08/19/09

Best food in Southbay

by foodjunkietoo

I have eaten at this restaurant many times and finally decided to do a review. We each started with a slightly spicy shrimp appetizer and then shared the best salad ever (the peach salad) The roasted chicken stuffed with feta was amazing and the fresh halibut was so tender and flavorful. We shared both dishes to try everything. I love dessert but the portions of the entrees were so big that I had to pass on it. The service was very good for the area. The waitress was very friendly, attentive, and knowledgable. Having worked in a restaurant before, it is not realistic or reasonable to expect the server to stand at my table for the entire dining experience.

I have always had good to great service depending on the server and I have always had great food.

• Pros: friendly staff, great food
• Cons: ??

08/02/09

NOT JUST BAD SERVICE, ITS HORRIBLE SERVICE

by TYLRMD

This was one of the worst dinning experiences i have ever had! And it was the third time it happened, so iI blame nobody but myself, since I came back twice after this originally happened. I'm writing this review only to help a few others save a night of frustration and starvation. Our dinner reservations for 8pm, so out of common decency we showed up a on time with our whole party in tow. And as we had experienced before, our 8pm reservation turned into an hour wait, while the host staff telling us every 15 minutes that our table was "almost ready [and] the people using our table [were] about to get up." This is what we became to believe as their common response from the host staff, as we heard this repeated to several other waiting couples and groups! Come to find out, they book there reservations one hour apart, and they clearly need to allow for more time between dinner reservations! I do not claim to be a 'reservations expert', but I believe you need to give customers an honest response to their seating time, since the food and drinks are not 'recession friendly priced' in Manhattan Beach! Needless to say, we ended up speaking with the owner, Petros, who 'offered' to expedite our food order to help "make the food get to our table a little quicker".....And good thing he did this - since it took 1hr. 15min. to get our food once it was ordered! And we never received one apology, nor an ounce of sympathetic acknowledgement during our 2+hour wait to eat. All in all, for spending over $450, as I mentioned before, this was an unbelievably HORRIBLE DINING EXPERIENCE, and no matter the location and attempt at ambience this restaurant offers, I would never subject anyone I know to this restaurant and horrible service, NOR will I ever spend another dollar at Petros.

• Pros: NOT ANYTHING POSITIVE - horrible dining experience!!!!!
• Cons: FROM START TO END - A frustrating & horrible experience!

07/19/09

Horrible Service, Mediocre & Overpriced

by TDay

2 friends and I tried Petros for dinner and had such a horrible time, I have boycotted the place. It was a crowded Saturday and we arrived for dinner. The three of us were squeezed into a tiny table for 2 and waited for our waiter. No dips or pita were placed on the table, as is customary at most Greek establishments, and when the waiter finally arrived he was rude and looked obviously annoyed when we asked questions about the food. We are all well schooled in Greek cuisine, but this place is a sort of American fusion and some of the recipes were not traditional Greek. The waiter was noticably scoffing and rolling his eyes but we decided to overlook it. We asked for pita and were brought a SINGLE pita cut into 4 pieces and charged exorbitantly for it. When our overpriced cocktails arrived we asked for some appetizers and again the waiter seemed angry we weren't ready for the main course. He then arrived again asking if we wanted more drinks, even though our glasses were full and he again stormed off because we declined. The atmosphere was so tense and unfriendly, that we finally asked for the check after the appetizers since we didn't see the point in paying such expensive prices to be abused by our waiter. For three cocktails, 2 appetizers and a pita we were charged nearly $100 and hadn't even gotten to the main course. The food was in small french-style portions (unheard of at Greek restaurants), the service was downright abusive and the price was definitely not worth the whole. If you want great, filling Greek food with a festive atmosphere that is usually the norm at most Greek restaurants, this is NOT the place. I would recommend Santorini in Pasadena or Great Greek in Sherman Oaks. Friends and I have had great food and a very festive time at both places.

• Pros: not much
• Cons: bad service, mediocre food