Critic's Review
Thasos is back, with largely the same menu. $7 Tzatziki and $22 Souvlaki. So they're tripling down on the overpriced Greek food idea.
I suspect that Thasos wasn't actually sold, but it was leased out the some dudes from Miami. Maybe it was a 1 year experiment? But no change of ownership has been filed, so legally Nisi is still the owners. Gus Leontarakis has started a couple of companies since Thasos, including the Thasos management Company.
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Thasos has been sold.
The lesson here is if you're going to build a restaurant to spite the guy across the street, make it a better restaurant at the SAME price point; not 40% more expensive.
Review 2/25/13
They've recently started to serve lunch; they still don't have a website; and there are still no menus posted on their facebook page. But I figured with Greek Taverna packing them in for lunch across the street; maybe they had some good lunch specials. Boy was I wrong.
I got there about 2:45; they serve lunch until 4pm, and there was 1 other table in the restaurant. The good news is that there's no valet at lunch time. I got a booth this time; the booths are pretty squishy, but generally comfortable. The dining room is better than sitting at the bar here.
They have the obligatory open kitchen, because all new restaurants must have an open kitchen.
While I looked at the menu, I couldn't help but be surprised. It's extremely weak; flatbreads, a $14 burger; $35 lamb chops. It's ridiculous really. $12 for a lunch peasant salad. They dropped off some bread with some sort of olive tapenade. They tout their "Thasos Olive Oil" on their high priced menu items, but none for the bread. They also don't have splenda for the Iced Tea. Fantastic.
I decided on the "Bell and Evans Chicken", which is purported to come with a "lemon thyme jus". I finished the bread and waited; it took about 20 minutes to come out.
Ok, so this is $20. Are "rosemary french fries" a greek dish? No Vegetables. Why am I paying $20 for $3 worth of chicken with fries? As you can see, they're just plain fries. No olive oil and rosemary. You get better fries at smashburger..
The chicken was nice and tender, but it didn't have any seasoning baked in; I had to ask for salt. I expected the skin to be lemony but it was just regular chicken skin. And I guess they ran out of thyme because that green stuff wasn't thyme; the jus wasn't particularly special in any way. This was a $12 chicken lunch priced at $20. I did like the mini Heinz ketchup.
So my impression of this restaurant is exactly the same as it was the first week they opened; another rich guy opens a restaurant who has no understanding of why people go to restaurants and what they expect. Supposedly the owner has some feud with the owner of Greek Islands Taverna and he was going to build a big restaurant across the street and put him out of business. If you want to put someone out of business, you open a better restaurant at the same price point; not a marginally better restaurant with 45% higher prices. I can get a half chicken with better potatoes, green beans, bread and good hummus there for $14. So why the hell would I come here? For the superior ambiance? For $1 more I'll go for the ambiance. For $6 more with less food; only frivolous rich people will be dining at Thasos.
Review 8/25/12
Thasos Taverna opened on August 8th, a few weeks later than expected. The story behind his place is that the owner has some beef with the owner of Greek Islands Taverna, so he built a big restaurant across the street to try to put him out of business.
They have a medium sized lot, but there is no self parking. There's metered parking across the street, but Martorano's is also across the street; if you get there before 7pm you might be able to get free parking there. Parking is free after 6pm.
The decor of the place is in a word; white. White tables, white chairs, a white bar with white stuff hanging from the ceiling. Servers in all white. There are no TVs; just 2 projectors showing images of Greece on brick walls. The bar has aluminum stools.
They don't have any low end beers, so I ordered up a Mythos greek beer, served up in an 11.5 oz bottle for $5.
I planned on getting a couple of appetizers, but when I saw the prices I decided to just get one. I wanted to get something that I was familiar with, so I ordered up the Shrimp Saganaki for $17. I was going to make a joke and ask if they only gave 2 shrimp, but I decided against it.
They put a grilled pita and some olives in front of me; no hummus or anything to spread on the pita. Greek Olives aren't my thing.
They call the Saganaki a shared plate, but when it was put in front of me it was clear that this was an appetizer for one.
I'm not sure how you're supposed to share 3 shrimp. And they weren't huge shrimp either. Frankly I don't think that it was cooked enough; typically this comes out with the cheese bubbling. The cheese was only partially melted. They stuck the heads back on the peeled shrimp for presentation; it also made the shrimp look larger than they were.
$27 for 3 shrimp and a beer. Fairly priced? You make the call.
So now I'll tell you why this place isn't going to put Greek Islands out of business. As rough as the service can be there, they don't treat you like an imbecile; like you're going to pay $17 for 3 shrimp. They give you bread with hummus, and their prices are fair. They let you self-park your car. They understand the little things. And the little things matter.
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