were on the floor during the second half of our meal lol. So we start with some cocktails. They have a small drink menu and they have a full bar. We had plenty of time to overlook the menu. While we look we get some bread but I don’t think it came with oil or something to spread it with, I’m not sure haha. Anywho the break down of my meal:
Caviar (Tarama)spread: UM this is CRAAAAAAAACK !!! Make sure you order pita bread to spread it on. Speaking of, I think its bullshit they charge for pita bread. Just get rid of that crusty ass French spread and just give people a basket of that buttery crack pita bread! I don’t know how this is made but I was addicted! I took that shit back home with me and ate it for daaaaaaays LOL. I can’t describe the taste but its soooooo good!
Baked feta cheese: Another crack starter. Came topped with greek «salsa.» Another awesome thing to spread on those buttery triangles of pita! This was melt in your mouth smooth and creamy feta. Not your typical crumble type. The greek «salsa,» had a nice tang to it. I even added this to my main dish! I could easily order this again!
Char-​Broiled Fresh Octopus: Great flavors and seasonings BUT the octopus was really overcooked :(Not to charred, just tough and rubbery. Plus the presentation wasn’t that appetizing. Looked like I was eating intestines :(I was sad, because the flavors were there!
Macedonian Shrimp Pasta: I was soooooo torn between this dish and the rack of lamb. Thank god I ordered this instead. Servings are HUGE here but the quality in my dish was good. Just a nice big ass plate of linguini noodles, olive oil, light red sauce! A nice amount of shrimps and BIG one’s at that! Not overcooked at all. A nice dollop of feta cheese, but it wasn’t enough for me lol I added the rest of that crack baked feta cheese to it at home and it reheated so much better! It will be hard to order something else as my main entrée next time.
Rack of lamb: This was my friends dish. I didn’t like the presentation of his dish and I feel like they could have done better than some veggies as his side. The lamb was cooked the way I enjoy temperature wise but the flavors actually lacked in this dish. Everything was seasoned so well throughout the whole meal so I was kind of shocked that this was bland. Oh well, it wasn’t my dish and he still merked it LOL and that’s all that matters.
Rice pudding: I was pretty full until I saw RICE PUDDING on the menu!!! I never see that and I haven’t had true rice pudding in years! This rice pudding was almost like my grandmothers. They use golden raisins compared to my grams using regular ones. The flavors were a little faint but still satisfied my instant craving for rice pudding!!! I just had to take advantage, you just don’t see rice puddings on menus!
Overall great meal and fun entertaining environment for ALL AGES!!!